When you need candidates, whether you use recruiting companies or source and recruit them yourself, you want candidates who can bring something extra to the position and the company.
You want candidates with passion, professionalism, and strong skills. But finding these types of A-list candidates is just the first step. Employers and recruiters need a way to attract top candidates and sell them on the employers and positions.
What People Say About the Company
If your company doesn’t have formal employer branding to use during recruiting, you should find out what people are saying about the company. This information is essentially the employer branding when there is no purposely created brand to use in reputation and image control and to attract candidates. You can use complimentary industry news, customer testimonials, and product releases and reviews with candidates to interest them and convince them of the value of the position and working for your company. If there is a lot of negative press surrounding your company as an employer, you can take two or three negatives and discuss how the company is dealing with them, using any public relations statements if possible.
Culture Fit
Culture fit is an important aspect of candidate attraction and employee retention, especially when it’s built into employer branding. When a candidate knows what an employer’s work environment is like, what the employees say and think about their work, and what kind of projects and perks are available, employer branding is going to work to persuade them that this is a company they’d like to work for.
Employers who can articulate a company’s culture have an opportunity to impress candidates with the company’s unique features such as location near major cities or fun, cool work environment. They can brag about the company’s philosophy or size or whatever aspects make people want to work there, and let candidates know how they’d fit in and be able to contribute. Employer branding helps develop culture fit by giving employers an organized and guided snapshot of the company’s guiding mission and values, how the company operates, and how the company’s employees view their work.
Intangibles
Candidates who have in-demand skills and experience have a range of opportunities and probably a multitude of employment solicitations. Money may not be the top motivator. Employers have to present a total picture of the position and the company for candidates who are looking for intangible benefits such as work life balance and being part of meaningful and career-advancing projects and teams. Employer branding presents these aspects of the position and the employer and enables recruiters to promote the positions and companies, inspire candidates about the positions, and bring a company’s unique story to life.
Employer Branding Saves Money
With employee referrals being one of the most cost-effective recruiting avenues, employers who use employer branding that incorporates peer recommendations can cut through the time and cost of traditional recruiting methods. Help candidates answer the question “Why do I want to work here?” with employer branding in social media such as employee testimonial videos, Facebook polls about company culture and perks, and photos of company employee events such as annual picnics or charitable efforts.
In a LinkedIn July 2012 survey of almost 5,000 talent acquisition decision-makers in 15 countries, talent acquisition participants reported almost 50% savings in recruiting with strong employer branding. Figuring out company culture, defining it, and promoting it are employer branding basics that pay dividends for employers when it comes to sourcing, recruiting, and hiring top candidates.
Employer branding is an effective, attractive tool for employers to use to find, attract, recruit, and hire top talent looking for the right place to use their skills and experience. Employer branding is essential in creating a compelling candidate experience for the most successful hires.
Andrew Greenberg is the founder and managing partner of Contract Recruiter, a leader in On-Demand recruitment solutions.
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