A company’s employer brand is all about their image as a place to work, both internally and to jobseekers, with the basic idea in mind that a staff of great, happy employees is a major part of a company’s ability to be successful and also to project success. Employer branding is, then, the art and science that deals with attracting strong candidates, keeping them as passionately committed to your company goals as possible, and retaining them as employees rather than losing to the first company that comes along with an appealing offer.
The term “employer brand” was first used in the 1990s in a paper by Simon Barrow and Tim Ambler, both of the London Business School, and defined by them as “the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company.” Books on the subject began appearing in 2005, and continued commonly thereafter. The term has since come into broad usage by the global management community.
Employer brand measures a company’s employer value proposition (EVP), which is defined as “the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company.” In today’s working world, HR and talent management teams make use of employer branding to attract top talent the same way, fundamentally, that the same company’s marketing efforts are used to attract and hold on to business clients and customers.
In terms of ROI, it can be hard to measure the impact of a strong employer brand, but most companies keep a close eye on
- The number of job applicants they get before and after they put branding tactics into use,
- How many of those applicants become hires,
- How long it takes to fill open roles,
- How much money – hopefully less – is spent on third party recruiting.
A flawed employer brand, front-loaded with promise that employers don’t actually find to be fulfilled when later employed there, will result in quick turnaround for talented employees who will feel they’ve been misled. And that kind of reputation will end up costing a company 10% more per hire in the long run.
In other words, you can’t force it. And it needs to be done for the right reasons, as a positive thing for all involved. Even a culture that is as self-aware of its own marketplace tendencies as our own still fundamentally wants to believes in an honest business-to-employee relationship. An employer brand has to be authentic in order to have the desired effect on the employer itself. Half-measures will result in half-results. The goal is putting together a like-minded team of strong and varied talents that radiate employee satisfaction and success because they are, quite simply, satisfied and successful.
When it comes to a strategy for how to build and retain a strong employer brand, here are some foundational tips:
Find out how your employees really feel – There’s no time for self-delusion here. If you want to get an employer brand that really works for your business, you’re going to have to get the pulse of how your employees truly feel, and then you’re going to have to actively address any negative talk points. Use a confidential staff survey to find out how employers are talking about the company to their friends and others outside work and also what their favorite and least favorite parts of working there are. A business is a business, and a certain amount of anonymous grousing is to be expected, but this kind of survey can give companies a real sense of morale.
Decide on the relevant KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to use – Your KPIs will vary with whatever objective you have in mind. Make sure they are relevant to your objectives, accurate and easily harvested, and – most importantly, perhaps – highly actionable. There are some elements of employee performance and mindset that you’ll never be able to control, so make sure you’re going after clear, reasonable results from the process.
Make sure that your employees are on board with the process – You’ll get nowhere if you’re not seeking a goal that’s actually beneficial to your existing employees, and you’ll get to zero twice as quickly if you’re not totally transparent with your employees about your thinking. There needs to be strong organic connections between what they want in their work lives and what you project in the employee branding messaging.
Lean on great employee stories to paint the picture of your culture – Promoting actual employee success stories is one of the clearest ways to communicate a positive employee brand. These are gold in your hand when it comes to recruitment. So find the best stories you can among your employees of how working at your company helped them thrive both at work and in their daily lives, and turn them into sharable content.
Generate “ideal candidate” personas – While still keeping an open mind as well as an open eye on diversity, you should attempt to craft a “ideal candidate” persona. You can cobble this portrait together from the best points among your staff. Once you’ve got a clear idea of who this imaginary candidate is, you’ll have a clear target to focus branding efforts on. If that’s the kind of person you want to continue stocking your company with, then do your best to appeal directly to them.
Steer clear of using stock photography in promotional materials – When crafting content designed to appeal to jobseekers and get the word out on your employer brand, avoid using stock photographs from the internet’s well-traversed sites. Actual photos of your own employees in their own environment enjoying their jobs will always be more compelling than bland images of anonymous models standing around a non-descript office pointing at computer monitors and pretending to like each other.
Make sure your careers page is robust – One thing every job seeker expects from any modern-thinking company is a helpful and attractive website. Make sure that the company website takes time and makes space for some rich information about life as an employee of your company. As we mentioned above, capture images of your employees when they’re at their best and most energized by the job and their coworkers. Make sure your careers page is exciting and dynamic, as it will be for many candidates one of their primary impressions of your company in terms of employer brand.
Come up with a strong voice for social media – A strong social media presence across as many platforms is deemed necessary is another thing that is expected by up-to-date jobseekers. You’ll also need to develop a voice as a company and stick to it. Maybe find the ideal voice for that ideal employee profile you dreamed up a few steps back, and find a way to keep social media communications consistent with that voice.
As many of 75% of companies have a tough time implementing employer branding strategies – So keep an eye out for teams where loyalty only extends to direct management, as this effort demands that multiple teams across the company act in concert; also, don’t rely only on the CEO or high-level execs to spread the message, make sure middle management is aware of and implementing branding measures as well; and keep an open mind as a company and prepare to adapt, pivot, and course-correct as needed, often unexpectedly.
We’re not going to factor ourselves into these pieces, but if you’d like to learn more about us please visit Comparably to learn more about the company and the tools we offer.
This article is the first part of a 5-part series on employer branding. The other parts of this series are available here: II: 12 Examples of Great Employer Brands III: The Best Employer Branding Software Solutions. IV: New Employer Brand Ideas V: Employer Brand Vs. Recruitment Marketing
