Today, searching for prospective employers is as easy as reading new restaurant reviews online. With this reality in mind, it is essential that employers proactively brand themselves to attract the best talent for their organization.

When you understand what your business truly offers job seekers, you can make this value proposition clear. Adding the best possible talent to your team is then a straightforward experience.

There are plenty of employer branding strategies that business leaders can employ, but to make employer branding truly work for your business, employees should be involved in the mission too.

By properly crafting an employer branding strategy, you can influence employees' and job seekers' perceptions.

What is Employer Branding?

Employer branding is the process of managing and influencing your reputation as an employer among job seekers, employees and key stakeholders. It encompasses everything you do to position your organization as an employer of choice.

Your employer brand is your organization’s reputation as an employer. In simpler terms, it’s what job seekers and employees really think of you. It’s what they tell their friends and family when you aren’t around. Though it may not be tangible, your employer’s brand is an asset that requires constant cultivation.

Why Employer Branding is important?

Employer Branding is a long-standing concept that has found momentum in the interconnected world. It is the process of promoting a company, or an organisation, as the employer of choice to a desired target group. One which a company needs and wants to attract, recruit and retain.

While the concept has been around for decades, it didn’t gain widespread attention until the mid 90’s when the first online job boards were launched. Almost overnight, employees had access to millions of opportunities across the country. The workforce became more fluid than ever before, and the days of sticking with one company for the long haul were over.

1. employers adapted to this shift and began to take proactive steps toward attracting and retaining top talent, but thousands of organizations still fail to capitalize on the benefits of employer branding.

The benefits of having a strong employer brand

It’s easier to understand the importance of employer branding if we think of employers with a good reputation. Companies with a strong employer brand:

• Get job applications without having to spend too much, since employees proactively apply to companies they know they have a nice work environment.
• Reduce time to hire, as candidates are more likely to accept a job offer from a company with a positive reputation.
• Improve retention, because employees value healthy workplaces and stay at companies where they can thrive.
• Attract top talent, as people who’re evaluating different job offers, will consider all criteria – including your reputation as an employer – before making their final decision.

How to build your employer branding strategy?

The first step is to be a good employer and the second step is to promote what you’re doing as an employer externally. To become a good employer, you need to think about how you treat those who interact with your company, whether you’ve hired them or not. For example:

• Design an inclusive hiring process, where all job seekers have equal opportunities to get hired regardless of protected characteristics or background.
• Respect candidates’ time by evaluating their candidacy objectively and replying to them promptly.
• Craft fair company policies to ensure all employees feel safe, comfortable, and valued at work.
• Provide compensation and benefits that motivate employees and help them balance their work with their personal life.
• Build career development plans, so that employees can grow their skills and develop professionally within your company.

While working on creating a healthy work environment, you can also design employer branding campaigns to promote your company. Here are a few ideas from HRavailable:

• Share pictures of your workspaces and group gatherings on social media.
• Build engaging careers pages where candidates can learn more about your work life.
• Give voice to your employees (through videos, testimonials, blog posts, etc.) so they can share their unique experiences while working with you.
• Host career days at your offices where job seekers can see first-hand what it’s like working at your company.

Every organization depends on qualified employees for its success. According to HRavailable, inorder to attract top talent, you must invest in employer branding, implement it, communicate, and manage it to attract and retain employees. Employer branding helps you grow fast, reduces expenses, and conveys your brand value.

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