You are not alone if you are having trouble hiring. In recent years, hiring has become more challenging, and two-thirds of hiring managers say that they struggle to track down suitable candidates.
What if you didn’t need to look for candidates, though? What if applicants found you?
Making people aware of the fact that your organization is a fantastic place to work is the aim of employer branding. Candidates will rush to apply to your openings if you can develop a great employer brand.
What Is Employer Branding?
Employer branding is an approach used to influence how current staff members and the rest of the workforce view a company’s brand. Employer branding focuses especially on the staff and potential employees of a company, while branding in general may target customers. Therefore, it is a communication strategy created to keep top-performing staff members and draw in top talent.
The reputation of your company as an employer is your employer brand. In layman’s terms, it’s what potential employers and coworkers actually think about you. When you’re not around, that’s what they say to their friends and relatives. Although it might not be physical, your employer brand is a valuable asset that needs to be constantly nurtured.
Candidates and employees have opinions about you as an employer, and those opinions and impressions have an impact on your reputation. Whether or not you actively manage your employer brand, you already have one. Candidates and coworkers have opinions of you, and if you don’t try to change those opinions, you’re at their mercy.
How to Build an Employer Brand
You’re now prepared to take your employer brand seriously.
But where do you begin?
There’s no reason you can’t create a strong employer brand even if you can’t pay specific specialists to do this task. Let’s tackle the fundamentals first because doing so will help you focus on the process’ most crucial jobs.
1. Define Your Unique Value Proposition and Company Statement
Before they apply for an open position and decide to work for your firm, people need to understand what it is all about. Setting up a distinct, unique value proposition and corporate statement is so crucial.
A unique value proposition (UVP) outlines how your goods or services enhance the quality of life for those who use them. You must explain how and why your business especially stands out from the competition in your target market by addressing specific wants or pain points that consumers have.
You should therefore elaborate on your company statement. Your organization’s values, culture, and ultimate mission are all included in your company statement. Candidates will be able to more clearly assess whether your objectives coincide with theirs and whether they would be a suitable fit for your organization if you can clearly communicate these aspects of your strategy.
You may attract qualified applicants that share your vision and are ready to contribute to your distinctive culture by using a well-defined UVP and company statement.
2. Conduct an Employer Brand Audit
An employer brand audit is the first stage because without knowing what others think of you, it is impossible to manage or impact your employer brand.
This fact-finding journey has two goals: to learn how the firm is currently portraying itself to potential employees and candidates, as well as what those people think about the company in real life.
First, consider everything—and we do mean everything—you are saying to applicants and workers that can have an effect on how they view the business. Analyze any relevant information, including your job descriptions, career page, social media profiles, offer and rejection letters, onboarding materials, internal correspondence, and performance reviews, if it is available.
It’s time to ask candidates and staff for their opinions next. Remember that the goal is to ascertain their true opinions about the organization, so only pose questions that will yield insightful answers.
What would they say about the business to a friend? They chose to apply, so why? What prompted them to accept or reject their offer? Why do they continue to work for the business year after year? Why are they quitting the business? Do they believe the business is ethical?
Don’t speak with too many people; just enough to be certain that you have obtained relevant information. Data analysis will be all but impossible if there is too much information collected.
Once finished, the employer brand audit will assist you in identifying and filling in any gaps between how the business presents itself and how potential workers and prospects view it.
3. Craft Your Employee Value Proposition
You are prepared to create your employee value proposition using the data gathered from the employer brand audit (EVP).
The EVP is the “people deal” that exists between a company, its staff, and the potential workers. It responds to two significant queries:
what a prospective employee or employee can anticipate from the business.
What the employer anticipates from a particular employee or prospect.
Consider your EVP as the compass for all of your company branding endeavors. Even though you might never disclose it to the public, your EVP will influence how you communicate going forward.
4. Implement Your Employer Branding Strategy
You ought to be prepared to spread your message at this stage. But which platforms are most crucial? There are endless ways you may market your employer brand, but when you first start out, we advise picking the easiest ones to use.
Job Descriptions
Although job descriptions might not seem like the best place to showcase your personality, they frequently represent a job seeker’s first impression of your organization, therefore it is important that they convey the image you want to project.
Career Page
One of the most crucial points of contact with potential applicants is your career page, which serves as the focal point of your employer branding materials. Spend some time honing it in so that you can persuade prospects that you’re the place to be with compelling photos or video, staff testimonials, your core values, and more.
Online Reviews
Nowadays, almost all job seekers check employer evaluations before submitting an application, and reading a bad review can make them reconsider their decision. Even while you have no influence over anonymous evaluations, you may reply to them, and this can have a significant effect on how others perceive you. Pay attention to what people are saying about you and don’t be hesitant to respond, since 7 out of 10 respondents said their opinions of a firm altered after witnessing how it handled a bad review on Glassdoor.
Candidate Experience
At some point, if you’re fortunate enough to persuade a strong applicant to apply, you’ll speak with them face-to-face. The candidate’s experience must be consistent with your employer brand, whether it’s a preliminary phone interview or an in-person meeting, or you risk losing them.
Do not forget to walk before running. There’s no use in hurrying the employer branding process because it’s not simple. You’ll be able to start working on more complicated employer branding initiatives once you’ve finished these tasks.
Bottom Line
SW HR Consulting has been helping companies to build their teams and values for over 10 years. Contact us to find out more about our unique hr outsourcing services and see how our expertise can benefit you.
