What is your company’s identity? The company’s overall brand is a statement of its core values that are directed at the public, as well as all stakeholders including clients, customers, strategic partners and investors. Employer branding targets both job seekers and current employees. It focuses on your current workforce and potential hires in order to understand how they really view your company.
Employer brand is a way to communicate all aspects of employee experience, including work/life balance, social values and hiring. You are trying to determine your unique employee value proposition, putting aside buzzwords. Employers who establish a strong brand have an intangible resource that they can leverage.
A value proposition that is complete
Each organization should take a look at itself and see what it can do to improve. What are the unique features that make your company stand out, aside from its pay, and what makes it an attractive place to work? Why should an employee choose to work with you instead of another company?
You want to be the employer of first choice. You will then be able to create excitement and differentiate yourself from generic brands. You will need to consider every possible touchpoint. You can use the following marketing tools to reach out to current and future employees:
- Job descriptions.
- Career pages on websites
- Social media profiles.
- Materials for On-boarding
- Acceptance and rejection letters for jobs
- Performance evaluations are a great way to evaluate your performance.
- Newsletters are a good example of internal communications.
Lists like these can be used to create a strong employer brand that should be promoted constantly. Human resources is responsible for the employer brand. However, other departments, such as the C-suite, line managers, and marketing, also work together to shape the identity of a company.
When management approves benefits for employees, HR is responsible for implementing them and creating marketing materials to promote them. The brand should reflect the corporate culture, workplace and reputation of an employer.
How do you build it
First, you need to determine what your company stands for inside and outside of the organization. Websites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn provide an outsider’s perspective. Surveys of employees and candidates for jobs can provide additional insights. It is also useful to dig deeper into workshops, as culture is subjective and nuanced.
Prepare a list with questions to ask and topics for discussion, such as:
- What makes us unique?
- Do we offer unique or unusual benefits?
- Do we treat our employees well? Could we do better?
- Where can we promote our business?
- How can people learn about our company?
- What are the best channels to use for promoting our brand?
- Can we measure results?
It is now time to implement the action plan and give substance to your ideas. The first best practice for employer branding success is to keep your employees satisfied and loyal. Negative stories can easily go viral in today’s social media environment, eroding the hard work elsewhere. You can also boost your brand by:
- Transparency and feedback are important when interacting with potential new employees.
- Support some worthy causes, preferably ones that are related to your industry.
- Use social media to educate your staff and keep them active. Post images and videos of your workplaces, group gatherings, testimonials, and blogs.
- Organize and take part in public events which can leave a lasting impression.
- Use committed employees to promote your brand.
All these areas should be measured and monitored, with a focus on cost per hires and satisfaction surveys.
Employer Branding Wins
Cost savings and increased productivity are two benefits of a good brand. To avoid turnover, the war for talent can be fierce. So aim to retain and attract the best candidates. The extra points you gain from having a good, solid reputation, along with the money you spend on salaries and benefits will help to level the playing field against larger organizations. The wider the pool of candidates, the faster you can hire.
Send a message that you excel in the following areas:
- Training and Development
- Leadership and collaboration.
- Quality of goods or services
- Stimulating the work environment and workplace.
Certain companies have earned a reputation as being great places to work. This is due to their compensation, career opportunities, or innovative cultures. You should join this club.