Branding is a crucial component of any company’s success; in fact, reputation can make or break a company’s standing with its audiences. If you have a strong brand, you’ll create buzz, build credibility, and instill loyalty into your audience. Conversely, if your brand is weak or unidentifiable, you’ll see your audience flock to your competitors. What you may not have realized is that branding can also play a massive role in attracting and retaining employees for your business.
What Is Employer Branding?
Increasingly, people are looking for more than just a paycheck from their next employer; they want a culture that meshes with their personal values. This is where employer branding comes in. Employer branding is a process that utilizes the power and appeal of a company’s cultural traits to attract top-level talent and engage employees within the workplace.
When it comes to hiring, your employer brand plays a role in communicating your organization’s values, benefits, and culture to candidates. In addition, a strong employer brand makes it easier for applicants to feel positively towards your company because of the established familiarity.
The Difference Between an Employer Brand and Company Brand
Since employer branding and company branding are focused on two very different audiences, it only makes sense for organizations to have separate brands for both. However, given the fact that they often work hand in hand, it can be challenging to define the key differences:
- Communication Channels: Company branding focuses on communicating with your target audience via various marketing channels like your website, social media, and reviews. On the other hand, employer branding concentrates mainly on your careers page, job boards, job descriptions, company reviews, and job ads.
- User Experience: When it comes to user experience, company branding focuses on the quality of the buyer’s journey and the product or service they are trying to sell. For employer branding, providing quality experiences is a daily effort to keep your team happy, engaged, and content within your workplace.
- Engagement: For consumers, engaging with your product or service can often be short-term; even when it’s long-term, the engagement is always transactional. Employer branding requires a long-term approach and impacts their livelihood. So, it’s essential to ensure employees are intimately engaged with your company.
- Competition: The competition for your company brand is limited only to businesses that provide similar products or services to yours. When it comes to attracting top talent, though, almost any business can be considered a competitor.
The Benefits of Establishing an Employer Brand
An employer branding strategy can help organizations communicate their values and culture to candidates. It can also provide a unique approach to attracting or helping existing employees stay with the company for the long haul. When you take the time to establish your employer brand, you can experience the following benefits:
- Attract top talent in the job market
- Boost employee engagement and morale
- Decrease time and cost per hire
- Build credibility with candidates and customers
- Increase employee retention
Creating a Strong Employer Brand
A strong employer brand begins with identifying your company’s goals and knowing what you want in a candidate. It also includes a detailed, realistic plan to meet these goals. To begin building your employer brand, start with these five steps:
- Set Your Goals. Determine what you want to achieve with your hiring efforts. Are you looking to get more job applicants? Higher quality candidates? Increase candidate engagement? Once you know your objectives, you’ll have a better time morphing your brand around those needs.
- Identify Your Candidate Profile. To find the perfect person for the job, you first need to determine your candidate persona, so you’re better able to send targeted messages to the right people at the right time. Think of your ideal candidate’s demographics, career and life goals, frustrations, search behaviors, personality, skills, and motivations.
- Determine Your Employee Value Proposition. What sets your company apart from competitors? Why do your current employees want to stay? Why did they choose you in the first place? What do they like most about your company?
- Define Candidate Touchpoints. There are many ways for a candidate to learn more and interact with your brand. From social media to your website to current employees to the application process, many steps in a candidate’s journey can either excite or deter them from your company. Audit your communication channels to determine if you’re presenting your employer brand well.
- Decide What Success Looks Like. Finally, you’ll want to continually monitor the performance of your hiring strategies to ensure it’s laddering up to your overall business goals.
Looking to Attract More Candidates?
ITAC Solutions can help you bolster your employer brand and bring in top candidates for your open roles. With a variety of services to choose from, we can ensure your company is getting the best talent for your needs. Contact our team today to get started.
