When you think about your brand, you might not think about your reputation as an employer, but it’s an important part of your business.
Here are some of the best employer branding strategies to help you grow a positive reputation and attract and retain the best talent.
Branding is a word usually associated with marketing. Marketers are looking for ways to tell a business’s story and express their values, connecting them with consumers. Business branding is how your company is positioned in the marketplace – what consumers think about your business and what your company represents. Nike is seen as sporty and inspiring. Apple’s brand is known as customer-focused and innovative. Disney is fun and family-focused. Advertising that includes cohesive copy and design elements help to support these brand stories.
But what about employer branding? Does your company have a reputation as a great place to work? A company that does new, challenging, and interesting things? Or is it regarded as just another cubicle farm with incompetent middle management and bad communication?
To get the best people in positions at your company, your organization has to be seen as a place people want to work. Here are some steps to create a positive image and proactive employer branding strategy.
Read the Reviews
In today’s culture, everyone can read about a product or a consumer’s experience with a service provider before trying it themselves. This goes for employers as much as it goes for products being sold on Amazon. Sites like Glassdoor and Indeed allow employees to leave feedback and reviews of their positions, their company, the organization leadership, benefits package, and more. The best employer brands – the ones that are perceived most positively – are the ones that reply to their reviews – even, and especially, if the feedback is negative.
One of the most underrated employer branding tools is being able to accept criticism from employees, past and present. Responding to comments with sincerity and even being able to implement change based on feedback is the mark of excellent employer brand management.
Use Social Media Wisely
Another example of recruitment branding strategy is smart social media. Closely related to reviews, social channels are where marketing and HR strategy have a lot of crossover. Having a good personality on Twitter is just as an important to attracting talent as it is to appealing to customers. Just like companies check out the social media channels for potential employees, candidates are looking at employer’s too.
Create Culture
Culture can mean a lot of things, but one thing is clear: people want it. Today’s workforce wants more than just a paycheck. They want a place that offers them an enriching experience. Some examples of culture include:
- Creating physical spaces in an office environment that help encourage creativity and collaboration
- Offering work-life balance, like work from home options
- Featuring benefits like continued education
- Hosting team building activities
Whatever culture your business wants to create, make sure you include mentioning it as part of your digital strategy and promote it on your website and job postings so that job seekers know about what your organization can offer employees (also called employer value proposition).
Company branding is as important to attract employees as it is to attracting customers. Having a solid employer branding strategy can help you to impress your potential candidates and grow your company with talent. What are some employment branding strategies your company has used?
