The employer brand is a key element of HR—especially for recruitment, employee retention and corporate reputation.
Did you know that 75% of job seekers are more likely to apply to a company with a carefully managed employer brand? Paying attention to your reputation as an employer should absolutely be a priority.
Normally, a company’s employer brand is created organically over the course of decisions made by the organization. This being said, you can actively work on your employer brand to strengthen it and make it more positive. Conversely, a poorly managed employer brand can become tarnished over time.
Employer branding refers to the actions taken to establish and promote a company’s reputation as an attractive place to work.
More than just an HR marketing operation
Your employer brand must directly align with your company’s vision and values.
It should guide your organization’s decisions. For example, if employee well-being is important to you, regularly improve your working conditions to help your team be happy at work.
A strong employer brand will help:
- Ease recruitment
- Reduce employee turnover
- Attract talent
- Improve your company’s reputation
- Set yourself apart from other employers
6 ideas to improve your employer brand
If you want to improve your employer brand, start by establishing your needs and goals. You’ll then be able to draw up a strategy that better aligns with what you want to achieve.
Above all, remember that your strategy must include initiatives for your current and future employees. Both groups are key to your company’s reputation. And they can become your best ambassadors.
Here are a few tips for building a strong employer brand.
1. Update your website and socials
Your website and social media are now usually people’s first point of contact with your company. Don’t hesitate to put forward your values and your corporate culture, and make sure to maintain them and update them from time to time. Your website should be SEO optimized not only for lead generation but also for recruitment purposes.
Your “About” page is an important space that most serious candidates will visit before applying for a job. So take the time to make sure it represents your values. You can leave corporate buzzwords behind here and show your true colours.
Your business should have Facebook, Instagram or even LinkedIn pages, depending on your business. You don’t have to go overboard, but having a social media presence is important for any serious business. Social media is a good place to share your job offers and highlight your company culture or success stories just use quality content including popular visuals and use relevant hashtags to find your content..
2. Ask your employees for their input
If you’re wondering what you should be doing to improve your company, better satisfy your employees and attract better candidates, why not ask your existing team for their opinion?
Periodically send your employees anonymous questionnaires to help shed light on improvements that need to be made at your company. Their answers may surprise you.
This will also prevent you from investing time and money in initiatives that end up not really being important or relevant to your employees.
3. Follow up with your candidates
In a perfect world, no company should have to say, in a job posting, “Only selected candidates will be contacted.” Of course, in a context where a company can receive more than fifty or even a hundred resumes for a single job offer, it becomes laborious, if not impossible, to follow up with each and every individual.
This being said, you should always follow up with candidates who have taken the time to do a phone interview or in-person interview. Even unsuccessful applicants deserve an answer from you. Better yet, take the time to tell them what you liked and explain your decision so that they can improve.
Whether you like it or not, everyone who comes into contact with your company plays a role in shaping your employer brand. This is why it’s necessary to invest time in dealing with the candidates you choose not to select. Who knows—they might even become ambassadors for your company thanks to their positive experience.
4. Maintain good relationships with your partners and customers
A company’s reputation is also based on how it treats its partners and customers. Always keep interactions respectful and treat people the way you would like to be treated.
Lead by example by being kind and respectful toward others. Most importantly, ask your team to do the same. A healthy work environment extends to interactions with all stakeholders.
5. Implement an impeccable onboarding process
New employees’ onboarding process is critical to their experience at your company.
Make sure they feel comfortable and can integrate quickly into your team. Give them time to learn the ropes, and provide them with opportunities to connect with their coworkers.
Team-building activities can be frowned upon in certain industries. Yet the fact is that they’re great opportunities for improving a company’s employer brand and keeping employees happy.
6. Offer attractive working conditions
Beyond being competitive, your working conditions should be attractive. Employees aren’t just looking for a big paycheck, lots of vacation time and endless opportunities for advancement.
Recent studies show that employees are first and foremost looking for jobs that offer flexibility and recognition. Regardless of your company’s size, chances are that you’re able to offer your employees both.
Above all, be authentic
You can put all the best initiatives in place, but if they don’t really align with your values, mission and decisions as an organization, odds are they won’t work very well.
A company’s employer brand is very important, especially in a labour shortage. When it comes to setting yourself apart from other employers, authenticity is key.
