Employer Branding as a Strategic tool for Candidate Attraction.

Employer Branding has gained prominence in last few years.  Companies are realising that it is not enough to continue with old recruitment and hiring practices , if they were to hire best talent from the market . 

Each hire in a critical role is an investment for the organization.  Companies want to make sure that there are fewer hiring mistakes and they hire the right candidates which fit the culture of the organization and is a super star employee.  The buzzword for 2018 is Candidate Experience. Candidate experience is as important as Employee Experience. Many a times , passive candidates don’t apply to opportunities because of the time consuming application process. Linkedin offers an easy apply button and  companies Recruitment systems i.e. ATS ( Applicant Tracking Systems ) are integrated with LinkedIn. What it means for candidates is the ease of applying to companies with the click of a mouse, they can submit their cv in companies database. Linkedin easy apply is just one example of providing a seamless experience to potential candidates during hiring. 

Employer branding helps companies to promote itself to potential candidates in the market to win war for talent . 

Recruiters need to think and act like marketers to attract the best candidates. 

With the rise of different digital platforms , it is becoming increasingly difficult to choose how to advertise or market your jobs to potential candidates . Gone are the days , when candidates would apply to jobs without researching the company. Candidates research their potential employer on Glassdoor , read reviews, see ratings  as much as companies try to find information about candidates.  Candidates want to know what it feels to work for your organization. What is the culture, what are the career and advancement opportunities, what kind of  learning does your company provide, what are the rewards systems ,  what are the benefits and perks for working with your organization. In short, candidates assess their potential employers before applying for the jobs. Thats where lies the importance of employer branding. Companies rely on different source mix for diversity in hiring - example Career Sites , Employee Referrals, Job Boards, Social Media, sometimes external Recruitment agencies and Vendors. All these are potential options to reinforce your Brand messaging which has to be consistent as well as Authentic. Employees stories make a really good option for Corporate Storytelling which showcases culture of your organisation to external world.  Stories of the employees when narrated in first person are much more appealing to external candidates than formal Corporate Brand message. Employees are adopting social media platforms , hence the Corporate Brand gets humanised. Effective employer branding is the combination of market research, advisory services, communications and marketing to achieve both a credible and desirable brand position. The end purpose of employer branding is to achieve strategic business goals.

Some questions to ponder over when designing Employer Brand Strategy 

            1. Why would someone want to work for you? What is your Employer Value Proposition ? 

2. Have you trained your people managers and recruiters to deliver positive Brand experience ? 

3. How do employees and prospective candidates perceive your Brand ? 

4. How many of your employees are visible on social media ? 

5. What percentage of your employees would recommend your company as a great place to work?

6. Which companies are leading the way in employer brand strategy?

7. How do we measure the return on investment of employer branding?

8. How do market trends impact on how we attract, engage, and retain talent over the next few years ? 

           9. Who are the employees who are actively engaged with my organisation and act as Talent Ambassadors for my organisation ? 

          10. How do I activate employee advocacy program for my organisation ? 

According to a Survey , Social Media and Career websites are the most prominent channel to showcase your employer Brand to external talent 

In a recent 2015 survey, 73% of CEOs reported being concerned about the availability of key skills.

Times have changed. Social Media has forced organisations to become transparent . People are more likely to trust a company based on what employees say rather than the recruitment advertisement. This means that Talent Attraction relies far more heavily on Employee Engagement and Employee Advocacy. Engaged Employees serve as the Best Talent ambassadors for your organisation. 

Employer Branding has become a strategic priority for organisations of all sizes and across all sectors. we believe the following steps will help leaders attract and retain the talent they need:

1. Evaluate your current employer brand through internal and external research and survey. 
2. Have a realistic assessment of your organisation’s current strengths and translate unique traits into Employer Value Proposition. Define your EVP.
3. Be proactive in use of Social Media for Corporate Digital Storytelling. Generate positive employee stories to build a more authentic and engaging employer brand reputation. 
4. Ensure that there is collaboration between HR and Marketing function and the role they need to play in sustaining a consistent Brand experience. 
5. Engage with multiple stakeholders inside the organisation and build employee advocacy program. 
6. Leverage Alumni to showcase culture of your organisation. 

 7.  Engage the mind, heart and dreams of candidates

8. Develop and use metrics to assess and track success of the employer brand. Metrics may include quality of hire, brand awareness, employee satisfaction, employee referrals , offer to acceptance ratio, Best Employer Awards etc. 

Employer Brand is a Strategic tool to attract, recruit and retain talent. For consulting, training and advisory on Employer Branding , please contact Ruchi on Twitter @ruccsb 

If you need help of a Employer Branding consultant to reduce Cost of Hiring and Attract best talent from Market, please feel free to drop an email ruchibhatia23@gmail.com or call Ruchi Bhatia 9911112396. 

Ruchi Bhatia is a SHRM recognised Top 10 HR Expert  . In her last role, she worked as Employer Branding Leader with IBM.