How to Improve Employer Branding
Your HR brand is expansive and covers a lot of ground. It's best to consider some key categories to create an improvement plan. These categories are:
- The Hiring Process
- Current Employee Satisfaction
- Your Online Reputation
- Recognisability in the Marketplace
Each category has several nuances, but these are a good starting point. As you break each one down, it will become easier to see where there might be obstacles in your way that can be improved with the right processes or actions.
The best place to start is by reviewing your hiring process. An astounding 92% of people abandon online applications. It's not because they aren't qualified candidates, but most often, it's because the online application process is too complicated. Begin by reviewing your application to make it mobile-friendly and have fewer steps or barriers to complete.
Once this piece is in place, you can focus on the other aspects of your employer brand. Creating a solid online reputation will help drive traction to your brand. Use your current satisfied employees to help spread the word, which you can do through videos of your workplace culture or showcases of great performers.
Pro tip: The only online presence for many companies is their job postings. This is a huge mistake. You increase the potential of your application pipeline by creating content that drives engagement even when you're not actively hiring. Make people excited about upcoming opportunities.
Employer Branding Examples
While your talent brand should be customised for your company, there is always a benefit in researching how other people are doing it. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel, so feel free to pull some concepts from different places and incorporate them into your branding. Let's look at employer branding examples to give you a starting point.
Dutch payment processing company Mollie spells out their employer brand on their about page. These core values speak to the kinds of employees they would encourage to apply with them in the future. Every applicant knows precisely what the company is about, so even if they're not specifically passionate about payment processing, they can be excited about working for Mollie. This has led to them being one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe.
PetSmart is a pet-product retailer in the U.S. and Canada. It's a big box store for everything pet lovers need, all in one place. Their careers page focuses on attracting pet lovers to apply. By using photos of actual employees and their pets, people can see themselves working there. They also load their social media with real stories of real people and their pets or employees interacting with the animals in the store. They know their target audience and do a great job attracting them.
Innocent is a smoothie company originally based in the UK. They are clear about their values but express them by using identifiable British humour. Their social media paints a great picture of what it's like to work at Innocent, which doesn't just engage customers but also drives traffic for those who might be interested in a career.
Creating an Employee Branding Strategy
So what do you need to do to create an employer brand strategy? Knowing the actionable items that will take your hiring strategy to the next level is essential. Here are steps you can take.
- Be sure your strategy aligns with your long-term corporate goals
- Determine the objectives of your strategy
- Determine which KPI will be best to measure your success
- Figure out how to collect and analyse data
- Allocate your resources upfront
- Determine your target candidates
- Develop your Employee Selling Proposition
- Review your application process
- Keep retention in mind
- Determine how to distribute employment marketing between paid ads, social sharing, and your website
- Tailor branding to target employees
- Create a content calendar to reinforce consistency
- Watch for common roadblocks and determine solutions
- Bring your employees into the process
- Shape your recruitment messaging around your employer brand
- Correct your course when necessary
- Continue to work on the system
Know that your developing an employer brand isn't an overnight fix. Still, as you begin to put these processes and concepts in place, you'll see an increase in engagement that will result in more qualified candidates over time.
The Optimisation of Digital Employer Branding
The critical factor for positive employer branding today is the inclusion of digital media. Connections across social platforms define our culture, and companies find it nearly impossible to attract candidates without a presence online. While this is specifically important for younger candidates, like Generation Z, it's also essential for millennials and even Generation X. Everyone uses the internet to stay connected, especially with brands. And that could be the biggest takeaway.
If you have to start in just one place, consider your LinkedIn employer branding. LinkedIn currently has over 830 million users in more than 200 countries and territories. The platform is about to celebrate 20 years in 2023, and its massive market share is critical for businesses looking for talent. Your LinkedIn page should fully represent your company's employer brand in the most recognisable place online.
Adding other platforms that make sense for your company or industry is simple. You keep the same recognisable branding across each one and focus on creating content that reflects your organisation's positive reputation as an employer.
Conclusion: Making Your Employer Brand a Seamless Experience for Applicants
With the employee experience as a top priority for businesses improving their employer brand, it's easy to see why technology will need to be essential. Once you've created a recognisable brand that showcases your positive reputation, your online application needs to be easy to use to lower abandonment rates.
An applicant tracking system that integrates seamlessly with your website and features your brand imaging is exactly the right tool in the right place.
With more competition for top talent, it pays for companies to consider all their advantages and the use of tools to assist in the quest to find talent. HireHive helps busy people hire great people. You can post jobs, streamline your online application process, improve the candidate experience, and tap into vast global networks by having your entire recruitment process all in one place.
