Build and maintain your employer brand: 4 key steps
While the economy is recovering, companies are struggling with high employee turnover. They are at risk of losing their best employees.
A strong employer brand will help you attract the right talent, improve your recruitment process, and stand out in a competitive market. Companies that invest in employer branding are three times more likely to hire quality talent. The key is to present an authentic brand that attracts job candidates by showcasing what no competitor can copy: your culture.
Similarly, people are far more likely to trust what employees have to say about a company than what the company itself has to say. Using your employees’ voices to convey what it’s like to work for your company is essential to building a reputation that job seekers can trust.
Here are four steps to help you get started.
Start with an employee engagement survey. Capture candid feedback. Done right, an employee survey provides valuable insights to identify blind spots and bright spots. The feedback also enables you to showcase what makes your company the right choice for potential talent.
Understand your employer value proposition. The exceptional talent-seekers in the market are looking for authentic brands and realistic job previews. That means you need to know what you’re offering. Continue to use survey insights – specifically, data around recruiting – to iron out your brand promise and inform your expectation-setting strategy.
Promote an authentic, credible brand: Now that you’ve closed the loop with your employees and determined how you want to go out into the talent market, we recommend showcasing your hiring differentiators and offering a glimpse at what makes your culture unique. Ideas for showcasing these include:
- Careers pages
- Job postings
- Company profiles
- Social media channels
Refresh employee feedback to stay updated: Refresh your employer branding tools with every new employee engagement survey. We recommend doing this every six months to a year, and you can issue a new survey at any time.
Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is The Washington Post’s partner for Top Workplaces.