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In a world where job vacancy has made it easier for job seekers and employees to find a bigger opportunity, many companies are competing to hire talents that would bring them grow their business. This is how employer branding should become the top priority.
Companies with good branding and public perception benefit more than their counterparts. They can attract customers as well as potential employees to be part of the organization, which also means a better future for the business.
The Importance of Employer Branding
Employer branding has been one of the most effective ways to attract and retain the right candidate. It is a strategy that is designed to build a brand around a company that would allow it to compete for talent. A well-structured employee onboarding can jumpstart employer branding, setting the tone for the company’s culture and values, and ultimately empowering new hires to become strong ambassadors of the brand, contributing to its positive perception in the job market.
Employer branding should be strong enough in order for a company to be successful in the recruitment process. There are many tools for interviewing via video, and recruiters do not need to commute; thus, they have more time for preparation. After all, good corporate branding can attract the best candidates and have an impact on your recruitment process.
With exceptional employer branding, companies can:
- Attract top talents and potential customers
Employer branding helps attract top talent from all over the world. Those are the ones who care to ask important questions – from what to do if you click on a phishing link to how everyone can create a more healthy environment in the workplace. You can then find your next great employee or candidate for your business.
In the same way, you want potential employees to see what your company has to offer. You also want potential customers to see what makes your business stand out from others in its industry. With employer branding, you can show what you can offer them and how they will benefit if they choose you over other companies. And don’t forget to always post your job openings on the recruitment platforms such as Salarship, Indeed, and FlexJobs, with a clear and transparent description of the company benefits. This will highly increase your popularity as an employer.
- Create a positive company culture
If you can find the right candidates, you can also build the right culture for your company. Employer branding will help you attract candidates who share similar values and beliefs, which will also help create a positive company culture.
According to research by Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct corporate culture is important to a business’ success. Means that you have to pay more attention to it.
Great company culture can mean many things. Starting from diversity in the workplace to creating a supportive environment, you can do a lot of things to make your workers feel satisfied and happy for working with you. But, building an environment where employees can discover growth opportunities, such as giving in-class less-boring presentations and weekly training videos, or simply recommending self-development podcasts. Listening to a self-development podcast, for instance, is convenient as employees can work and listen to the episode at the same time.
It can increase the brand’s attractiveness. That means you, as an employer, give them chances to upscale skills and careers.
- Retain employees
Positive company culture will also help you retain your employees. If they feel like they belong in the company and are happy with their work, they are less likely to look for other opportunities.
By doing employer branding, you can also boost employee morale. Developing your employees’ career paths, asking them to join employee training and support, and offering competitive compensation. Additionally, you can ask your employees take a few sessions with an online coach who can guide and help them whenever they are in need.
All these efforts can benefit your company. Instead of helping your employee to make a great innovation such as creating a QR code for your products or service, it will result in your employees serving your customers better.
- Shape the business identity
Employer branding can also help you shape the identity of your business. It can help you define what your company stands for and how you want to be perceived by the public. This can help you attract the right employees, customers, and partners.
How to Build Your Employer Branding in Simple Steps
1. Define the brand’s message
The brand message is a part of brand perception. A brand’s message will reflect on the company’s reputation and its mission to get acknowledged in public.
Make sure the brand message is clear and concise, even your new employees or beginners can understand it easily. Use a statement that will help you articulate ‘why you do’ or ‘what you do’ as a company or as a brand specifically.
This statement should be more specific than the mission statement but still broad enough to encompass all of the company’s values and sales goals.
Or, you can create a content brief to help articulate your brand’s message. The brief will help you define what your company’s values and visions are. You can also use the content brief to plan your mission statement to reach the goal.
2. Cultivate the company culture
No corporate branding is complete without its unique, exclusive culture that shapes the way everyone works within the company. Culture has a significant value for people to hold on to and be proud of when they connect with it.
When building an employer branding strategy, the company’s culture should be a priority. It will help you understand what kind of values your company wants to stand for and how you can show those to potential employers. Also, it can significantly improve your workplace productivity.
Your company’s values and culture should be the foundation of your employer branding strategy. Keep in mind that a positive working culture can improve the way employees experience their time in your company.
An integrated value with the brand’s vision will boost ownership among employees, which eventually leads to loyalty. That means keeping a cultured company will help you retain more employees.
Creating a good company culture can also help your employees love their jobs. There are some examples of big companies in their culture. Check out the infographic below:
3. Be transparent
Transparency is key to defining what kind of employer you are. No matter what work model you apply to your business, 100% work-from-office, remote working, or even a hybrid work model; you have to be transparent with your employees.
It’s hard to think positively about a company if it might be faking some of its employer’s brand messages. It’s also bad for the recruitment process as not being transparent can hinder the brand from acquiring top talents.
On the other hand, if a company is completely transparent about everything, it will show that it’s confident in what it does and that it has nothing to hide.
Being transparent also builds trust between the employer and existing employees. It gives a better insight into what the company is really like, which can help employees make informed decisions about their future careers.
4. Listen to your employees
Employees are one of your biggest assets. In order to retain them, you should listen to what they want to share. If they’re happy to work with you, they will be able to managing multiple projects with less drama. Utilizing performance management software can facilitate this process by providing a structured platform for employees and managers to communicate, set goals, and track progress.
After all, your employees are the best people to vouch for your employer’s brand. They see everything that’s going on behind the scenes, and they know what it’s like to work for the company day in and day out.
Make sure you’re listening to the results of your employee feedback survey about the company culture or other aspects of their job.. They can help you improve your employer’s brand and make it more attractive to potential candidates.
5. Create a friendly working environment
A friendly working environment means many things- from office design with interior design quotes to investing in the reward system. One of them is happy employees, which is something you need to keep on in the long run. A happy employee can influence one big team.
Nurturing a great working culture is good for the future of your company, specifically in team building. Together everyone achieves more. Good employer branding will focus on making sure the work environment is as positive and motivating as possible. Leveraging effective communication channels such as instant messaging tools to facilitate seamless collaboration and connectivity among team members.
This can be done by ensuring that employees have the necessary resources to do their job well, providing opportunities for growth and development, and offering a competitive salary. For example, if your employees work extra hours on Sunday, make sure to use an overtime calculator to count the hours they have been working extra time. Also, employee time tracking software can help keep track of time and make things clear and honest. It can let workers see exactly how many hours they’ve worked, making sure everyone is treated fairly.
That way, you’re able to appreciate and reward your employees with the right work hours tracker. Remember that creating a friendly working environment will help you attract and retain top talents.
6. Invest in social media
Don’t just invest in a website design by creating many landing pages and start blogging, it would be great if you can optimize your social media. One way to do this is to keep up with social media trends and incorporate them into your social media marketing strategy.
Social media is the new corporate face. It is an important tool when it comes to employer branding because it allows you to showcase your business in a way that is easily digestible and shareable. If you want to connect with more audiences, social media is the way to go.
Keep in mind that prospective employees will research your company before applying. Make sure that the ideas for Instagram stories or posts on other social media platforms reflect the values and culture of your company and are attractive and convincing enough.
You can do this by ensuring that your online platforms, such as the website, social media channels, and other marketing materials, reflect your company’s identity accurately.
Despite this, the social media network is large enough to produce positive results. However, you will succeed if you can outwit the algorithm by determining the best times to publish and reach your target audience. A social media tool, such as RecurPost, will be ideal for assisting you in overcoming the algorithm and can help you schedule your posts at the best time. To run a successful social media campaign, you should also make sure you have chosen the right social media tools to launch and manage the campaigns.
7. Communicate your EVP and turn your employees into brand ambassadors
The EVP (Employee Value Proposition) is a statement that outlines what your company can offer to employees in terms of career growth opportunities, work-life balance, compensation, and other perks.
It’s important that this value proposition is unique so that you can stand out from other companies in your industry.
Once you have defined your EVP, it’s important to communicate it to your employees and turn them into brand ambassadors. Brand ambassadors are employees who are passionate about their work and believe in the company’s mission.
They can help spread the word about your company and attract more top candidates.
Wrapping Up
Employer branding is an ongoing process, not a one-time project. Even if you think you’ve got everything figured out, there’s always room for improvement. As your company grows and changes, so should your employer brand.
Keep listening to your employees and keep working on ways to improve employee engagement.
These are only a few simple steps, but they’ll help you get started on building strong employer branding. Keep in mind that employer branding takes time and effort to cultivate. But it’s worth it in the long run, as it will help you attract and retain the best talent for your company.
