The State of Employer Brand in 2019

Employer branding is sometimes seen as a means of promoting vacancies, but it can be so much more than that, a means of demonstrating why your company is a great place to work and why prospective employees should apply for your roles. Research from job site Indeed shows that there is something far more critical to applications – reputation.

Business is becoming increasingly people-centric on the understanding that human capital is crucial to the success of their organizations. The labor market is a tough place for employers at the moment and employer branding very much an integral part of the candidate journey. In the current environment, we think it is imperative that organizations define a clear employer branding strategy, reviewing brand promise, people practices, and organizational resources to ensure they can deliver both internally and externally.

Reputation is all

A robust employer brand enables you to attract candidates who are currently employed elsewhere thereby optimizing your talent pool; it can dramatically influence your ability to attract, influence, hire and retain top talent. Glassdoor found that 84% of employees would consider leaving their current jobs if offered another role with a company that had an excellent corporate reputation.

So, you can differentiate your organization from your competition by promoting a strong employer brand. Awareness of your brand may not be enough to attract the brightest and best employees; you may find a need to differentiate for key markets or critical talent groups. The best candidates want to research a company and build a relationship with it over months before applying for a role.

For real recruitment success, it’s essential to ensure job advertisements reflect your employer brand, and use appropriate media to communicate the brand. More than 3 billion people use social media, and that number grows year-on-year; therefore, employers need to be visible to candidates on their preferred platforms.

Engagement and advocacy

Building that strong employer brand enhances hiring efforts and also impacts employee retention? Research found that companies who prioritize their employer branding usually see a 28% increase in retention. Employer branding isn’t just about sourcing new talent; it’s also about engaging current workers and making them the advocates for the employer brand.

Focus on:

1. How best to keep, engage and nurture your talent pool
2. Design employee benefits – not just remuneration but think about remote and flexible working conditions and hours, as well as wellbeing initiatives and the overall employee experience
3. Use the power behind social media to advertise and market for the skills you need
4. Use your HR infrastructure to create employer branding initiatives; this should help keep costs down
5. Use your loyal employee workforce as brand advocates to promulgate and elevate employer brand awareness
6. Future-proof your employee base by encouraging learning with a view to developing and growing existing talent and providing the necessary tools to address the changing needs of the organization.

A strong brand needs to be consistently and continuously managed, which is a good reason to focus of branding initiatives with a long term focus on employer brand management to ensure your employer brand truly represents your culture, environment, values, and vision.