What Is Your Employer Brand?

Your employer brand is the beating heart of your recruitment and retention strategies. For HR professionals and business owners, comprehending the nuances of employer branding is a critical pathway to securing top talent and fostering a culture that encourages long-term commitment.

In this post, we will shed light on employer branding by discussing what it is, how it works, and what you can do to fortify this essential facet of your organization.

The Pillars of Employer Branding

Employer branding is the narrative that defines your company's reputation. It combines your organizational vision, mission, and values into a compelling story about what it's like to work for your company. This narrative should touch on various aspects, such as career development opportunities, work-life balance, compensation, and company culture.

Imagine employer branding as the invisible hand that shapes the perceptions of potential applicants. Let's look at some employer brand examples from some prominent companies:

• Accenture: With a focus on the future of work, Accenture highlights innovation, inclusivity, and a sense of purpose in its employer brand, showcasing how these factors enhance employees' lives by connecting them to an international enterprise.

• TOMS Shoes: Known for its impactful 'One for One' mission, TOMS incorporates social responsibility and giving back as crucial components of their employer branding strategy, attracting talent who are passionate about a similar purpose and dedicated to improving people's lives.

• Google: An engineering marvel in more ways than one, Google's employer branding champions creativity, collaboration, and the power of technology, luring top talent with its trailblazing projects and inclusive work environment.

Crafting Your Employer Brand

Building a strong employer brand requires combining internal analysis and external projection.

Let's delve into the strategic steps you can take to cultivate a captivating employer brand that resonates with potential recruits.

Understand Your Company Values, Mission, and Culture

Before you can broadcast your employer brand to the world, you must understand what you stand for internally. Look introspectively at your company and determine how the following aspects pertain to your organization:

• Defining Core Values: What values drive your decisions as a company?

• Mission Clarity: Is your mission statement more than mere words on a plaque?

• Cultural Examination: What is the authentic culture within your company?

Survey Existing Employees

No employer brand is a static entity. Constructive feedback, especially from current employees, helps you understand where your employer brand might fall short. They can help you determine how inclusive your workplace is and more about your work environment and culture.

Launch initiatives to gather insight from your employees, such as:

• Employee Surveys: Collect anonymous feedback to know what your employees honestly think.

• Exit Interviews: Departing employees can provide insight into areas that need improvement.

Your employees have significant insight into how your company is running and what your employer brand is. Getting their input can be critical.

Monitor External Reputation

Your employer brand must align with and reflect your company's overall brand messaging. If your external reputation contradicts the messaging you put forward with your employer brand, it can spark backlash and hurt your company.

Audit how companies feel about and engage with your company to see how they're feeling and launch initiatives to counteract any perceived negativity. Be upfront and make any changes if necessary.

Develop an Employee Marketing Strategy

Your employer brand is also a critical part of attracting and retaining employees – and developing employee marketing aids that further. Setting up an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) – the unique set of offerings and values that define working with your organization and set it apart in the marketplace – helps you structure your outreach and articulate the benefits and experiences employees gain in exchange for their skills and dedication.

Shape your hiring posts and promotions based on the current and prospective employees value most:

• Compensation and Benefits: Communicate how your company rewards its employees financially or with comprehensive benefits packages.
• Development Opportunities: Showcase career advancement paths, continued education programs, and professional development initiatives.
• Workplace Environment: Highlight aspects of your company culture that make it a unique and desirable workplace, such as diversity, innovation, or work-life balance.

Align Employer Brand with Company Brand and Management

Your employer brand should reflect your company's vision and values, consistently experienced across all touchpoints. Here are other ways to align your reputation and employer brand.

• Engaging Storytelling: Use varied platforms to share narratives reinforcing your values and culture.

• Brand Alignment: Ensure that every touchpoint reaffirms your employer brand—whether it's your careers website or a casual LinkedIn post.

• Consistent Storytelling: Tell stories that reflect your company's values and culture. Share these stories with social media, your careers page, and internal communications.

Monitor Your Employer Brand

Metrics are the lighthouse in your employer brand's tumultuous sea. Regularly assess the impact and resonance of your employer brand through:

• Benchmarking: Compare your metrics with industry standards to identify areas for growth.

• Continuous Feedback Loops: Establish a system that constantly feeds you with employee and candidate sentiment.

Check employee feedback and loot for areas where your company is lacking or hitting roadblocks to see if there's anything you can look into or address to change public perception.

Get PEO Help with Your Employer Brand

This may seem like a massive task for your in-house HR team that's too much for them to take on. Employer branding requires specialized attention and the luxury of time, which aren't always readily available. But they don't need to handle this alone. A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) can offer expertise and guidance to help you shape your employer brand.

PEOs, with their extensive HR experience, can help companies focus more on their internal strategy by removing crucial but mundane tasks from their plate, like payroll processing, workers' comp, or benefits administration. That way, you can more easily maintain compliance and implement employee engagement initiatives, talent attraction strategies, and cultural enhancement programs. They can also offer advice and counsel to implement any changes effectively.

Employer branding is an active, ongoing strategic commitment that demands holistic alignment within your organization. By crafting a narrative that truly represents your workplace, investing in continuous improvement, and considering the strengths of outsourcing, you can transform your employer brand from a mere label to a beacon that draws the best and brightest to your company's shores.