Why Employer Branding is Important for your Recruitment Strategy

Employer branding is an essential tool in drawing together workforces within an enterprise under one marketable roof, where your recruitment network and your candidate base can get a full understanding of exactly how your company works, and why potential employees should work for you.

What is employer branding?

Employer branding is recruitment fuel.

As Hubspot so eloquently describes it, “an employer brand is your reputation among the workforce as well as your employees' perception of you as an employer”. Employer branding strategies tell a story - of your company, of your culture, of your employer value proposition, and your ability to develop careers for your team. Employer branding can, in theory, be anything that tells your company's story and communicates your employer value proposition. Generally speaking, it will be a collection of media that offers candidates an opportunity with your company, while simultaneously communicating your company culture, perks, community position and company purpose in an attractive “story” of your brand and career pathways.

Employer branding can manifest in anything from simple job postings, to entire EVP video campaigns, community outreach and external recruitment activity. Employer branding stories and campaigns are generally promoted via company marketing channels, employee referral networks, social media, and via company websites. They tend to work alongside live job advertisements and offer an in-depth view of your company culture which elevates job opportunities by highlighting the holistic and cultural benefits of working for an employer. Job boards, recruiters and external hiring agencies are all part of the matrix of employer brand management, and all have an impact on the success and reach of employer branding efforts.

Why is employer branding so effective?

Employer brand management is synonymous with reputation and workforce management, and it's integral to hiring strategies. It’s imperative modern companies understand how employer branding strategies and marketing campaigns work to elevate recruitment activity in a disrupted hiring environment.

However, as we’ve highlighted, employer branding is more than simply company or job storytelling.

Yes, it has to include the specifics of working at your particular company - the pay, the benefits, the in-depth job descriptions, the career pathways and expectations for employees. But employers have to go beyond the surface level recruitment marketing level and dig deeper to really maximise the effectiveness of employer branding. Leaning again on the Hubspot piece above, “You need to… communicate your company's leadership, values, and culture”. The stats bear witness:

• “78% of job candidates say the overall candidate experience they get is an indicator of how a company values its people” (source).
• “50% of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation – even for a pay increase” (source).
• “80% of talent acquisition managers believe that employer branding has a significant impact on the ability to hire great talent” (source).
• “60% of recruiters believe culture fit is of the highest importance when making a decision whether to hire or not” (source).

So not only do employees consider employer branding vital in understanding the motivations and company culture of an employer, both employers and recruiters understand it’s the most important facet of a successful hiring strategy.

Who is responsible for employer branding?

While it’s natural to assume company marketing departments take responsibility for anything brand-related, effective employer branding has to be cross-departmental. In this LinkedIn article, the question is framed Who Should Own Your Employer Brand – HR or Marketing? The answer is, of course, the following - “the truth is this: like many aspects of business, it’s a team game”. Employer branding strategies, when well-executed and consistently applied across branding channels, should be the perfectly balanced surmising of your company culture.

Your company culture can be nurtured and encouraged, but it isn’t owned by any one employee or department - it’s a constantly evolving set of behaviours and attitudes your workplace naturally develops as people intersect and collaborate. The real trick to communicating your employer brand comes down to making sure each role of your business is given ample space to communicate how it fits into the company dynamic, and how that job delivers on the company's purpose.

What are examples of good employer branding campaigns?

There are many, many, resources to call on if you want to find examples of amazing, game-changing employer branding campaigns.

• Companies such as Uncubed are specialist employer branding companies and have extensive portfolios of companies they’ve helped elevate.
• Much of the great work companies are doing to expand their employer brand is done via social media (examples of great work done by companies such as Adobe and T-Mobile you can read here).
• Others are leaning on revamped employer web pages to better communicate the working culture, benefits structures and remuneration packages companies can offer (some examples of well-branded recruitment pages by companies such as Tony’s Chocalonley, Hubspot and Target can be found here).

Summary

Every company has an employer brand, whether it’s directly curated or not. It’s the summation of your company ideas, your company purpose, your work culture and your advocacy networks - it’s the ecosystem you naturally develop as you trade and grow, and it is now rated as the most important element of enterprise recruitment strategy and employee retention strategies.