Recruiting can be hard when nobody knows who you are. People that blindly apply to your jobs could work out but it is less likely. What if you could attract top talent to your company? What if people knew about your culture before they applied and were watching your job postings waiting for their dream job to open up? That’s what an effective employer branding strategy can help you to do.
What is Employer Branding?
Employer branding is the process of positioning an organization as an employee’s choice in the labor market. Employment branding is essential to analyze because employers can understand what motivates individuals to work for and continue working for particular organizations.
Some employers such as Google, Apple, and Sony have created images that are universal icons that remain competitive in the labor market. Employers can analyze their own employment branding simply by looking into their strategies employed.
What to Consider for Your Employer Branding Strategy
Employment strategies cover several components that often influence the attraction and retention of talent.
- Identify your target audience(s)- Creating employee personas like you would a buyer persona in marketing. Having a clear target audience makes this a much more effective exercise. For example; if you know you are going to be looking for entry-level software engineers, they care about very different things than senior-level engineers. You should be creating and sharing content built for your audience.
- Create a Content Strategy- What type of information will you share? Will it be videos, images, text posts, guides? We suggest using the pillar content approach and creating some type of pillar content (video or audio) that can then be turned into social posts, blogs, and even guides.
- Distribute the Content- How will you share information that is relevant to your target market? Social media, email, hiring events, advertisements?
Best Employer Branding Practices
- Imagery – Creating positive, compelling images of the organization that convey social responsibility and industry impact.
- Messaging – Providing clear and consistent messages about what it is like to work at the organization through phrases that align with your Core Values such as “commitment to innovation”,” teamwork”, etc.
Results of an Effective Employer Branding Campaign
- Decreasing the time-to-fill and cost-per-hire ratios.
- Lowering turnover by offering competitive packages and an enjoyable work environment.
- Linking the employment brand with the company’s product brands by reinforcing the public’s image of the organization.
- Giving employees a sense of pride in their company by knowing they are working for an employer that has a competitive edge and/or positive contribution to society.
How Employment Branding is Marketed
To help build and/or improve on a brand, it is vital to consider the channel of how employment branding is marketed to others. Some popular channels are the company’s website, media ads (on television, radio, print), collateral materials such as brochures, having appearances at job fairs, campuses, or at other types of sponsored or non-sponsored events.
In today’s job market, employment branding is becoming important as the demand for skilled and talented workers increases. With the latest reliance on technology, the job searching and recruiting process has also impacted who is and who is not applying with particular organizations. The need for employment branding cannot be overlooked since it implies that hiring and retention rates may be stabilized. The goal is to make sure employees are satisfied, ensuring business goals are met while being competitive and unique to one’s own core values.
Have questions or need help building your employer branding strategy? Contact our HR Guides and we will be happy to help!
