In today’s highly competitive talent market, your employer brand is essential in helping your company attract the right persons. Did you know that when making a decision on where they should apply for a job, 84 percent of jobseekers say the reputation of a company as an employer is crucial in their job search.

Fact is the more successful companies have discovered how to strategically combine employer branding into their search for talent. So, why is this important?

At the end of the day, employer branding helps draw top-notch talent by offering candidates an up-close look at what your company is all about. A strong employer brand allows candidates to “self-assess” for a fit within a particular company.

For HR managers and recruiters, a rock-solid employer brand frequently appeals to a higher quality of candidates, which, as a result, produces a dedicated talent community who will later function as advocates for your company and its mission.

Okay, we’ve been talking about an employer brand. Just what is it?

Employer branding is simply a company’s reputation as an employer and the value it brings or what it offers its employees.

 

That reputation says a lot about what your company stands for, the things shared about you, and the way your products and services are perceived could help a customer decide whether to be a patron or leave a scalding Yelp review.

Because most companies are aware of this, they put their efforts into advertisements, social media influencing and other marketing techniques to win customers.

Yes, it’s quite obvious that companies concentrate on the consumer-facing brand, that is, how your company is identified by its customers. However, one often overlooked territory that deserves an equal amount of energy from you company is your employer brand. Yes, an equivalent focus must be on how your company is recognized by its customers and prospects.

A big reason employer branding is so crucial is because it’s the business identity of your company, i.e., it’s what makes your company a great employer and stick out to candidates searching for jobs.

Successful employer brands are also about the people inside those companies, including company managers who make it their objective to find great people, cultivate them, engage them and offer them with advancement opportunities.

By not working robustly on your employer branding, your company can rapidly sabotage its hiring efforts and make it more difficult than it has to be to discover and hire the best talent.

Before proceeding, here are three questions you should be able to answer about your brand:

  • What are three words that best describe your employer brand?
  • Want makes your employer brand unique to your business?
  • Can your employees define your employer brand?

If you can’t answer these questions without difficulty, it might be time to strategize more about what your organization believes, and strategically communicate this through branding.

It’s important that your employer brand be well thought out, easily definable and communicated often to employees who will consequently share your brand with co-workers, clients, business partners, community members, etc.

Here’s another tip: Ask your employees what it’s like to work for your company.

Take note of the answers, particularly the persistent themes. Do employees think it’s good, bad, inspirational, thankless? If they don’t have only great things to say, you need a better employer brand!

 

In this post, we’ll cover not only the definition of employer branding, but also who should be involved, why employer branding is crucial and how to begin putting together a strategy for success.

Okay, now that we know a bit about employer branding, who should be involved in the process?

Based on the definition, you might think it’s the sole responsibility of human resources or your recruiters who would be running this initiative.

While that might be partly true, these are four key players you’ll want to include for creating a successful employer brand.

  • Human Resources: This is a given as they are directly connected to finding candidates, employee engagement and retention. In general, the HR and recruiting groups will have more of the daily interface with the new employee and be the “face” of the company.
  • Marketing: Employer branding needs a bit of assistance from the marketing team. They will be beneficial in supplying assets to HR and recruiting, as well as help broaden the company culture message. Characteristically, this is termed “recruitment marketing.”
  • CEO: As busy as the CEO might be, he/she are also essential to helping ensure the company culture and employer brand is healthy. Talent acquisition has shifted over the years and since it can be more strategic, the company chief officer needs to be enmeshed in the conversation.
  • Brand advocates: These are those current employees who have been pinpointed as persons who share company content and speak supportively about your firm. You needn’t jump into this immediately if you’re just getting started with employer branding. However, this can be a fantastic way to boost recruiting messages, enhance your firm’s reputation and work culture in order to appeal to more top talent.

Why does an employer brand matter so much for job recruiting and talent acquisition?

A strong employer brand increases the job pool of qualified candidates.

Imagine you are given two scrumptious cups of coffee to choose from. It’s disclosed that one is absolutely fine. The other, however, could impair the odds of having stomach issues during the day. Chances are, you’d pick the initial choice of coffee over the other option, no matter how delicious each choice vows to be.

For a majority employees, this is how employment opportunities are considered. A gigantic 69 percent of job seekers say they’d reject a job offer from a company with a poor reputation, even if they were jobless at the time.

This means presented with a choice of two companies, there’s a greater chance that job candidates will lean to the company with a better reputation in the marketplace, that is, one with a better employer brand.

A strong employer brand saves money.

A bad reputation can cost a lot – customer patronage, a chance at expansion, and so forth. But notably, being recognized as a company where employee welfare isn’t top priority can literally cost your company a lot of money.

When your corporate brand excludes employee satisfaction, this has a domino effect of first keeping top talent away from you company. This impacts how much money will be required to convince high-performing workers to join your firm

For starters, even having to spend less money announcing your open job openings on any number of career sites is a plus. Some can get quite pricey and still don’t appeal to the best people.

When your company has an identity (or employer brand) that’s positive, a modest job page on your website or a share to social media will see you swamped with talent.

It’s believed that employers with poor branding have to pay a 10 percent premium on every single hire made. This might come up to an average of $5000 spent on every hire when recreating costs, testing fees, external agency fees and other charges are put into consideration.

It can also save on money on salaries. Obviously, you want to be fair-minded in your offer, but if your company has a bad reputation, you’ll more likely have to pay a bit more to attract applicants.

 

A strong employer brand improves your standing on social media.

The consequences of a good reputation are witnessed in the social media age, where swift praise is offered to companies that highlight workers’ welfare, while viral callouts are saved for brands being short of growth opportunities, care and esteem for employees or those with inadequate working conditions or unprincipled habits.

As an employer, the very last thing you want to see is word mushrooming about employee discontent and overall unhappiness within your company.

Always keep in mind that three-quarters of all job seekers employ social media as a principal tool when searching for a job. And, undoubtedly, the number will only continue to rise.

You best believe if people are talking negatively about a brand or work culture, job candidates are going to come across this information.

A strong employer brand leads to more employees recommending your company to others.

There’s a saying: “People forget what you said, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel.”

A worker might not remember the precise substance of their employment letter, but they will recall how easy it is to talk to a manager about a nagging issue in the workplace. They’ll forever appreciate the ease of obtaining a mental break for the day, and how paid time off is a common part of company culture.

Very importantly, current employees as well as past workers are certain to communicate their happiness with your company to potential employees and anyone else who cares to listen.

Employee referrals are a great yardstick to measure how well your business is doing in the area of employer branding.

Okay, let’s look at some excellent examples of employer branding.

  • Employee testimonials. This will always be #1. According to a recent report from LinkedIn, “candidates trust the company’s employees three times more than the company to provide credible information on what it’s like to work there.”
  • Company culture. The implicit things such as the company culture tend to “leak” outside. Company culture is the result of the actions of the entire team, and it’s the management that’s expected to set the tone.
  • Office and workplace. These two are the company’s showcases. Be certain they exhibit the spirit of the company.
  • Awards. Awards give people motivation for their future growth. As a company, you should use them prudently and reap the benefits tenfold.
  • Perks and benefits. Healthcare benefits, company breakfasts – go to town with them. They can make a difference for a candidate who has to choose between two similar offers.
  • Company events. There are two types of employer branding events: internal and external. Internal events are an excellent tool to connect the team and demonstrate to people that your care; the external events are the textbook vehicle to show off a bit and spread the company image among potential employees.

 You might ask, give me an example of a world-class employer brand.

Google – The rockstar of employer branding

Google branding is one of the best in the world. The company is recognized for its outstanding approach to employees. Every year, the company takes delivery on about 3 million resumes, of which they pick only 7,000 new employees.

Numerous benefits, campus-style workspace, swift leaders, and more. All of these things are a factor in why Google attracts their talent.

To sum it up

In summary, having a rock-solid employer brand has an extremely positive impact on both attracting new talent and retaining it, which, in due course, will affect your bottom line. Studies have indicated that over 80 percent of jobseekers consider employer brand prior to applying for a job with a company and approximately 63 percent of employees acknowledge that a dependable employer brand definitely has an effect on job enjoyment. So, there it is. Follow the tips in the blog to help ensure your brand reflects your company values and objectives, is recognizable and appealing, and you’ll soon be winning the competition for talent attraction and retention.

 

In need of some help? PDDM Solutions invites you to find out how we can help you acquire the best talent for your company’s needs more quickly than you might imagine.