Strong employer brand is essential for recruiting the right candidate. Candidates look into the brand of the employer before joining a concern.
“For an organization to recruit effectively, its brand needs to be known and understood.”
Edward E. Lawler III & Christopher G. Worley
The way companies hire candidates for jobs and retain employees has changed dramatically. As technology got advanced, it is easier for job seekers to find information through Social Medias and career review sites. Yet, without a strong employer brand, your firm will miss out top candidates. Running your business with inefficient candidates make you lose a lot of money while affecting other areas of the company.
What is a strong employer brand?
Employer brand defines the reputation of your company as a place of work and how your employees view you as an employer. Thus, your employer brand relies on how you market yourself to your current employees and top talented candidates. The better you are at branding your business, the better your company will be able to lure people.
- Good employer branding will help companies recruit better candidates, reduce hiring and marketing costs, and improve productivity.
- It will help you retain the right talent as well as help the existing workforce to develop a deep sense of loyalty with the company.
Therefore, for organisations, those are still in doubt about investing in employer branding. Here are four reasons why building an employer brand is essential to the success of your organization.
“If their employer brand is boring and unattractive, so too will be their talent and performance.”
Edward E. Lawler
Why building a strong employer brand is essential to the success of your organization?
- It helps retain employees and hire new ones
A strong employer brand is a synopsis of what the organization stands for or represents. It will make your employees proud that they are a part of the company. Being a part of the top company culture is a part of prestige for most employees. A majority of employees look at the company web page and social media channels of the employer before applying for a job to get an idea of the brand image. Through these channels, they get a clear picture of your company’s expectations and see if they potentially fit into the company culture. If they find a lot of negativity online, they may second guess joining your business.
- It reduces costs
A well-known brand reduces your recruiting costs. You don’t need to spend much as potential candidates will find your brand and apply to the vacant positions naturally. Instead, you can spend this money on product development or your branding to get ahead of your competitors. Also, your recruiting efforts decrease as you don’t need to spend more time to find talents; they find you themselves. Moreover, studies say that candidates are willing to accept lower pay if they work in a firm with positive reviews and a well-known brand.
- Your employees become your ambassadors
When you have a well-known brand and proud employees, you get more applicants through referrals. And hence, your current employees become your brand ambassadors. The more your employees talk positively about your company, the more you get potential candidates. Also, when your current employees talk about your company, it helps your brand to become more potent without spending much on marketing because awareness increases by word of mouth. It creates a domino effect, and when brand awareness increases, your sales increase in parallel.
- Improves employee engagements
Employees who work in well-known brands are generally more enthusiastic and motivated. Having motivated employees is excellent for an employer as they are more productive. More productivity means more growth for your business. When your business grows, you receive more income, which ensures the financial stability of your firm. A financially stable business firm is always more attractive to potential job-seekers. Moreover, your employees get a more secure feeling in their jobs.
“Employees who are thought leaders outside the company improve the company brand and the employee’s own personal brand.”
Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha
What should you establish your employee brand strategy?
Content for candidate personas
- Post blogs on company events, internal work culture, company hiring process, benefits of working there, etc. on social media.
- Share video testimonials from current employees and previous employees who had a positive and exciting experience with your company.
All these are great pieces to mix in with your company’s marketing content and will be easily found by potential job candidates.
Be proactive on career sites
Never forget about places like Glassdoor, which allow employees and former employees to be very candid about their experiences. What people say about their previous company can raise a red flag to potential candidates.
As part of your employer branding strategy, you should spend some time addressing the negative comments. Address it and show how your company is working to improve and move on. That alone shows your company cares.
Encourage employee training and growth
Opening doors for employees to learn and grow within their careers is a way to retain employees and attract new talent. Conduct training sessions to help employees advance in their careers and learn new skills. If there are no growth opportunities or training potential to develop new skills, people with high skill levels refuse to choose to work for your company.
Be active on social
Social media helps you find the best candidates for a given position. You get an excellent outlet for finding the right professionals and make it easy to see if someone is a great fit. Leveraging employees as brand advocates is a great way to boost recruiting and building your employer brand. If your firm is doing great things, current employees are more willing to share their excitement online, helping attract even more top candidates.
The best brands are those that hold a profound understanding of their consumers to tell a targeted, truthful, and consistent story. These brands create enormous economic value and competitive advantages in their markets that drive their continued success. So, use these principles and improve your recruiting outcomes.
“In addition to discouraging bad applicants, having a strong brand can serve to attract individuals who otherwise wouldn’t apply for the job.”
Edward E. Lawler III & Christopher G. Worley
