In order to attract top talent, companies need to improve their overall brand. Although 60% of CEOs think that their employer brand lies solely with them, research also indicates that 69% of job applicants are more likely to apply to a job for employers that actively manage their employer brands. So, recruiters should be heavily involved with creating and managing their employer brand, too.
Having a strong employer brand will help your organization:
- Attract the right people to it
- Reduce its recruiting and overhead costs
- Improve its employee engagement rates
Here’s how you can create an employer brand to attract desirable candidates.
Evaluate Your Current Reputation, and Designate Key Metrics
Before getting started, gather information and insight into what former and current applicants and employees think about your organization, as well as its application and recruiting process. Send them surveys asking them what they think of your organization and their experiences with it, and see if your employer brand (or desired employer brand) aligns with what they’re saying. See if there are gaps or any issues you need to address right away.
You can also consult reviews on job recruiting and career websites to see how your organization is rated. And you’ll also want to designate and track key metrics to determine the success of your employer brand as you continue to create and manage it—key metrics like acquisition and attrition rates, as well as overall employee engagement rates.
Encourage Leaders to Get Involved
CEOs and other leaders at an organization are still critical to ensuring the success of its employer brand. As you’re creating your employer brand, seek out their input and buy-in. Executives need to be a part of making the organization approachable or appealing and should exhibit the strong leadership and focus existing across their organization. They can entice candidates to apply or become interested in your organization.
Showcase Employee Stories
While building your employer brand, include and showcase important employee stories—stories about their successful experiences while working for your organization. And if possible, have them deliver their stories themselves via an interview captured on video or via a “day in the life” video or blog post.
Such authentic stories will provide the social proof that your organization needs and will allow it to represent itself as a valuable and enjoyable place to work while solidifying its brand and culture. Through stories, desirable prospects will get a much clearer idea of what it’s like to work for your organization before they apply.
Offer Insight into Real-Life Experience to Prospects
To give prospects a real idea of what your company culture is like and what it would be like to work for your organization, offer them plenty of photos and live video tours of your facilities and office spaces, share blog posts about what it’s like to work there and what your organization does, and share other content created by your employees, too.
Promote Your Company Culture and What Makes Your Organization Unique
When showcasing your employer brand, remember that prospects want to know about what makes your organization different from all the rest. What about its culture and everyday practices makes it enticing and interesting? Is it its data-driven approach, its passion for customer service excellence, or something else?
While you’re creating and promoting your employer brand, keep the tips above in mind to consistently attract the most desirable candidates possible.