What’s an Employer Brand & How is it Created?
What’s an Employer Brand & How is it Created?
Creating an employer brand can set you apart from your competition, establish your company as an employer of choice in your industry and help you attract, recruit, and retain top talent. A well-established employer brand will ensure that you are attracting your desired employees. Imagine having a pool of qualified talent waiting for your next job opportunity. A strong employer brand will do this! It establishes you as a leader in industry, a great company to work for and one where people will line up to be a part of the great culture and vision you offer.
How do I create an Employer Brand?
The first thing to consider when creating your employer brand is to establish objectives. Determine what your long-term recruitment goals are and whether you are targeting local or global markets. Analyze your competitors, how can you set yourself apart and be the employer of choice. Becoming an employer of choice is not just a concept but a culture change and one that you need to create, embrace, and live daily in your business. And don’t forget to continue to refine and adapt your employer brand as you evolve and change with the market and employee needs.
Make sure that your brand is authentic to your organization, represents your values and attracts the people that you want to work with. It should align with your company core values and mission. Create an employer value proposition. Why is my company a great place to work? Establish a message and shout it out.
Encourage employee advocacy. Peer to peer recommendations are some of the best. Have your employees share why they love working with you. As an employer of choice, your employees will boast to the market and sing your praises as they are proud of the great place they work. Encourage this as it will help share your story and engage your community and talent to line up. Share it on social media or at networking events. Let your employees speak for you as they are the true testimonial to a great place to work!
Survey your employees. Ask them why they accepted a position with your company? Ask them what is their motivation to stay? What energizes and excites them about being part of the way your company does business? Ask them what creates value for them? If you understand your employee motivators, it will help you to continue to attract more people just like them.
Create a digital marketing experience. Storytelling will attract people to your company. Consider which social media platforms your ideal candidates are using and target those. Sharing your employee experience with top talent will keep them engaged and coming back for more. Use high quality video and tell your story. Share employee successes by recognizing them. Consider interviewing current employees and have them provide a company testimonial. Ensure you provide regular engagement and communication with potential talent.
Respond to reviews. Many job search websites have the option to post reviews about employers. Candidates access job search websites and reviews about potential employers in their decision making when applying for jobs. Every employer wants to see positive reviews, however, make sure that you respond to reviews even if they are negative. Do not avoid or ignore a less than stellar review, respond with positivity, empathy and professionalism and consider the feedback an opportunity to grow. Job search websites also give an employer an opportunity to share their employer brand, ensure you are using this tool to give your audience the impression that you want them to have.
Websites, landing pages and blog posts are excellent for communicating with both internal and external clients. Consider having an intranet for your employees where they have access to an onboarding schedule, progression map and learning opportunities that might be available to them to enhance their experience with the company. This could be a place where employees could access important information such as pay stubs, timesheets, benefit plan information, forms and other human resource related documents. Foster internal communication and nurture your relationships with employees by using this area to highlight changes, growth, and new strategies that your company may be implementing. Provide employees with a section to make suggestions, a place where they feel heard and are encouraged to bring forth ideas.
Additionally, your company’s external website should have a section which highlights your company culture. Tell potential talent why they want to work for you and make sure your employer value proposition is outlined here.
Nurturing relationships with your current talent, sharing and telling a true story of their employee experience and communicating it with your target talent community will engage and attract new sought-after talent to your company with ease. This is your employer brand.
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group
“The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world.”
Steve Jobs, Chairman, CEO and Co-founder of Apple
