5 practices that offer the strength of a company's employer brand
Dr. Evangelo Damigos; PhD | Head of Digital Futures Research Desk
- Competitive Differentiation
Publication | Update: Nov 2022
Employer branding (EB) is one of the most important disciplines of talent acquisition (TA). It is about the company's reputation as an employer. In other words, employer branding refers to how individuals view the company's values and work environment. Therefore, employer branding is everything a company does - intentionally or unintentionally - to promote its unique identity as an employer to current and potential employees.[1]
For almost 59 percent of companies, employer branding is one of the most important components of their HR strategy. It is therefore not surprising that virtually every company today invests in its employer brand. The most widespread employer branding activities to serve the purpose include:
· Planning, designing and implementing a well-defined employer branding plan
· Using social media to share employee testimonials and success stories;
· Managing employer review sites such as Glassdoor.
· Creating and managing enhanced profiles on job boards such as Indeed and Monster.
· Creating and promoting attractive job descriptions and job advertisements;
· Investing in the candidate experience during the application and selection process. ; and
· Participating in local career fairs and other career events.[2]
1. Test and Measure Employer Brand
Improving a company's employer brand is an ongoing process that can be difficult to quantify. But much like marketers test and analyze the performance of their campaigns, recruiters should also review their techniques. Companies often mistakenly think they have a solid employer brand. The key is to keep an eye on the most important recruiting metrics:
· Reviews and ratings
A company's reviews on review portals such as Comparably or Glassdoor are crucial because they are the first place many applicants visit to find out about the quality of the employer brand. Monitoring the reviews over time and finding recurring criticisms that could indicate a deeper problem in the company culture, is crucial.
· Retention rate
Employee retention is an important indicator of the quality of a company's employer brand, although employee turnover is fluid and unpredictable.
· Source of hire
A company needs to trace the source of each order to see which channels produce the most (and least) employees. This metric helps the company identify the most effective channels and where to direct its efforts.
· Employee satisfaction
A great employer brand requires a healthy culture and satisfied employees. Therefore, a company should measure employee satisfaction across all teams and departments. Employees can give open feedback about their experiences in anonymous surveys without fear of consequences.[3]
2. Know the Employer Value Proposition (EVP)
The combination of a company’s mission, values, culture, and employee feedback helps create its employer value proposition (EVP). The latter encapsulates everything the company offers employees, and it can be a powerful branding tool. Letting prospective and current employees know what they receive in exchange for their skills, experience, and hard work gives them a deep understanding of how their role contributes to the company’s overall growth plan and helps them more actively engage in their roles.
While EVP includes salary, to add more meaning to the EVP, also include:
· Career development (including career paths and ongoing education)
· Management style
· How employees are evaluated and promoted
· Volunteer opportunities
· Job security
· Flexibility
3. Have a Meaningful Onboarding Experience
Introduce induction procedures at all organizational levels that educate new employees on the key principles of the organization. This transition period should include information to help new employees adapt to the company culture and make it clear that their time and skills are valued by the company as a whole, not just its department. Provide opportunities for its employees to learn about the work of colleagues in other locations and departments to promote teamwork and achieve a common goal.[4]
4. Determine and utilize primary marketing channels
As part of building its audience persona, a company should have a better understanding of which channels can be associated with the candidates it is looking for. Nevertheless, it is important that these channels are determined as part of the employer branding strategy and that consistency is maintained across all platforms used. By choosing the most effective channels, such as a careers page on the website, paid advertisements in the media or using social media for employer branding, the company can more effectively personalize and target its customers. Asking employees about their first experience with the brand can give useful insights as well as researching the most popular platforms and forums for industry experts. Once the company has determined which channels to use, it must use them to constantly communicate the inclusivity, vision and growth of its brand and employees. These photos, blogs, testimonials and other content shared through the target audience's most popular channels promote a clear understanding of the brand's values. However, it is crucial that the material does not feel forced or artificial. Authenticity is crucial to fully engage the target audience. Without this authenticity, people are likely to see through the company's attempts and distrust it in the future.[5]
Figure 1: Methods and channels of promoting Employer Brand. Papirfly. (2019, November). 13 steps to developing your employer branding strategy. Retrieved from: https://www.papirfly.com/blog/employer-branding/13-steps-to-developing-your-employer-branding-strategy/
5. Reduce Recruitment Costs
Due to increasing competition in the labor market, finding and hiring qualified candidates has become a costly endeavor. Posting jobs on various job platforms, working with recruitment agencies, searching for new employees, along with other measures, all incur costs. Developing a strong employer brand helps to reduce a company's recruitment costs. According to a study conducted by LinkedIn, companies that have a stronger employer brand than their competitors have 43 percent lower costs per new hire. With a strong employer brand, the company can spend less on advertising and marketing to increase brand awareness. For most job seekers, it is important to work for a well-known, reputable company. An organization that has a strong brand and reputation can be sure to attract top talents. Candidates will find the company and apply for a job even without its intervention. In addition, research shows that a number of applicants are willing to accept a lower income in exchange for working for a company with positive reviews and a well-established brand.[6]
[1] Workable Technology Limited. (2022, August). What is employer branding? Retrieved from: https://resources.workable.com/hr-terms/what-is-employer-branding
[2] Lankinen, A., Martic K. ((2022, October 26). Employer branding: 9 steps to build a successful strategy. Haiilo. Retrieved from: https://haiilo.com/blog/employer-branding-9-steps-to-build-successful-strategy/
[3] ZoomInfo Technologies LLC. (n.d.). 5 Ways to Build a Better Employer Brand. Retrieved from: https://pipeline.zoominfo.com/recruiting/employer-brand
[4] Pelta, R. (2021, November). How to build your employer brand in 10 steps. FlexJobs. Retrieved from: https://www.flexjobs.com/employer-blog/build-employer-brand-easy-steps/
[5] Papirfly. (2019, November). 13 steps to developing your employer branding strategy. Retrieved from: https://www.papirfly.com/blog/employer-branding/13-steps-to-developing-your-employer-branding-strategy/
[6] Employvision. (2022, September). Top reasons why employer branding Is essential in recruitment. Retrieved from: https://employvision.com/top-reasons-why-employer-branding-is-essential-in-recruitment/
Digital Themes: Competitive Differentiation
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