Talents Are Clients Too

Why employer brand is critical for successful hiring

A strong employer brand is critical if you want to grow your team.

You don’t pick talent, talent picks you

According to LinkedIn, companies with a strong employer brand see

50% more qualified candidates,
hire employees as much as twice as fast,
lower cost per hire by 50%

Moreover, turnover is reduced by up to 28% when companies actively invest in their employer brand (LinkedIn, 2015).

Conversely, companies that neglect their brand and reputation are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain talents. Firms with poor employer brands could be paying as much as US$7.6 million (based on the US average of 10,000 employees per firm) (LinkedIn, 2016). Furthermore, 69% of candidates will reject a job from an organization with a bad reputation even if it leaves them without a job (Inc, 2019).

What does employer branding entail? And what can you do today to improve your employer branding to appeal to top talents?

What exactly is an employer brand?

A company’s employer brand is their reputation as a place to work — whether it’s a place where employees are valued and cherished, or where they are merely cogs in a machine. In short, the term “employer brand” describes the company’s values and what it has to offer to employees.

An employer brand is more than a simple tagline.

Employer brand is so much more than just a tagline comprising popular buzzwords like “energetic” or “employee-centred”; It is the organisation’s philosophy in terms of its culture, relationship with its employees, and a promise made to future employees.

An employer brand is an evocative and unique statement

Much like a consumer brand, employer brand is a sentiment. For instance, Coca Cola’s tagline ‘Taste the Feeling’ evokes a plethora of happy emotions — the sentiment of its products. A firm’s employer brand should likewise evoke certain feelings, such as a sense of pride to be an employee at the firm, or an excitement towards the possibilities the firm has to offer.

Your employer brand also has to be uniquely yours, and reflect your firm’s distinct culture — what is it that makes working at your company so special?

However, creating an effective employer brand is difficult. It is not as simple as choosing a colour palette or a logo to represent your firm. It can neither be put together in a day, nor simply written by the firm’s leadership. Instead, the employer brand is created over time, through conscious and consistent effort, often with the help of external parties with experience in the field.

How can I create a strong employer brand?

A strong employer branding not only answers potential hires’ 3 key questions

Who are you?
Why should I work with you?
What is it like to work with you?

… but also communicates these answers to potential hires effectively.

In short, there are two dimensions — constructing the answers and effectively communicating them — both of which must be fulfilled to attract top talents.

Who are you?

For start-ups and SMEs, chances are that visitors to your site (including potential hires) have little idea about who you are and what you do. Just as it is customary to do a self-introduction when we meet new people, it is crucial for you (as a company) to introduce yourself to site visitors. Be sure to tell them:

What your mission/vision is
How the work you do contributes towards that vision
What impact your work creates

Job seekers are increasingly concerned about the mission of their employer and the impact they can create as an employee. In other words, potential employees are looking to work with a sense of purpose. According to Mercer, thriving employees are three times more likely to work for a company with a strong sense of purpose. It is precisely these top talents whom you want on your team!

Presenting a well-defined company identity is essential to attract top talents who resonate with your company’s mission.

Does your company site explain these factors, or does it leave potential hires wondering “who are you?”

Why should I work with you?

Once the potential hire has a good feel for what the company is all about, the next step is to convince them to join your team. Your employer value proposition (EVP) — what your company offers in return for employees’ contributions — should be front and centre, and presented in an attractive and persuasive way to entice top talents.

There are many different aspects of EVP, a few of which include:

Working Environment
- Is the workplace a communicative and friendly one?

Do you recognise performance and hence offer performance-based incentives?

Compensation and Benefits
- Are there leadership and progression opportunities for employees, for instance taking up managerial responsibilities or larger job scopes?
- Do you offer flexible working arrangements, or a good work-life balance?

Flexible working in particular has been top-of-mind for employees following the COVID-19 pandemic, with 77% of workers wanting more flexibility in how and where they work, and 75% hoping to retain this flexibility post-pandemic (Adecco, 2020). In the present climate, your company might be the odd one out for not providing workplace flexibility — a stark difference from how it was just a couple of years ago.

Aside from workplace flexibility, the aspects of EVP that matter to employees differ across firms. It is therefore important to specifically target and invest in the aspects that matter the most to your team.

Hiring is a 2-way street. Candidates have to convince employers that they are willing and able to contribute, and employers have to convince candidates that they are the right firm for them.

Is it clear to potential applicants why they should work with you?

What is it like to work with you?

If you are successful at alluring candidates with attractive benefits, they would then be curious about what to expect if they were working at your firm — What is the company culture like? Can I envision myself working in this kind of environment? A good employer brand captures this essence and helps candidates to self-select based on their likely fit with the firm.

A company culture is the shared values, attributes, and characteristics of the organization and its employees. It is evidently seen through interactions, decision-making, as well as a firm’s expectations or goals, and it is crucial to effectively convey all these sentiments to job applicants.

According to a Robert Walters survey of 1,000 professionals and hiring managers in the UK, a good cultural fit brings about significant long-term benefits:

90% greater job satisfaction
84% improvement in job performance
81% decrease in likeliness for employees to leave

On the other hand, employees who find themselves mismatched with their company culture are likely to leave — 32% of respondents cited this as the main reason for their exit (Jobvite, 2018).

Giving candidates (and new hires) a good understanding of what your firm is like helps to narrow the selection of candidates to those who are more likely to fit in your company and contribute meaningfully in the long-run.

Does your company page accurately reflect the company culture and the lived experience of employees?

Time for a Self-Assessment!

Do you have comprehensive answers to these 3 key questions?

Who are you?
Why should I work with you?
What is it like to work with you?

Have you communicated the answers above effectively?

Does your company page explain the mission, vision, and the impact your work creates?
Is it clear to potential applicants why they should work with you?
Does your company page accurately reflect the company culture and the lived experience of employees?

Based on the checklist, your employer branding...

0 - 3: Needs More Work

20%

4-5: Almost there!

50%

6: Excellent!

100%

Build a powerful employer brand with TalentKraft

Developing a compelling employer brand is a crucial component of talent attraction and retention, but that’s all it is: part of the larger solution. Here at TalentKraft, we offer consulting for both talent attraction (based on our 6-step process) and retention — the entire package that will help you build your dream team effortlessly.

With TeamSight+, we use a data-driven approach to help you build your employer brand. Driven by what motivates your team and their experiences on the ground, we will work with you to build your employee value proposition and become a talent magnet for your next generation of employees.

Keen on hiring and retaining top talents efficiently and effectively? Talk to us today!

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