Employment branding involves more than just posting snapshots of employees on Instagram
Having a strong employer brand can significantly enhance a company’s chances of attracting high-quality candidates — potentially earning it 3.5 times more applicants per job post than other employers in the same industry, according to a CareerBuilder survey.
The methods companies use to highlight specific employee value proposition elements, however, can greatly affect the outcome of their employer branding campaign.
Employers need to convey company culture in a way that resonates with candidates. To increase the likelihood your efforts will be successful, consider the following employment branding suggestions:
Utilize testimonials
Culture can be an important consideration for job candidates; and including verbiage or a link to a company website page containing endorsements from current or former employees can be a strong selling point. Between 2009 and 2014, the credibility of average employees as a spokesperson increased from 32 to 52 percent, according to Edelman’s annual trust barometer; conversely, in 2017, CEO credibility reached an all-time low — so companies may want to focus on staff member comments.
Encouraging employees to share information about the company with their personal social media network can also help promote your employer brand — particularly if it’s well-defined. Globally, nearly a third of employees post messages, pictures or videos about their employer, according to Weber Shandwick research; in organizations where the way employers describe themselves aligns with what employees experience, employee-driven social media promotion is 48 percent.
Get visual
As impactful as verbal testimonials can be, in today’s tech-focused world, some candidates may expect to be able to physically see what working at your organization will be like. Four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it, according to a survey from Animoto; presumably, jobseekers who are researching a potential employer would feel similarly.
Less than a quarter (24 percent) of companies said they utilized recruiting-focused videos on their career website as of 2015, the most recent year Futurestep tallied data on the topic. Creating and sharing recruitment-oriented videos may, as a result, help employers differentiate themselves in the talent market.
Create a more personal candidate experience
Candidates aren’t shy about complaining if they feel the recruiting process didn’t go well. According to one study, 72 percent of jobseekers who felt discouraged by the applicant process either told a friend or colleague about how frustrating it was or posted about it on an employer review or social networking site.
Over time, negative candidate experiences can have an effect on a company’s employer brand. More than three-quarters of jobseekers (80 percent) say they wouldn’t consider other relevant job openings at a company that had failed to let them know their application status, according to the study. Simply keeping candidates in the loop, however, would make them 3.5 times more likely to re-apply in the future.
Don’t shy away from diverse input
Although it can be tempting to try to completely control the narrative, in reality, it’s impossible to prevent former employees and other individuals from posting a critical comment on an employer rating site — which may not actually be viewed as negatively as companies think. Sixty-eight percent of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad comments, according to data from Revoo Insight; without any negative scores, 95 percent of consumers suspect content has been censored or faked.
Seeing a few critical thoughts may prevent candidates from incorrectly assuming an employer is covertly writing a string of positive reviews to influence how it’s regarded. Including testimonials and videos on your website can also help offset any negative comments by offering a realistic look at your working environment.
Employment branding efforts are typically multifaceted, long-term endeavors, which will likely involve other aspects, in addition to the ones listed above.
For more tips on executing a successful employer branding campaign, our blog posts on 4 points to consider when building your HR brand, using social media to share job information and utilizing some of the less traditional social media sites when building an employer brand may be of interest.
In addition, our white paper on how to improve your employer brand contains a number of valuable suggestions. Download it for free today here.