Your employer brand is a reflection of you as an employer (the true personality and value set of your organisation) and is one of the key ways for your organisation to set itself apart from the competition. Investing in employer branding also enables your company to be more effective in attracting and engaging relevant talent, via attracting right-fit employees, and detracting those who don’t suit the culture.
Here are the top three reasons why you should be investing in your employer brand:
1. Create a cyclical effect
Attract right-fit candidates - your employer brand should be based on your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) since it outlines the company’s cultures and values. A well-articulated EVP forms the basis for a solid talent acquisition strategy, which will serve to attract candidates that fit within your company’s culture – enabling them to succeed and the company to benefit, and detract those who do not - saving you time and effort in the filtering process. Retention rates should improve as employees adapt and stay on. Those that don’t add value within the corporate culture can be easily identified and managed out.
Good people attract good people - this means that when top talent buys into your employee brand they become your strongest asset for attracting other exceptional individuals. Highlight your best people to act as brand ambassadors and ensure they are involved in the hiring process where possible.
Build your talent carousel - candidates who apply for certain roles and are unsuccessful might prove suitable for future positions, which is why it is crucial for employers to build and maintain a talent pipeline or talent carrousel. By creating a positive impression through the recruitment experience and maintaining relationships following the interviewing process, businesses can keep top talent engaged until the right opportunity becomes available.
2. Free up capital to invest elsewhere
Reduces staff turnover - investing in a well-thought-out and consistent employer brand can save hiring and retraining costs as a result of reduced staff turnover.
Turn savings into human capital investments - with more right-fit employees, turnover savings can be turned into human capital investments, for example you can invest in recruitment efforts to upgrade your workforce or invest in career development programmes to up-skill deserving employees.
More time to dedicate to talent development - your HR team will have more time to focus on supporting individual departments with their talent development pipelines and growth plans.
3. Enable positive brand encounters
Impact of social sharing - in today’s digital era, people are prone to share their thoughts online, so every encounter with your brand counts. If in the past, companies’ claims would rarely get publicly contested, social media now offers a platform for current and prospective employees to voice their views and paint a truer picture of the workplace. Channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Payscale in particular are useful tools for candidates to research and assess an employer’s offering, and organisations must therefore ensure that recruitment messages align with employee perceptions. Peoples’ accounts of their experience while applying for a job with your organisation, a customer service experience they had, or even what others are saying about you, can make or break your reputation with a candidate.
Creating positive recruitment experiences - in order to attract the right people, employers need to create a positive ‘customer’ experience for candidates throughout the recruitment process. If candidates are treated in a way that makes them feel valued and their time respected, the employer will benefit via positive word of mouth as the candidate shares their experience with their peer group, and the candidate’s future preference for the brand’s offerings (whether they get the job or not, it’s the chance to positively influence a potential customer). A streamlined process, efficiently managed scheduling and timely feedback will all serve to improve the overall candidate experience.
In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, attracting, engaging and retaining the best talent is central to a company’s ability to grow and succeed. Investment in a strong employer brand should be a top priority for your HR and Communications team.
Here is a list of the world’s best employers (curated by Forbes and Statistica) which highlights the power of strong branding to act as some inspiration.
LinkedIn has also released its top employer brands in 2019.
Good luck with your employer branding efforts! We are here to help if you have any questions.