Today, the employer brand is more important than ever as it forms a backbone of recruiting strategy. So it is imperative that companies have a robust strategy for building an appealing brand to expand their reach to prospective employees and achieve business goals.
Today, the employer brand is more important than ever, as candidates will preemptively reject a company with poor reviews. Companies need to show prospective candidates why their organization is great, and why they should want to work there.
Employer Branding has gained prominence in the last 4-5 years. Companies are realizing that it is not enough to continue with old recruitment and hiring practices if they were to hire the best talent from the market. Each hire in a critical role is an investment for the organization. Companies want to make sure that there are fewer hiring mistakes and they hire the right candidates which fit the culture of the organization and is a superstar employee. “Candidate Experience” has become a popular buzzword, but it’s only going to become an increasingly important factor in attracting great people to your company as candidates see it as a window into how your company operates. Candidate experience is as important as employee experience and is a major part of both your employer brand and your hiring process.
What is Employer Branding? Employer branding is the process of promoting a company, or an organization, as the employer of choice to the desired target group, one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain. Today, the employer brand is more important than ever, as candidates will preemptively reject a company with poor reviews. Companies need to show prospective candidates why their organization is great, and why they should want to work there. In short, it involves defining your unique employee value proposition. Some of the benefits of having an effective employer brand in place are:
- Reduced turnover of staff
- The attraction of right-fit candidates
- The attraction of high-quality talent
- Help in retaining best employees
- Reduced cost per hire
- Engaged employees
As the lines blur even more between marketing and recruitment, the best brands are bold and authentic, sharing ‘what it’s like to work here.’ An insight into the company culture, career progression and colleagues, is now a must for job-seekers. – Chris Pateman
Gone are the days, when candidates would apply to jobs without researching the company.
Candidates research their potential employer on Glassdoor, read reviews, see ratings of top management as much as companies try to find about candidates. Candidates want to know what it feels like to work for your organization. What is the culture, what are the career and advancement opportunities, what kind of learning does your company provide, what are the rewards for performers, what are the benefits and perks for working with your organization? In short, candidates assess their potential employers before applying for jobs. That’s where the importance of employer branding lies.
Many a time, passive candidates don’t apply to opportunities because of the time-consuming application process. Linkedin offers an easy apply button and many companies’ Recruitment systems i.e. ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) are integrated with LinkedIn. What it means for candidates is the ease of applying to companies with the click of a mouse, they can submit their CV in companies databases.
Companies rely on a different source mix for diversity in hiring, for example, Career Sites, Employee Referrals, Job Boards, Social Media, sometimes external Recruitment Agencies and Vendors. Social media in the recruitment world is growing exponentially. According to research, 73% of Millennials report finding their most recent job on social media, 92 percent of recruiters use social media to find the best candidates for each position, and 86% of people in their first 10 years of employment say they use social media to find work. All these are potential options to reinforce your branded messaging which is consistent as well as authentic.
Stories of the employees, when narrated in the first person, are much more appealing to external candidates than formal Corporate Brand messaging. Employees are adopting social media platforms, hence the Corporate Brand gets humanized.
Employees’ stories make a really good option to indulge in Corporate Storytelling and showcase the culture of your organization. Stories of the employees, when narrated in the first person, are much more appealing to external candidates than formal Corporate Brand messaging. Employees are adopting social media platforms, hence the Corporate Brand gets humanized. Effective employer branding is the combination of market research, advisory services, communications, and marketing to achieve both a credible and desirable brand position.
Finally, through talent acquisition and retention, the end purpose of employer branding is to stimulate business growth and achieve strategic business goals.
