When it comes to talent acquisition, organizations have a number of avenues to pursue. However, not all of those are equally effective and using a multi-faceted approach is often recommended. One of the most proven and effective methods though, is empowering internal brand ambassadors to assist. In the following article, we will explore what talented professionals are most interested in when pursuing career opportunities, along with the top methods used for attracting and retaining the best talent that is available in the marketplace.
In the ultra-competitive business landscape, achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage is crucial to success. Recruitment of top talent in your industry is one surefire way to get ahead of the competition. Ask any C-level executive and they will all tell you how important the right team is to the bottom line. Top talent boosts productivity, improves processes, and drives profitability. Knowing this, companies and recruiters alike are in constant need of attracting these individuals. However, this continues to be an ongoing challenge for HR professionals.
So, what are the best, most talented people looking for when exploring or being approached with an opportunity? In this day and age, incentives such as stock options, health insurance, and larger compensation packages only scratch the surface of what many desire. Here are just a few other key benefits that can play a major role in having top talent join an organization:
- Company culture- Employees take company culture seriously when considering opportunities, as they should. As stated in a recent Gallup article, Build a Company Culture That Improves Business Performance, “a strong company culture functions as a differentiator in the marketplace. It is the special way you attract customers, retain them and turn them into brand advocates.”
- Career advancement opportunities– Long-term career development is often at the top of mind of talented employees. These individuals will spend time inquiring about the training procedures in place, company growth, internal promotions, and overall opportunities that are available.
- Company reputation and brand perception– Top talent respects a reputable company and well-established brands. When exploring an opportunity, you can be certain that research will be completed on the brand, its online reputation, and overall reputation from industry associates. Get this wrong and watch those potential recruits join another organization.
As each individual is unique, so are the motivational factors that go into their job placement decisions. However, these types of benefits are commonly attributed to top talent hires, making them a focus for those looking to bring them aboard. With that being said, let’s focus further on the use of brand ambassadors and how empowering them can significantly impact your ability to attract and retain the best talent.
A brand ambassador is an employee who endorses or promotes a particular company’s products or services. Every team member of an organization is a brand ambassador, whether they know it or not. As such, they can either help their company attract top talent or they can hurt those efforts. For example, negative and unsatisfied employees will tarnish the reputation of the organization. In turn, online reputation will suffer, rumors and chatter within the industry become common, sales may be affected, and recruitment of talented professionals becomes more difficult.
On the other hand, creating a plan and effectively utilizing brand ambassadors within your company can have a significant impact on your overall growth. Rather than pushing away top talent, organizations that spend time and effort on brand ambassador initiatives will captivate the industry’s best. First, if not already in place, create a brand ambassador plan or program. Next, communicate your initiatives and plan with all of your employees and be sure not to exclude anyone.
Let’s take a look at one of the leading methods so that you can have an actionable plan to improve your processes; Encourage your employees to share their work experience across platforms online. This includes social media and job review platforms, such as our site. These testimonials and insights are commonly researched and read by those considering joining the team. They want to get a feel of that company culture and what regular, everyday staff thinks about the company. Over the years, these sites have significantly grown in overall website traffic, validating the number of eyeballs that are on the talent daily. Lastly, sites like LinkedIn can be a treasure trove of attractive content for talent. Putting that plan in place and asking your top employees to assist with that can pay long-term dividends.
Comparably makes the process of revealing company culture and branding content and getting that in front of the right audience incredibly easy. As part of the Employer Branding Tools, customizable social media assets give users a plethora of marketing assets to highlight your company culture. And just as importantly, the tools make the content easily shareable to social media once completed.
For example, an employee can choose from dozens of ready-to-use content pieces, such as employee spotlights, social postings, employee videos, and a culture widget. Once the content is chosen, simply customize it to your own messaging and brand guidelines. From there, you can share your creation to Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other communication channels. Your employees can then share that content on their own social media networks, simplifying the brand ambassador process and experience.
When it comes to video creation, organizations have been adopting various methods to communicate their value propositions to prospective employees. Comparably’s video creation tools have soared in popularity for the ease of use and the valuable content for your brand. As an example, you can simply crowdsource real stories from employees to highlight why the team members enjoy working for your company. The platform provides preview questions if needed, keeping the process fun and easy to follow. Once a testimonial video is completed, one click and the content can be shared to social media. As video continues to trend upwards in popularity, this type of brand ambassador content will continue to have its impact on recruitment.
As you can see, attracting the best talent by empowering brand ambassadors within your organization is critical during these times. Having a partner like Comparably to facilitate an all-inclusive talent acquisition plan helps save time and money over the long run. Let’s help your brand ambassadors easily tell the story of your company and attract the best talent available. Contact us today to elevate your employer brand and convert more quality candidates.
