Employer branding is a marketing strategy that focuses on building a positive image of a company as an employer. This strategy is used to attract talent and improve employee retention.
What is Employer Branding?
The term Employer Branding was first introduced in 1996 by Simon Barrow in his book “The Employer Brand”. The main objective of this concept was to help companies improve their brand image as an employer and, at the same time, attract and retain the best talent. Since then, it has become an important part of human resource management around the world.
The idea is for a company to present itself as the best workplace, creating an employer brand that is attractive to candidates and reflects the company’s values. This helps companies to be more competitive in the talent market, which in turn helps them maintain a competitive advantage.
Until a couple of years ago, only large companies focused on this strategy, but in the ever-changing labour market, companies of all sizes and industries implement strategies to improve their positioning as an Employer Brand.
Difference between Employer Brand and Employer Branding
Employer Brand is different from employer branding, but both are used to attract and retain top talent.
- Employer Brand is how a brand is perceived in its industry, as well as its promise to its employees. It showcases the company culture, interactions, and employee satisfaction.
- Employer branding, on the other hand, is the process of building and maintaining an employer brand.
Strategies to establish Employer Branding for your company
While employer branding can be a complex strategy to implement, there are a few techniques that can help a company develop its employer brand as an attractive option for potential employees.
For Human Resources experts, talent is a strategic asset within corporate culture; therefore, a series of human capital methods come into play here, some of which are:
- Establishing an attractive company culture for employees can help a company attract and retain top-level talent. Employees, in turn, can act as ambassadors for the company, attracting other ideal candidates.
- Streamlining the hiring process to provide a positive candidate experience is an effective way to improve a company’s image as a job provider. First impressions can go a long way in securing top talent within your organisation.
- Using social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to promote your employer brand can help your company connect with potential candidates.
- Showcase employee testimonials, this form of social proof, can encourage jobseekers to learn more about your company and get a sense of what it is like working there.
- Create a compelling “careers” or “work with us” page. Your careers page is the centre of your employer brand. It’s your chance to educate potential candidates about your company’s culture and core values.
- Offering attractive benefits to current and potential employees can significantly improve a company’s image. Obviously, an above-average salary is compelling, but other benefits such as health insurance, in-house legal services, flexible hours, offering the option of teleworking, free food, leisure and relaxation areas, etc can often outweigh higher salary packages. These additional benefits have a great impact on the employer’s brand image.
- Promoting employee satisfaction is an effective way to improve a company’s image as a desirable workplace. This can be accomplished through employee satisfaction surveys, individual interviews, and employee feedback.
- Proactive career development plans: through practices such as mentoring or coaching, employees are guided in their purpose within the company, and are helped to attain leadership positions. This is crucial to retain talent.
- Great Place to Work: your company can also obtain the Great Place to Work certification, which is awarded to companies that prioritize the well-being of their employees. This certification is given to companies that undergo a simple audit process and decide to implement policies that improve the work environment.
Our advice
Hiring managers frequently tell us that when attempting to hire, there are few quality candidates who fit the selection process. Knowing that the best candidates do their homework and actively research companies before applying, we recommend investing time in improving your employer brand now to ensure that high-quality candidates want to work at your company.
