In this current competitive job market, you need to stand out to the right talent – and one of the best ways you can attract high-quality candidates is to make sure you have strong employer branding.
Whether you have intentionally crafted one or not, you have an employer brand. It’s the way your organisation has been marketed to its prospective candidates, through your employee value proposition, reputation, and the way you communicate with key stakeholders. Strong employer branding should show candidates why you would be their employer of choice and why your organisation is a great place to work.
So, what components make up a strong employer brand?
Content that connects people
Your content across your job advertisements, website and social media should be engaging and clearly focused on connecting your prospective candidates with your purpose and values.
At the very least, you should have a clear employee value proposition (EVP) that highlights the benefits of working at your organisation, as well as the values your organisation stands for and what kind of culture candidates can expect at your workplace. Your EVP should be conveyed in your job advertisements both in statement form and itemised under your benefits and culture sections. The key is to make it people-focused – show candidates not just what work your people do, but why people work with you.
Other types of content that contribute to a strong employer brand are a careers page and employee engagement surveys (EES).
Having a careers page in your employer branding arsenal is an opportunity to put all your recruitment-related content in one hub. Candidates visiting your website will often go straight to this page to see what jobs are available, so take this chance to flaunt your employer brand! Alongside your vacancies, display your EVP statement or tagline, as well as information about your organisation and people. By going this extra mile, your employer branding will make candidates feel well-informed – and studies show 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages their employer brand.
Finally, while EES are internal, they still contribute to your employer branding as they help you identify what your organisation is doing well so you can include these in your EVP as your strengths and benefits. Similarly, EES are a chance for your employees to let you know where you could improve; you can then use this feedback to improve your work processes and maintain a strong employer brand.
Implement corporate social responsibility initiatives
Candidates in the current recruitment market want to see more than free lunches and a ping pong table – they want to know that you are dedicating time to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The numbers tell the story – research from Deloitte shows that 44% of millennials and 49% of Gen Z make decisions on what kind of work they want to do, and organisations they would work for, based on their ethics.
It makes sense, therefore, to incorporate CSR in your employer branding to attract high-quality candidates. When candidates see you have CSR initiatives–such as volunteering, fundraising, social pledges and so on–it tells them that you are a purpose-driven organisation that has dedicated time and resources to giving back. This builds your reputation as an employer of choice, elevating your employer brand.
One easy way to start incorporating CSR seamlessly into your employer branding is by using Catalyser, an all-in-one giving platform that makes CSR easy and effective. Catalyser works by collating all your various giving activities on a single platform, allowing you to advertise in your employer branding that you have an integrated CSR hub. Internally, using Catalyser helps to boost your employee engagement as people in your organisation get involved with your CSR initiatives.
If you’d like to see how Catalyser can help you leverage CSR initiatives to elevate your employer branding and attract high-quality candidates, reach out to the Catalyser team today.
Effective visual elements
Your employer branding is strongest when your people, especially candidates, can connect to the employees with real stories at the heart of your organisation. One effective way to do this is by using people-focused imagery.
Featuring your people front and centre in the visual elements featured on your website, social media channels and communications helps your employer branding as it builds an image of your organisation’s culture. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so if you have effective people-focused visual elements, candidates will be able to inform themselves whether they think they would work well at your organisation–and you’ll be more likely to land high-quality candidates that will add to your culture.
The best part is that incorporating effective visual elements in your employer branding doesn’t have to be expensive. If you have a phone and decent lighting somewhere in your workplace, you can capture a plethora of images that encapsulate your organisation’s culture–for example, employees in an engaging meeting, charity initiatives, projects your organisation has worked on, and so on.
In the current talent acquisition market where applications aren’t as abundant as vacancies, organisations really need to sell themselves in a targeted, considered way to reach high-quality candidates. Having a strong employer brand can influence whether a talented candidate is attracted to your organisation and if they want to work for you. By utilising these strategies to strengthen your employer branding, your organisation will be well-positioned to attract high-quality candidates.
If you need help with content that connects people, our Scout Talent Employer Branding Specialists can assist you. We offer EVP development, employee engagement surveys, and recruitment marketing. Get in touch with our team today here.
This article was written in partnership with Catalyser. You can find their article in our partnered series here: Finding Your Purpose-Driven Employees – 7 Ways to Attract Top Talent.
