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As the war for talent intensifies, a company's public image has become more important than ever, making a solid employer brand critical for success.
Compelling employer branding positions a company as an employer of choice, attracting top talent with the promise of a meaningful work experience. It's all about creating a narrative that makes top talent want to work with you.
This article will explore employer branding, offering insights into its definition, importance, and practical steps companies can take to create an employer branding strategy that resonates.
What is employer branding?
Think of employer branding as a statement of your company's identity as a place to work.
Your employer brand is underpinned by your reputation among current employees as well as the perception that’s held by prospective candidates. But the actual test of your employer branding lies in living up to these perceptions.
It's one thing to claim you're a fantastic workplace, but another to demonstrate it through your actions and policies. Are your company's values reflected in your day-to-day operations? Do you support your employees' growth and well-being? These are the questions that your employer branding should answer — not just with words, but with actions.
Why is employer branding important?
Why should companies invest time and resources into cultivating an employer branding strategy?
The answer is that your employer brand impacts your ability to attract, retain, and engage talent, ultimately influencing your bottom line in several ways:
1. Attracting exceptional talent
Many job seekers today are looking for more than just a paycheck; they want to align with the organisations they work for in terms of company values, culture, and growth opportunities.
An authentic, well-crafted employer brand communicates exactly that, drawing in individuals who are not only highly capable but also the right cultural fit for your organisation.
2. Enhancing retention and engagement
A good employer brand shouldn’t just stop being effective once a newbie has signed the contract. If your employ brand lives up to the hype, it’ll also help with employee retention and engagement.
Workers who feel connected to a company’s employer brand and its values are more likely to show loyalty towards your organisation, leading to higher engagement, productivity, and overall job satisfaction – if the brand lives what it preaches. This reduces turnover rates, which are costly and can negatively impact any organisation's growth and stability.
3. Facilitating employee advocacy
A positive employer brand transforms employees into brand ambassadors.
Satisfied and engaged employees are much more likely to share their positive experiences and recommend their workplace to their network.
This kind of employee advocacy is invaluable, as peer recommendations can significantly influence people’s perceptions of your company and reduce recruitment costs by tapping into personal networks when hiring.
4. Driving business performance
Beyond the immediate benefits to recruitment and retention, a robust employer brand directly impacts your company's performance.
As we’ve touched on, a motivated and engaged workforce drives higher productivity, innovation, and customer satisfaction, ultimately enhancing profitability and market positioning.
All in all, maintaining a positive public perception can help you attract potential employees, customers, and investors alike!
How to start building an employer brand that resonates
Here’s how to get started with your employer branding strategy.
In this section, we’ll focus on leveraging employer branding best practices ensuring your efforts resonate with both potential hires and your current team:
Analyse your existing employer brand
This involves reviewing your communication materials, such as job descriptions, career pages, and social media profiles, and gathering feedback from candidates and employees.
This step is important when it comes to understanding how your company is perceived and identifying any gaps between the image you want to create and external perceptions of your company.
Define your employee value proposition (EVP)
An EVP is a statement that clearly outlines what employees can expect to receive in return for their capabilities and experience.
This proposition goes beyond just compensation and benefits; it encapsulates what makes your company a unique, desirable place to work.
Your EVP can mention things like career development opportunities, a supportive and inclusive work culture, commitments to social responsibility, and work-life balance initiatives. Essentially, you want to highlight your company's attractive aspects to appeal to candidates and stand out against your competition.
Build a memorable careers page
Your careers page is an important element of your employer branding, serving as a primary source of information for potential candidates.
Here, you want to showcase your EVP and incorporate elements like photography, fun and informative videos, and employee testimonials to showcase your workplace culture.
Write effective job descriptions
Job descriptions are usually the first interaction potential candidates will have with your brand. That’s why it’s important to make sure they accurately reflect your company's ethos.
Firstly, ensure your job descriptions mirror your organisation's values and culture. Depending on your company's values, this could involve highlighting collaborative team environments, innovation, or a commitment to sustainability. Additionally, make it a point to showcase what sets your company apart from competitors, whether that's unique benefits, career development opportunities, or community involvement. Remember to keep the tone welcoming and inclusive to appeal to a broad range of candidates.
It can also be great to include testimonials or quotes from current employees that reflect their positive experiences with your company. This adds a personal touch and reinforces your employer brand directly from those who experience it on the daily.
Ensure a great candidate experience
It’s important to make sure potential candidates have a positive experience from the moment they discover your job posting to the application and interview processes (and beyond).
Making the application process as straightforward and user-friendly as possible is certainly an important way to achieve this. In addition, keeping candidates informed about their application status (even if it's just to update them that the process is still ongoing) can help them feel valued and respected, positively impacting their view of your company.
Importantly, you should think of the interview stage as an opportunity to assess a candidate's fit for the role and promote your company's culture and values. Interviewers should be well-prepared, not only in regard to the role they’re hiring for but also when it comes to presenting the company in a way that aligns with your employer branding.
Engage your current employees
Engaging your current employees in your employer branding strategy is a great way to generate authentic advocacy for your company.
When employees share their positive experiences, whether through word-of-mouth, on social media, or on employer review sites, it enhances your company’s reputation and attracts talent who are encouraged by what they see and hear.
By giving your employees platforms and opportunities to speak about their work, you empower your workforce to share stories about your company culture and the personal growth they’ve experienced within your organisation. This could involve encouraging employees to contribute to a company blog, share their achievements and day-to-day experiences on social media, or participate in career fairs and industry events as company ambassadors.
By actively involving employees in your employer branding efforts, you can amplify your brand’s reach while strengthening internal morale.
Amplify your company story
Amplifying your company's story is a strategic way to shape the narrative surrounding your brand.
Social media platforms provide an interactive space to showcase your company's day-to-day life, celebrate milestones, and share employee success stories, directly engaging with your audience and building a community around your brand.
Your company blog can also serve as a hub for thought leadership, detailing stories about your various projects and the positive impact your company is making in the world.
By consistently sharing content that resonates with your compnay values, you can positively influence your employer brand, attract talent aligned with your goals, and foster loyalty among your current employees.
Revisit your compensation philosophy
Revisiting your compensation philosophy is an important step in strengthening your employer brand and making your organisation more attractive to top talent.
A fair, competitive, and equitable compensation strategy sends a strong message about your company's values and its commitment to its employees.
But compensation isn’t just about offering attractive salaries; it also involves ensuring that your entire compensation package (including bonuses, benefits, and opportunities for growth) is aligned with industry standards and reflects the value you place on your employees' contributions.
Prioritise employee well-being and work-life balance
Prioritising employee well-being and work-life balance plays a large role in creating a positive company culture that attracts and retains talent.
Creating policies and practices that support work-life balance (such as offering flexible working hours, remote work options, and generous leave policies) demonstrates your company’s understanding and respect for its employees' needs.
Employer branding examples
Below are three examples of companies mastering the craft of employer branding:
1. HubSpot
HubSpot's careers page showcases the company’s culture code, displaying the values HubSpot aims to create among employees, candidates, and customers.
As you scroll through these pages, you'll discover information on learning and development opportunities, HubSpot's dedication to diversity and inclusion, and feedback and insights from real employees.
The career site’s wording is carefully crafted with the job seeker in mind, inviting you to “Imagine yourself at HubSpot.”
2. Wistia
Wistia presents itself to customers as a video marketing software company that expands audiences and develops brands. Naturally, it applies a brand-aware approach and leverages its software to highlight the concepts that are important to prospective employees.
Instead of simply boasting about being an excellent workplace, the initial greeting on its careers page motivates job applicants with the text: "We’ve got big plans — and they include you!”
This theme is reinforced through videos showcasing the individuals behind Wistia and the company’s focus on innovation and belonging.
3. Golden Hippo
Golden Hippo, a company known for developing and marketing health, beauty, and pet care brands, showcases its digital content creation skills on its career site.
The careers page warmly encourages visitors to “Join our team of A-players,” highlighted by a collage of photos featuring real Golden Hippo employees. If you explore a little further, you’ll see featured episodes of The Hippo Pod, a podcast designed to give applicants a deeper understanding of Golden Hippo by spotlighting stories from current employees.
The site also provides an overview of Golden Hippo’s perks and highlights its 4.7 Glassdoor rating and “award-winning culture.”
Attract, engage, retain: transforming recruitment with employer branding
As the war for talent continues to heat up, the stakes for establishing and maintaining a strong employer brand have never been higher.
From understanding everything that goes into employer branding to implementing a multifaceted strategy that prioritises the employee experience, the path is clear: companies must invest in their employer brand to attract, engage, and retain the talent they need.
For organisations navigating recruitment within the tech industry, WeAreDevelopers specialises in connecting employers with a vast network of software developers, offering a targeted and efficient approach to finding the perfect addition to your team.
Leverage WeAreDeveloper’s IT Job Board to tap into a pool of qualified professionals and start shaping your company’s future with the right talent today.
