Did you know that 75% of job seekers are more likely to apply for jobs with companies that actively manage their employer brand? On the other hand, 86% of American women and 67% of American men wouldn’t join a company with a bad reputation. If you’re not taking the proper steps to create a positive brand, you’re missing out on a significant portion of the job market. So, what can be done to ensure you’re not missing the mark? Keep reading to learn how to leverage recruitment strategies that showcase your brand’s sterling reputation.
What Is an Employer Brand?
The employer brand is the experience jobseekers, candidates, and employees have when engaged with an organization. It encompasses many employment and career attributes, such as an organization’s vision, career paths, mission, values, culture, community, passions, ways of working, total rewards, and much more.
A strong employer brand communicates many things, and ultimately, it is to help job seekers (and employees) make better career decisions. It’s tightly linked to how people experience value from employment and being part of a team. Your employer brand affects all aspects of employment experience, from recruitment and onboarding to employee retention and engagement.
Benefits of Cultivating a Strong Employer Brand
There are several substantial benefits of cultivating a strong and healthy employer brand, including:
- Attract top talent: When you communicate how your organization takes care of people, providing opportunities for growth, learning, and more, you’ll attract great candidates. A recent study found that 84% of job seekers are actually willing to forego higher pay if you offer ample non-monetary benefits like great culture, growth opportunities, flexibility, etc.
- Decrease time and cost per hire: An influential employer brand can improve the quality and quantity of your talent pipeline. Your organization is sought out or stands out. Not only is this excellent news for the hiring manager, but also for the company’s bottom line. With an influx of talent, you can screen candidates early, even before publicly posting a job opening. When a position opens up, you’ll have a surplus of highly qualified candidates to consider instead of starting the recruitment process from scratch — and you can likely forgo many of the costs associated with that.
- Boost retention: When your company culture is rewarding, it indicates a strong employer brand; employees are more likely to stick around because their view of the future is favorable. Considering that it costs 30%-150% of an employee’s salary to replace them, you can see why doing all you can is critical to keep employees happy and boost retention.
- Build a positive reputation: A positive reputation influences more than potential and current employees; it stretches beyond them to your customers, the greater community, and stakeholders. That can help you experience fast and sustainable growth.
Strategies for Cultivating a Positive Employer Brand
Consider the following recruitment strategies to help your organization cultivate a positive employer brand:
- Leverage social media: Social media is ideal for sharing your employer brand. You can invite people into content that lets them see a side of your organization that isn’t always easy to find. Empowering employees to share their experiences will also help connect. Don’t limit your social content to just recruiting; let people see what it’s like being part of your organization because maybe they are not ready today but might remember you tomorrow.
- Enhance the employer brand experience: Improving the applicant and candidate experience will enhance your reputation. People share positive experiences freely. A transparent and engaging recruitment process, focusing on engagement and encouraging feedback, will do wonders to improve over time. It also sets the stage for creating a work environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, and innovation.
- Create an internal culture of appreciation: Everyone wants to feel appreciated. It is a cornerstone of culture and morale. Employees who have been recognized are 63% more likely to stay at their current jobs. Create an internal culture of appreciation and recognition by encouraging open and honest communication, listening to employee concerns and taking action, creating opportunities for collaboration, and recognizing employees for their hard work regularly, whether it’s with “employee of the __” awards, lunch with the boss, an afternoon off, or any other ways you want to incentivize your workforce. Be creative, and it will pay dividends for a long time.
- Showcase employee achievements: Social media, recognition events, awards ceremonies, and a company newsletter are great places to start showcasing employee achievements. Public recognition will motivate your employees to be more productive and do their best to get recognized, too.
- Brand employee referral programs: Employee referral programs encourage current employees to refer people they know for jobs within your organization. This is a great way to expand your hiring pool and reach more qualified candidates. To encourage participation in the referral program, recognize and reward employees who participate through prizes, gift cards, raffles, lotteries, and other incentives that align with the company’s culture and values.
