Top Ten Tips for... Employer Branding
Our blog this month focuses on employer branding and the important role it plays in recruitment and throughout the employment life-cycle. To complement the advice given in that article, here are top 10 tips for successful employer branding:
1. Tell your story
Explaining why your organisation does what it does is a really effective way to attract similar minded people. Highlighting the kind of people who work for you and why they are important is a good way of showing appreciation for existing employees and of informally setting your expectations for potential new starters. Communicating your passion for what you do will inspire others to join you and attract real interest.
2. Create a company ‘elevator pitch’
A company elevator pitch that everyone knows and understands can be a good way to develop a strong corporate profile. What’s an elevator pitch? It’s the concise, engaging answer to the question ‘what does your company do?’ Including employees at all levels in the company to create and share this elevator pitch is an excellent way for your people to get across the employer brand in an authentic way. It can also reduce the cost and complexity of establishing a public image from scratch.
3. Make your existing people part of the story
To ensure your story is authentic to potential employees, make sure you centre it on your existing team. That way, your employer brand is built on the brand of individual employees. Some of the best and least expensive employer branding tactics simply communicate great employee engagement. Ask your people why they work for you, what engages and motivates them and use their answers to spread the message to your applicants.
4. Add a visual element
Using photography and digital imagery can help you promote your brand in ways that paragraphs of text and even employee testimonials can’t. It’s a great way to show potential employees that you offer a pleasant working environment, that people enjoy working for the company and that there’s a commitment to a good work/life balance. Using photographs on social media sites is also an excellent way to drive referral traffic.
5. Use video testimonials
Taking that idea a step further, why not create some short, compelling videos to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’ your people’s stories. Getting people to share what’s great about working for the company in their own words will have a much greater impact on potential recruits and add real authenticity to the message.
6. Have a clear and consistent online presence
Most potential employees will be researching your company online; checking out your website and all your social media channels. It’s important to make sure that you optimise your messaging and make it consistent across all these mediums, so that there’s no brand confusion. When you update a profile on one site, make sure you do it on them all. Also make sure you optimise your careers page for mobile – most applicants will try and access your site on their phone or tablet as a default rather than via their laptop or PC.
7. Focus on retaining current employees
Nothing turns off prospective recruits quicker than discovering your company has a high employee turnover. Applicants are looking for somewhere they can be valued, flourish and gain further career development. If you can retain your current employees and demonstrate a low turnover, it proves that you’re practising what you preach about valuing your employees.
8. Be flexible about benefits
As a small to medium business you may not be able to compete with larger organisations when it comes to salary. Being flexible and innovative about the kinds of benefits package you offer can be highly appealing, and could be a good differentiator. Try to understand the needs of the people you want to employ and reflect those needs in the benefits. If you get it right, you will demonstrate that you value and reward your employees. And that’s really attractive.
9. Encourage employees to be ambassadors
Building a strong employer brand through content you publish on your website and social media platforms can be an effective tool, but it won’t help you reach everyone. Encouraging some of your team members to attend networking events and be an active part of industry communities gives you the opportunity to have ambassadors spreading the message to potential candidates where they already are, in person.
10. Build a company culture
Without a strong culture, your company’s employer brand will always be weak. Building your employer culture on the experience and expertise of your current people will enable you to honestly portray the company’s mission to applicants. That will help you to attract employees that share the same values and demonstrate the same behaviours you want to promote.
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