With the ever-increasing transparency of social media and the internet in general, potential hires have more information than ever about your business. Further, talent shortages are increasingly becoming a problem for employers. The best way to attract the best talent? By improving your employer branding.
Employer Branding: Definition and Some Numbers
Prior to discussing anything else, we need to define what exactly is employer branding and why it’s so important.
What is Employer Branding?
“Employer Brand” was first defined in the mid-1990s as a an indication of an organization’s reputation as an employer, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation.
In the mid-2000s, many major name employers started heavily focusing on this for the first time, and the importance only seems to be increasingly recognized to this day.
The Numbers of Employer Branding
Further, these numbers highlight why employer branding is increasingly desired and useful to brands:
- 36% of employers report talent shortages. The best way to combat shortages is to make yourself more appealing as an employer.
- 73% of CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills. Even if you have willing applicants, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to find the workers with the kinds of skills they need.
- 60% of leaders place responsibility of employer branding on the CEO, rather than HR. This means many companies are seeing it as an issue of strategic importance.
How can you tackle these important priorities? Well first, you need to understand your employer brand.
Understand Your Employer Brand
Before you can do anything else, you need to understand your brand as an employer. A few questions to ask yourself to help you identify this:
Why would someone want to work for you?
Remember that interviews work two ways. You need to sell your business just as much as the candidates need to sell themselves. Consider what makes your business superior to others and why candidates should choose you over other options.
How visible is your employer brand?
Although this point is fairly obvious, the more visible, the greater the talent pool. Getting potential candidates familiar with your brand will increase the likelihood of them applying for your business.
What perception do employees and candidates have about your employer brand?
If your current employees are happy, they’ll be more likely to share this, attracting new hires. They’ll also make it clear when they’re unhappy and your reputation likely will get around, making it more difficult to attract new talent. Further, if candidates aren’t hearing good things, they may not choose you over competition or be less productive if they are offered a job.
What percentage of your employees would recommend your company as a great place to work?
Again, keeping your current employees happy will do wonders for your recruitment efforts; it’s significantly damaging if they’re not.
Have you trained managers in how to deliver the brand experience?
It’s not enough to have a strong employer brand in place, it needs to be shared repeatedly to ensure employees – and anyone else – remembers. Only 46% of businesses train their managers on this, so it could put you ahead of over half of your competition.
How to Improve Your Employer Brand
Whether your employer reputation is in the toilet or you’re moderately successful, we can all stand to improve our employer brand. A few ideas worth considering:
Attract and Retain
Although you should focus on attracting new talent, you can’t neglect the talent you currently have. Retention is far cheaper than recruiting new hires, so keeping your current employees happy helps you save money. Plus, if their happy, your employer reputation will only improve, making it easier to attract the new talent you seek.
Be Clear with Your Employer Brand’s Values
Like regular branding, it’s important to clearly define your brand and its values, then communicate it to those you’re trying to attract. Of course, your employer brand values should be similar to your general brands, but a little more specific to the talent you’re trying to recruit.
Let Your Employees Create a Brand Message
It’s far more authentic coming from employees than from upper management. They understand the brand in and out and what makes it a great employer. Their message could be very compelling to potential candidates.
Employer Branding: The Best Solution to Talent Shortages
As talent shortages become increasingly apparent, employer branding will become the best solution. The sooner you start working on your employer branding, the sooner you’ll reap the benefits. Most importantly, you’ll be ahead of the rest as shortages become a greater issue.
Want to learn more about employer branding?
