Developing a successful Employer Branding strategy can be a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Not only does it help you attract top talent, but it also helps keep your current employees engaged and motivated. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Employer Branding.
What Is Employer Branding?
When it comes to employer branding, many people think it’s all about the company’s outward image: the marketing and advertising that promotes the company as an employer of choice. While this is certainly a big part of it, there’s much more to employer branding than just promoting your company.
In its simplest form, employer branding is the process of developing a strategy to identify and attract the best talent, and then engage and retain those employees. It’s about creating an emotional connection with candidates and employees that resonates with them and makes them want to be a part of your company.
Developing an effective employer branding strategy is essential for attracting top talent in today’s competitive job market. And it’s not just about promoting your company culture and values. It’s also about communicating your employer value proposition (EVP) to potential candidates, which tells them what they can expect from working for your company and why they should choose you over your competitors.
Defining Your Employer Brand Message
Before you can start developing your Employer Brand, you need to first define your message. What do you want candidates and employees to think of when they think of your company? What sets you apart from the competition?
Your employer brand message should be clear and concise, and it should resonate with the people you’re targeting. It’s also important to be authentic—candidates can see through a false or hollow message, and they’ll likely be turned off if they feel like you’re not being genuine.
Your employer brand should also be consistent across all channels. From your website and social media profiles to the way you interact with candidates and employees, everything should reflect the same core message.
Crafting Your Employer Value Proposition
Crafting your employer value proposition (EVP) is one of the most important steps in employer branding. It’s what will set you apart from other companies and attract the best candidates.
Develop a strategy that resonates with candidates and employees. Identify your key selling points and make sure your messaging is aligned with your business goals.
Your employer brand must be built on a clear foundation of your company’s mission and values. This will provide a benchmark for what you are trying to achieve with your employer brand, and helps to refine the qualities and skills you look for in candidates.
Communicating Your Employer Brand Strategy
It’s also important to have a well-thought-out plan for how to communicate your employer brand message. You should consider developing a dedicated page on your Careers website that communicates clearly who you are as an employer, as well as stories about current and past employees. This is a great way to humanize your employer brand, enhancing the connection between your organization and potential candidates.
You should also make sure that you’re leveraging your current recruitment platforms (e.g., job boards, LinkedIn, Glassdoor) to ensure that all of the information related to your employer brand is reaching the right people. Finally, don’t forget to optimize existing social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) by sharing relevant employer brand content and engaging with members of target audiences.
Evaluating the Success of Your Employer Branding Efforts
If you think employer branding is an uphill battle or a “one and done” project, think again. It’s an ongoing strategy that requires continuous assessment and improvement to ensure positive results. But how do you measure the success of your employer branding efforts?
First, consider monitoring external metrics such as: website traffic from job seekers; engagement rates on your social media job postings; candidate interest in current job openings; and the number of applications submitted. Second, look at internal metrics such as employee retention rates; employee satisfaction levels; engagement survey responses; and turnover rate are all important data points to track progress.
By evaluating these metrics regularly, you’ll be able to actively adjust your strategy to ensure that it’s resonating with candidates and employees alike. Ultimately, this will lead to improved employer brand awareness and employee engagement, which are both critical for any organization looking to make an impact in the current market.
Optimizing Employee Engagement With Employer Branding
When it comes to creating and optimizing an employer brand, the #1 focus should be on the employee. After all, they are at the center of your organization, your brand’s most valuable ambassadors, and can become powerful advocates of your organization if given the right tools and resources to succeed.
That’s why you should strive to create an employer brand that resonates with current as well as potential employees. You can also share stories that reflect your company’s commitment to its employees, such as how you prioritize their growth or are invested in their professional development.
Having a clear employer branding strategy and message is just the first step though; you must also ensure it aligns with how employees experience working for your organization on a daily basis. By creating a culture of open communication between leaders and staff members, being transparent about goals and incentivizing employees for their efforts, this will help ensure high levels of employee engagement that will only benefit everyone in the long run!
Conclusion
When it comes to employer branding, it’s not about what you say, it’s about how you say it. And it’s not just about communicating with candidates, it’s about communicating with employees, too.
You need to make sure that your employer brand strategy is aligned with your company’s values, and that you are constantly communicating those values to employees and candidates alike. You also need to make sure that your branding is authentic, and that employees feel like they are part of something greater than themselves.
If you can do all of that, you’ll be well on your way to creating a highly engaged workforce. And if you can’t do that, Brandemix can help.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
