5 Tips To Boost Your Employer Brand (So Candidates Want To Work For You)
Hiring a great candidate right now is like scouring Rightmove for your dream home: the best ones are snapped up before they even make it online, and you have to act fast if you want to see them in person.
At the moment, talented candidates spend fewer than 10 days on the market. So how can you fill your next role when competitors are offering similar packages and salaries?
The answer is to create a strong employer brand.
Recruitment has changed and the old methods no longer work. Five years ago you’d put out an ad, interview five perfect candidates and offer one of them the position.
Now, employers are often baffled when we put forward one great candidate and urge them to interview and make a decision within 24 hours.
Over the past three decades, we’ve operated successfully in every kind of recruitment landscape, so we’re here to help you adapt your hiring processes and strategy to stay competitive.
In our latest blog, we’re sharing five expert tips on improving your employer brand in a candidate-driven market so you can attract and retain the best people more easily.
What does employer brand mean?
Firstly, let’s define what we mean by an employer brand.
Generally speaking, your brand is all about how you’re perceived by others.
So, your employer brand refers to your reputation among existing and potential employees.
It brings together your values, culture, and employee experience.
Ask yourself:
Do people think you’re a good company to work for?
Are you known for valuing and supporting your employees?
Do candidates know your values as an organisation, and what you stand for?
Do you have good employee engagement?
Businesses with a strong employer brand know the answer to these questions and have a clear brand strategy to send out the right message to the outside world.
In fact, their employer brand strategy also incorporates how they treat their existing employees to ensure they’re engaged, happy, and motivated in their role.
Whether you know it or not, you already have an employer brand: if it’s not currently bringing the right individuals into your world, it’s time to make some changes.
How employer brand helps in recruitment
What potential employees think of your business plays an important role in whether they’ll consider working for you.
When there’s a shortage of good candidates, the best ones can pick and choose who they interview with.
So, if the top talent in your industry perceives you as a bad or even average place to work, you’re going to waste a lot of time, resources, and budget on unsuccessful recruitment.
Here are some interesting statistics about employer brand in recruitment:
50% of candidates wouldn’t work for a business with a bad reputation - even if they were offered more money
55% of candidates won’t go ahead with an application if they read negative reviews
75% of candidates look up a company before an interview
61% of people would consider switching jobs to a company with a better employer brand
Companies with a strong employer brand spend 43% less per hire.
So, you can see why your employer brand is an essential part of your recruitment strategy.
Having a strong employer brand develops trust between your company and candidates, and makes it a much faster, smoother, and cost-effective process to hire new employees.
How do you know if you have a good employer brand?
In terms of recruitment, a sign you have a good employer brand is that a large portion of your hires come from referrals and recommendations.
This makes recruitment much easier, as you’re naturally attracting people who align with your values and culture without having to invest so much time and money seeking them out.
Plus, it significantly boosts your employee retention rate, which further reduces your recruitment spend.
If you’re not quite there but want to be, read on for five expert tips for improving your employer brand.
How to improve your employer brand - 5 tips from a recruitment specialist
Create an Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Creating an Employee Value Proposition is a good exercise to establish why a candidate would want to work for your business.
Your EVP is a statement that fits your values and mission as an organisation, setting out your stall on how you treat people and what they get out of working for you.
While it’s an internal exercise, this is a great place to start in considering your employer brand and how you want to be seen by job hunters.
In fact, if you do what you say you do in your Employee Value Proposition, it can decrease annual employee turnover by 69% and improve the commitment of new employees by up to 29%
Spotify refers to its EVP as its ‘Band Manifesto’, using a musical theme to talk about its team and how it works together, so feel free to make it your own and ensure it reflects your company and people.
If you’re not sure where to start creating or updating your Employee Value Proposition, get in touch and we’d be happy to help.
Examine your candidate experience
When did you last look at your recruitment process from a candidate perspective?
Do people think it’s smooth and easy to apply for a job?
Or could people be complaining on job boards about your buggy website and War and Peace-sized application forms?
If you’re struggling to recruit the right people, it’s time to examine your candidate experience and see where improvements could be made.
The hiring process isn’t one size fits all, and outdated processes and glitches in your system could be sending your sought-after candidate elsewhere.
Hiring a recruitment agency to give a fresh perspective on your application, interview, and onboarding experiences will shed new light on things that aren’t working or could be off-putting to great candidates.
Ask for input
Just like we always encourage candidates to ask for feedback after an unsuccessful interview, you can ask candidates why they chose to accept a different role over the one you were offering.
Constructive criticism is beneficial for everyone, and you’re likely to identify some useful information about your employer brand and how it’s landing with your target candidate.
Often, something relatively minor can have a huge influence on someone’s decision to decline or accept a role, so having this data at your fingertips will allow you to make changes to how you present yourself as an employer.
Prioritise your company culture
Company culture goes beyond a free lunch or an early Friday finish.
Excellent company culture is about creating an environment where everyone feels like they can bring their best self to work and thrive personally and professionally.
Making every employee feel recognised, valued, and respected heightens employee engagement and satisfaction, as well as projecting a strong image to potential candidates.
Not only does this make for happier existing employees, but it also turns your team into brand ambassadors who tell friends, family, and their wider network what a great workplace you operate - a huge win for your employer brand.
If you’re not sure how to improve your company culture, ask your employees. There’s no point spending money on initiatives assuming it’s what your team wants, without asking them first.
Focus on your attraction strategy
How attractive is your company to a potential employee? If your employer brand is about how you present to the outside world, what are those touchpoints where you can make an impression?
Are you making it as easy as possible for people to find and contact you?
Consider whether your business comes across as a positive workplace environment through your:
Social media accounts
Website
Employee referral schemes
Email marketing
Local charity work
Job adverts
Find a recruitment partner that raises your employer brand
A challenging recruitment landscape doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find decent people to work for you: you simply have to do more to source the right candidates.
The right recruitment partner helps you enhance your employer brand and design a recruitment strategy customised around your specific requirements, goals, and resources.
Cummins Mellor has three decades’ experience offering bespoke recruitment services for candidates and businesses, from sharing your vacancies with a wider audience to becoming your full-time internal recruitment department working under your brand.
Do you need support making the right people want to come and work with you? Get in touch with our team today.
