When it comes to hiring new talent, there are a lot of tried-and-tested methods that recruiters use to deliver candidates to their ideal role. Sometimes it’s an easy process, and sometimes it takes a lot more work. One of the primary factors that lead to costly, time-consuming recruitment is having a poor employer brand.
What is employer branding?
An employer brand, simply put, is the outside perception of your business, including your commitment to your employees to grow their expertise, talent and skills. It’s how you market your company to potential candidates, and it’s a big part of the recruitment process.
Ideally, you want people to want to work for you; you want to be someone’s dream job. You can showcase what it’s like to be an employee of your company, and amplify that to attract new talent.
How to build your employer brand.
There’s a reason that your competitors don’t want you to invest in your employer brand. According to research, a good, strong employer brand can cut recruitment costs by as much as 43%. This is because companies that have a strong employer brand act as talent magnets, bringing the best talent to them with minimal effort.
So we’ve learned that employer branding is similar to reputation management but in a recruitment sense. It’s the outwards-facing perception of what it’s like to work for your company, and it’s crucial to attracting talented candidates. But how do you get started?
First, you’ll need to understand what makes your offering unique.
In a startup, you’ll likely be starting with nothing, so your first hires are essential to the business’s survival. Once you’re past that stage, the focus shifts to how you’re going to start scaling up your operation, and this is where a good employee brand is key.
You’ll want to attract the best of the best and to do that you’ll want people to want to work for you. Define what makes your business unique, and outline your plan for the future. Why should people be excited about your venture? Why would they want to be a part of it?
Outline your Employer Value Proposition.
An Employer Value Proposition, or EVP, encompasses your business’s mission, values and culture, giving your employees a reason to work for you. It includes everything that the employer can provide for the employees, and helps to define precisely what new candidates can expect when lining up for a job interview.
The benefits of a well-designed EVP are myriad. It encourages and re-energises the existing workforce and lays out the benefits of being on board with the business’s mission.
The messaging for the EVP should be more than just a list of remarks about your mission, or a record of perks and benefits that your employees receive. It should be employee-centric, defining and explaining your well-established and well-loved benefits that all employees, regardless of rank or experience receive when working at your company.
Some benefits could include:
● A competitive salary
● Career development opportunities
● Employee recognition
● Employer-provided private healthcare
● Opportunities for travel
● Work-life balance
Tips for building your brand quickly
Once you’ve got your first few hires under your belt, it’s time to scale. To encourage applicants, show off your employees by letting them show off themselves. There are few things more attractive to potential candidates than seeing staff enjoying their work and wanting to shout about it.
Be sure to shout about your staff, and encourage your staff to shout about themselves. We often achieve a lot at work, but we don’t often talk about it. By changing that, you’re showcasing your staff in their best light, and that breeds confidence and job loyalty.
As well as that, talk about what good you’re doing in the community. Are you or one of your team fundraising? Make sure to post about it and encourage donations. These days, people are much more likely to want to work for a company that has Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in mind.
Growing and maintaining your employer brand will make you the envy of your competition, and will make you a much more attractive employer that candidates will be excited to apply and work for.