The great talents of the 21st century workplace is not just particular about an Employer Brand, as professionals pursue their career aspirations, the reputation of a company is as important as the job search process itself. Companies who have built strong and sustainable brand top the list of workplaces individuals like to work with.
Employer Branding is a company’s outward message about the company’s leadership, values and culture, it is a communication approach targeted to retain high performing employees, and attract top-raking talent with the purpose of getting employees on board with the vision, mission, values and through telling a compelling story of the organization, it centers on creating a positive workspace where people actually want to work and love their work . Another name for employer branding is Corporate Branding.
From the recruitment to the retention efforts, every action leaves an impression with candidates and employees that shape their opinion of an organization, positively or negatively. Employees and potential candidates are constantly checking out the ratings of a workplace on worksites or social media. Some individuals will solely work with an organization based on what the media or personal reputation such company has.
A great employer branding strategy can help companies attract better talent, cut down on hiring costs, and reduce employee turnover.
Benefits of Strong and Sustainable Employer Branding.
Employees have access to million opportunities across the country, The current workforce is fluid as talents are becoming more agile without sticking with one company for the long haul, therefore, attracting and retaining top talents is needed for an organization to thrive.
Allure top talents
People want to work for an organization whose value aligns with the staff welfare, and one with a good reputation. In today’s world employees are willing to leave a high paying negative work environment for a less paying one that has a positive work environment.
Reduce time and cost per hire
A strong employer brand will give room for an influx of talents even if there is no open role to fill, talents will keep sending in their CVs to pitch, so there are candidates to vet early, a CV databank to interview from, rather than starting the process from attracting new applicants. Also, there will be referrals from outsiders and insiders when there is a vacant role to fill when the employer has a great brand.
Improves Employee Retention
Employees value a healthy work environment and are willing to stay. A low turnout is a great sign of a strong employer brand. Investing in employees’ welfare and brand reputation is well worth it in the long run.
Build credibility with customers and stakeholders
Consumers and clients will trust a company’s services if there is great service rendered by the employees. Having the best team with the right attitude to work will affect business positively. According to Zeno’s 2020 strength of purpose study, 80% of consumer buys from recommended companies they trust.
Boost employees morale
There is pride that comes with working for a great company, employees value companies that carefully consider Staff Welfare and Wellbeing.
How to build a strong and sustainable Employer Brand
The importance of a good employer brand cannot be overemphasized, the very first step is to be a good employer with the right values. Employer branding is something that an organisation needs to continuously manage. Some of the steps towards building a successful employer branding strategy are:
Define your company’s core value.
Core values help companies become outstanding from their competitors, having a clear value, mission, vision, and culture is important to attract and retain talents and must be consistent in practice, as it is in the document.
Design a sustainable and inclusive hiring process.
The hiring process should be inclusive regardless of applicant’s background, it is also important to understand the recruitment and hiring process as well as its challenges. Defining and understanding your candidate personas is a great start while ensuring that the recruitment process is merit driven .
Build a strong online presence.
The world is a digital place, most prospective employees have access to internet and research potential future employers. Optimizing different online channels to promote employer brand and get in front of their candidates’ personas.
Engage your employees.
Employer branding starts from within, engage your existing employees and promote a positive work environment, encouraging employees to share their view about the organisation’s brand will promote it and attract jobseekers and customers.
Measure the success of your Employer branding.
To measure the success of employer branding you must refer to the organisation’s stated goals and objectives and ensure that the outcome tallies with it. Employer brand can positively or negatively impact revenue.
Employees also have a role to play in giving you brand visibility, they are the most important employer brand ambassadors, and employees’ voice is more credible than the CEO’s when it comes to talking about a company’s working condition. Travis Wright posits “No matter how often your PR team is out there sharing the gospel, or the CEO is on television…nothing is more effective than the voice of your employees”.
In conclusion, all hands must be on deck towards building and sustaining an Employer Brand, the company must constantly check and review aspects of Employer branding they would continue or discontinue to remain a great Employer brand.
Regardless of what stage your organization is at on the workplace culture journey, we invite you to consider how to tell the story of your journey through the experiences of your employees.
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