Today's job market has been flooded with talents and custom-made services. Organisations across the globe are growing at a rapid rate and this accelerated growth is resulting in stringent criteria in selecting the workforce. To countercredit the requirement, a strong employer brand plays a crucial role and the same has now become more or less a default setting for attracting and retaining the top talent. A winning employer brand always finds a way to retain their best employees and absorb the best talent set to match their open work positions. In this blog, let’s understand the nooks and crooks of employee branding, why it is important, and how to inculcate the same for your company.
The branding and marketing experience in the employee's entirety speaks for the company’s / brand’s reputation and their employee value proposition is known as an employer brand. The concept of employee branding is both an internal and external marketing strategy that fosters employees' positive attitude towards the company. Further, an employer brand encompasses the company’s culture, work environment, and overall work experience. In short, the employer brand shows talent sets in the job market why their company is the best to collaborate with, and tells the already existing employees how much their loyalty is valued and why they need to remain so.
As companies work with multiple clients and represent the entity at a global level, work quality is cardinal to further decide the very existence of the brand itself. By being said, the right talent set does the job right and keeps the competitors at the edge, and the same results in an extensive brand outreach in the market (which always will have a positive impact on the revenue generation scale).
Listed below factors speak for the need for a strong employer brand:
Welcomes the best talents in the slot: Only a strong employer brand with good backing can attract the best skill set from the job market. Just like how the job market has now become very competitive in nature, absorbing an employee with the right skill set has also become pretty much a tedious task.
Reduced recruitment costs: A strong employer brand is always fortunate enough to get the right talent set at their table without having the hustle of going through numerous applications, followed by shortlisting and interview process. This results in a lot of time-saving, be it in the job market, core corporate, or anywhere the world runs with the principle of "time is money".
Increased Employee Retention: A well-known and strong employer brand can result in increased employee loyalty. This in turn accelerates the alignment rate of employer and employee expectations. In such a case, it is more likely for the employers to stay committed and loyal to the respective company.
Maintains the competitive edge: A strong employer brand always stands out in the job market as well as in the industry. This can always help in increased brand awareness and setting the bar higher than your competitors.
If thought in the right way and executed with precision, creating a winning employee brand will never be a tedious task. All you need to know is where to fix your focus and proceed with the rest.
Define your employee value proposition (EVP): EVP is your differentiating and unique set of benefits that makes your company stand out from the rest. Your EVPs need to be clear, concise, and compelling in nature and should speak out as to why your company is a better place to work.
Prioritise your employee well-being: Invest in your employee's well-being without hesitation. This can be attained by providing your employees with competitive benefits, creating a healthy work environment fostering work-life balance, giving exposure to mentorship and training programs, and more.
Maintain consistency in brand messaging: It is important to ensure that employer brand messaging remains constant throughout without changing the tone and structure as it gives more credibility to the message.
Comprehend and communicate your company culture: Make sure to clearly communicate the company’s values, mission, work culture, and expectations. Make use of various communication channels like social media, testimonials, website career portal, and so on for compelling employer branding.
Winning an employer brand has a high potential of retaining the existing loyal talent pool and also attracting the right group of skill sets. Employer branding further gives an assurance to the employees to trust the company and remain loyal and committed to their job. Internal and external employer brand marketing can efficiently lead to a wider outreach of the company’s reputation which in turn helps the respective organisation to stand a level up from the competitors. With the right set of planning and precise execution, employer branding can be made stronger and some of the initiatives that can help to achieve the same are maintaining consistency in brand messaging, being clear and concise about company culture, prioritising your employee well-being, and so on. Creating a winning employer brand comes with the added benefit of retaining loyal talents and attracting the right skill sets!