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Did you know that 84 percent of job seekers consider a company’s reputation when choosing where to apply for a job? Without a strong employer brand, your company may be missing out on top candidates, potentially losing money, and affecting other areas of your business.
Due to the internet, the way companies recruit candidates for jobs has changed. Job seekers can immediately search for information about your company and they do!
So what is an employer brand? Although most people think of a company’s logo or tagline, the value of your employer brand is so much more.
Why is branding is so important?
Your employer brand is synonymous with your company’s reputation. Your employer brand is everything from your job listings, career website page, company reviews, online reputation, social media presence to your values and mission statement. Positive employer branding helps to attract and retain quality employees, who are crucial to your company’s growth and success.
The main reason why an employer’s brand is so important is that it is the business identity of your company. It’s what makes your company unique or stand out to candidates who are looking for jobs. Yet, it also helps your recruiting team attract and improve the talent pool of applicants. Without a positive and consistent employer brand, your company could sabotage your hiring efforts and make it more difficult for you to hire the best talent.
Why does an employer brand strategy matter?
According to Human Resource statistics, 69 percent of job seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its brand. 50 percent of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation – even if they received a pay increase and companies with positive brands get twice as many applications than companies with negative brands, and they spend less on employees.
A positive employer brand is everything, especially when it comes to attracting new talent. By increasing the job pool of qualified candidates, your company will have more options when hiring. A company with a solid reputation, a genuine interest in their employees’ lives and a positive work culture, will have no problem attracting the best people.
Creating a positive employer brand through social media. Twenty five percent of all job seekers use social media as their primary tool for job searching and research. In addition, people trust friends, colleagues, and family over other forms of information provided online. If people are talking negatively about your company’s brand or work culture, job candidates will find this information.
Here are three thing that job candidates look for in a company’s employer brand:
1. Does Your Company’s Brand Reflect Your Mission?
Candidates aren’t just looking for a paycheck — they are looking for an opportunity to work for a company with a defined mission. This is particularly true for millennials. Seventy eight percent want their employer’s values to match their own. To captivate potential hires, you must craft a coherent narrative about what is important to you as an organization. Your commitment to this mission should be the thread that connects all of your print and online materials, from your careers page to corporate activism to social media to employee testimonials. Give prospective talent a flavor of what drives the work you do.
2. Credible information about the employee experience
When checking out a new company, job seekers want to know what it’s actually like to work for your organization from those who know best. That’s why it’s important to show your employees’ experience instead of company jargon. Consider taking an active role in getting testimonials from current employees about why they joined your company or what they like about it. People respond best to compelling visuals. A “day in the life” video will do more in two minutes than pages of text.
3. An active and engaging social media presence.
We cannot overstate the importance of social media in your employer brand, considering this digital world we live in now. Up to 57 percent of job seekers use social media in their hiring search. Use social media to give viewers a sense of your unique company identity.
4. A positive candidate experience
The candidate experience is a make-or-break aspect of your employer brand. Seventy eight percent of candidates believer the candidate experience is a reflection of how well the organization values its employees.
That means that job seekers view your candidate experience as “proof” that you live up to your company values. Efficiency, fairness and good communication can create a positive candidate experience .
Make sure your application process is brief, easy and intuitive to use. Many candidates will simply give up if employers ask for page after page of information.
Keep the lines of communication open with prospective talent throughout the recruitment process. Although an automated email confirming the receipt of an application, a personal note is even better.
5. Encourage employee training and growth
A way to retain employees and attract new talent is to off opportunities to learn and grow within their careers.
This could be training sessions to help employees learn new skills or opportunities to advance within the company. It’s important to make potential candidates aware that training exists. Most people desire to learn new skills. For some, it is the deciding factor when choosing where to apply. If there are no growth opportunities or training potential to develop new skills, why would someone with high skill levels want to choose to work for your company? When you invest in your team, you attract new hires.
Remember, the candidate experience doesn’t stop when you’ve made your hiring decision. Notifying individuals who didn’t get the job is particularly important. Eighty percent of applicants said they would not apply for another position at a company that failed to notify them when a position was filled.
When you leave candidates with a positive impression of your company, you will have talent waiting in the pipeline the next time you’re ready to hire.
At Strategic Recruitment Solutions (“SRS”), we specialize in Legal and IT Recruiting. Our professional recruiters provide candidates with knowledge and insight based on our years of experience in the Legal and IT fields. At SRS, our ultimate goal is to match top companies with top talent. We are focused on matching you to the RIGHT position at the RIGHT company. Call us today to see for yourself how easy finding your dream job can be.