Need Employer Branding 101? A new book, Employer Branding for Dummies, released in a special edition sponsored by Glassdoor.com, offers guidance for all employers in developing and maintaining their employer brand.
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The book, written by Alicia Garibaldi and published by John Wiley & Sons, offers practical tips and advice on employer branding.
What’s the Deal with Branding?
Branding is the expression of the organization’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP), that is, collectively all the rewards and benefits (monetary, emotional, social, and developmental, plus less tangible rewards related to self-worth, prestige, and pride) that the organization offers in return for an employee’s service.
In the employment context, EVP is what potential employees perceive about working at your organization, and in the retention and engagement context, it’s what keeps employees feeling good about their employment, their contribution, and what they get out of the employment experience.
In Employer Branding, Alicia Garibaldi suggests that employers do the following as they develop their company’s EVP:
- Define a compelling answer to the question, “Why should I work for you?”
- Solicit feedback from employees. Ask them why they stay.
- List your employer brand’s key ingredients—everyone should have a “Top 5” list.
- Connect your EVP with goals to attract the right audience.
- Ensure that your EVP resonates with the needs, wants, and desires of your target candidates.
- Get buy-in from senior leadership.
- Reinforce your EVP throughout your recruiting channels.
Is your onboarding truly getting new employees what they need to succeed? Find out on October 28, 2014 with a free interactive webcast Onboarding: Engaging New Hires Early and Often. Learn More
If you survey your employees in the course of developing your EVP, Garibaldi suggests the following questions:
- What perks matter most to you?
- What motivates you to perform well?
- Why did you choose to work here?
- Why do you choose to continue working here?
- When you’re at a barbecue, how do you describe our company?
Creating Compelling Visuals
One of the important aspects of branding is the visual component. Garibaldi suggests that employers start by defining the goals of your branding initiative and defining the audience that you wish to reach. Then:
- Use authentic and unique photos and videos. Don’t use stock photography. (Candidates want to see the group they will be joining, not models.)
- Create videos for each department.
- Highlight your company culture.
- Stick to one or two themes.
- Keep video presentations short (less than 2 minutes).
- Use your own employees’ stories to communicate your message.
- Take candidates through a “day in the life” of your employees.
Employer Branding for Dummies Offers Clever Suggestions
Employer Branding offers clever suggestions. For example, as a fun way to create your visual brand, try this fun activity for employees: Ask them to take photos or videos of what the company means to them, using the cameras in their phones ( or any camera). Reward the best photos by framing and hanging them around the office, or give top contributors an extra day off.
“The results are likely to be eye-opening,” says Garibaldi.
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How About Your Mobile Strategy?
If your company doesn’t already have a mobile strategy, says Garibaldi, now is the time to develop one. The book suggests the following:
- Analyze site traffic: Find out how much of your career site traffic comes from mobile devices, Garibaldi says.
- Avoid “pinch & pop”: Don’t make viewers zoom in and out; they aren’t likely to stick around or apply.
- Look at the competition’s mobile activity: Evaluate whether your top competitors are using mobile recruiting solutions. If you’re falling behind the competition, use that argument when you pitch mobile to management, suggests Garibaldi.
- Track and measure trends: Compare candidate visits and applications via mobile devices with those via desktop and laptop computers. The results can give you insight into which channels are working best and which need improvement.
- Make applying easy: Be sure that users can easily upload their résumés and apply to jobs on your career site, says Garibaldi. Maintaining a consistent look is important. With the evolution of social media, corporate brands must speak to candidates seamlessly across platforms.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, more from Garibaldi and Employer Branding for Dummies, plus we announce a free webcast on onboarding.