Employer branding case study: charity:water

A great employer brand is the product of authentically sharing your identity as an employer. One of our customers, charity:water have achieved this, but how?

What is employer branding and what should it achieve?

Employer branding is the process of promoting your organisation to individuals in target groups you would like to recruit, giving them a good understanding of your identity as an employer. By being authentic in your approach, you can attract and engage suitable candidates.

What is unique about charity:water’s approach?

Image Credit: charity:water

Charity:water is an organisation that strives to improve access to clean water in communities that need it globally. They are a dynamic, as well as driven group of people and this ethic is demonstrated clearly in their online presence.

Their use of social media, employee testimonials and their methods of sharing their mission statement make for compelling content for third party supporters, as well as potential employees

Charity:water’s employer brand is unique as they give detailed descriptions of their work and achievements, as well as how they make it all happen. Their use of social media, employee testimonials and their methods of sharing their mission statement make for compelling content for third party supporters, as well as potential employees. So here is how their employer brand is different:

1. About the team

Employee engagement is a fantastic idea when building an employer brand. After all, nobody knows your organisation, its mission and its goals better than your existing employees. For example, testimonials or employee profiles give fantastic insight to potential new hires. Charity:water also demonstrate this wonderfully in the ‘Meet the Team’ section of their website.

Each of their team members has a brief profile, detailing their interests, their role and their career path. So this lets potential candidates get a great overview of what the organisation does, what they are like to work for and what kind of candidate they are looking for.

charity:water employer branding

Image Credit: charity:water

2. Mission statement

To ensure a good culture match, it is important that a company states its goals, as well as ambitions to candidates. For example, a mission statement can help you attract applicants who share similar values.

Charity:water’s mission statement is central to what they do, so they communicate it clearly in all their online materials. Charity:water want to get clean water to whoever needs it and they are clear in how they will achieve this. Their mission statement gives candidates a clear understanding of what the organisation is all about.

'A day in the life’ - style content is a great element to include in your recruitment marketing materials and employer branding

Image Credit: charity:water

3. Field stories

‘A day in the life’ - style content is a great element to include in your recruitment marketing materials and employer branding. This content takes a candidate through a typical day for an employee at your organisation. Charity:water have achieved this in a unique way, through their Field Stories.

Their Field Stories go through their projects at various points in the pipeline, giving supporters (and even potential employees) an understanding of their project outcomes, as well as the work that goes into them. This kind of insight is unparalleled.

Social media has become the public mouthpiece for all sorts of organisations. Furthermore, it is a simple way of engaging with customers or potential candidates, which you can plan based on your ongoing projects.

Charity:water have employed a very effective social media strategy, giving a comprehensive overview of their ongoing projects and ambitions. One aspect that is very effective is their use of blogging tools for sharing field stories; these offer first-hand accounts of what charity:water have achieved.

Image Credit: charity:water

5. About us

Of course, this is a very common one to see on any organisation's website. It can give information on anything ranging from contact details, company hierarchy or what a company does. Charity:water have taken a unique approach, using their ‘About Us’ section to go through every detail of how they work.

This transparency in their process offers fascinating insight into their work for supporters. Also, it gives a clear understanding of what the organisation can achieve and wants to achieve, for potential candidates.

Conclusion

Charity:water’s employer brand works because they share huge levels of detail on their incredible work. For individuals who want to get involved with their organisation, there is a clear understanding of what their work can potentially achieve.

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