Employer brand is often at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to evaluating business priorities. In today's recruitment market, having a strong employer brand is key to both targeting and attracting the right candidates for your jobs.
Business leaders know how important brand awareness is when it comes marketing your product/service offering. Recruitment should be no different. In todays climate, it's crucial to ensure your job ads are tailored to showcase your EVP in order to attract the right candidates that align with your company vision, culture and offerings. Organizations with a visibly positive employer brand are noted to receive more than double the application volume compared to those with a lack of or negative employer brand.
A strong employer brand has become crucial today as it allows for candidates to clearly view how their values and priorities align with that of their potential new employer. A clear employer brand is particularly key for the startup world as it allows for brand awareness, credibility and offers a competitive advantage in the market.
We have put together 4 tips on how to improve your employer brand before making your next hire.
1. Showcase your Company Offerings
Candidate priorities have significantly changed over the last 2 years. Top earning salaries are slowly declining on the priority scale and are being replaced with perks such as remote work, flexible hours and mental health benefits.
Do you offer remote work, unlimited vacation or monthly wellness days? Share these offerings as much and wherever possible. Ensure this information is clearly visible in your job ads, on your careers page, and showcased in all of your recruitment efforts.
Sharing this information not only allows you to stand out among your competitors but also allows you to attract the RIGHT candidates that align with your company values and culture.
This information should be at the TOP of any job advert, ensuring your offerings are front and centre at all times and always lead any outreach messaging with how you support your team.
2. Showcase Your Flexibility Policy
Over the last 2 years, we have boomeranged from full-time in-office work to fully remote and back again. The problem here is that many employees have become accustomed to working from home, often demonstrating a clear increase in productivity rates and allowing more flexibility for family and personal time.
If possible, try to integrate a flexible or hybrid model where able. Candidates are looking for companies that align with their priorities and personal needs. Showcase how your company enables flexibility for your team.
3. Showcase your Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policies
Candidates are not just looking for tangible and monetary incentives. Equality has become an increasingly important factor that many candidates are actively seeking in their next employer.
It's one thing to promote on social media that you support DEI but do you have tangible actions that showcase you actually implement these practices?
A few ways you can ensure inclusivity in the hiring process are:
Adding a note to all of your job ads to encourage individuals from all walks of life to apply. Make your candidate feel comfortable about the environment they are stepping into.
Share videos and images of your current team. Showcase the current diversity already existing on your team and how you plan to improve it.
Implement panel style interviews with team members of varying backgrounds to reduce hiring bias.
A great example is wanting to hire more women in leadership or tech roles. Showcase and share the stories of other women in similar positions as an example.
4. Showcase How You Accommodate Work-Life Balance
With so many companies moving toward hybrid or fully remote offices, it has become increasingly apparent that the lines separating work/personal life have become blurred. With burnout rates at an all-time high, it is so important to share that you not only care about this issue, but really showcase HOW you address this with your current team.
Some key areas you might want to think about are:
How do you support taking time away to recharge?
Do you have any wellness programs in place?
Do you have any meeting-free or shutdown days?
Do you have summer hours or holiday closures?
How do you encourage employees to maintain a healthy work/life balance? Both active and passive candidates want to know.
What We've Learned
In the current market, candidates have an exceptionally clear vision of what they want and don't want in an employer. Finding and attracting great candidates is half the battle. Retaining your existing talent is another.
In order to thrive and not just survive in the market, companies need to re-evaluate and really enhance their employer brands to ensure they stand out from the crowd.
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