A strong employer brand presents many opportunities to businesses. Building up your employer brand will not only make it easier and more cost-effective to hire strong talent; it will also help you to keep the precious talent you’ve been nurturing since the day they started with your company.
What is an employer brand?
An employer brand is much like any other brand – only it specifically refers to an employer’s reputation as a place to work, and their employee value proposition (EVP), as opposed to the more general corporate brand reputation and value proposition to its customers. It’s how an organisation communicates itself as an identity to both prospective and existing employees.
Exposure to a company’s employer brand happens earlier than you might expect – as early as the candidate experience – from job application, interviewing and job acceptance, through to onboarding and all the way throughout an employee’s tenure.
When we consider that 22% of employees leave within the first 45 days of their employment, it’s clear that the first impressions of the employer brand are of critical importance. And since you’ve likely invested so much in your employer brand – it makes sense to actively market it as much as possible. From initial attraction on your Careers website all the way through to your onboarding portal, it’s important your employer brand is ‘always on’.
Here we discuss how to successfully communicate your employer brand through the candidate experience right the way through to onboarding and beyond!
Job advert
From the moment a candidate sets eyes on a job advert for your company, they should get a clear sense of what your organisation is about. In addition to having a clearly articulated set of values alongside the job description, pay attention to the language and tone of voice you use, and emphasise your purpose as an organisation, as well as your commitment to continuous learning & development. Think holistically about everything you can offer to employees, from competitive pay to unique perks and career pathways. Talk directly to the candidate, spelling out what they as a professional can get out of this opportunity.
Candidate communication
The scope of the candidate experience – which we’ve established is a key touchpoint through which to convey your employer brand – extends as far as email correspondence exchanged between the hiring manager and the candidate when arranging interviews.
For example, what does your email signature say about your employer brand? Does it reference your values and accolades?
Are your emails professional-sounding but personalised? All these small details can have an impact on how your candidate perceives your company.
Social media
With a large proportion of the workforce being digitally driven Millennials and Gen Zs, it’s important your employer brand reaches them on the channels they use – it’s often something candidates will check when interviewing with a company.
LinkedIn might seem like the obvious option, but don’t forget channels such as Instagram. Your social media presence should convey a sense of your company culture, and the kinds of social, environmental or community-driven initiatives you get involved with – particularly since involvement in these issues can contribute to positive sentiment around your brand. Indeed, 53% of consumers agree that every brand has a responsibility to get involved in at least one social issue that does not directly impact its business.
Interview process
If you’re able to conduct in-person interviews, it’s critical to remember that the experience you’re promoting via your job advert and online presence is reflected in real life. Interviews should take place in areas of the office that bring the company’s culture to life and present it as an aesthetically appealing place to work.
Giving a sense of culture and employer brand can be a challenge when conducting interviews remotely, but not an insurmountable one! Performing virtual tours of the office, if you’re in it, as well as providing virtual access to the senior leadership team will give your candidate a good impression of your organisation and its ongoing commitment to being a good place to work.
Onboarding and beyond
Automating the onboarding experience will not only drive efficiencies in what is normally a time-consuming and resource-intensive process; it will also ensure each new hire has the same experience, with automated onboarding experiences that can be personalised.
Your teams can create complex contracts automatically and send off for reviews. The result is a faster onboarding process and a seamless candidate and user experience.
Read more about HROnboard’s onboarding solutions here.
It doesn’t stop there…
It must be stressed that maintaining your employer brand requires ongoing commitment throughout the employee lifecycle. Your employer brand messaging, which resonated so strongly in the talent attraction phase, should still be compellingly communicated once a candidate has accepted your offer. In fact, it could be argued that it’s even more important to engage with them once they are employees.
HROnboard, an ELMO company, offers a best-in-class software solution that reduces the amount of time HR teams and leaders spend securing the best candidates and undertaking the critical onboarding process for new hires. Our solution also helps manage internal employee role changes and can create a smooth and seamless process for exiting employees.
ELMO Software offers innovative cloud-based HR & payroll solutions to more than 1600 organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, helping them to manage, engage, and inspire their people. Our solutions span the entire employee lifecycle, from ‘hire to retire’. This includes a comprehensive suite of complementary solutions that further enhance the onboarding experience, namely Recruitment, Learning Management, HR Core, Survey and Connect. For further information, contact us