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How Does Your Employer Brand Impact Recruitment?

by Anastasia C. Valentine on June 28, 2016

 

 

If we’re being honest with ourselves, we know that a fancy price tag on a shiny new job offer is rarely enough to win over top talent. Most people probably harbor unfortunate memories of terrible work experiences that made their lives miserable despite the handsome paycheck with their name on it. With that in mind, it’s important to understand what else plays a role in attracting a candidate to your company. In particular, we’re interested in how your employer brand impacts recruitment.

What Does Your Employer Brand Say About You?

Take a moment to think of your favorite consumer brand. Is it Starbucks? Apple? Amazon? These organizations have made a point to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They know exactly what their target buyers need, want, and prefer. So to what extent is your company doing the same thing for its employees? Catering to your ideal employee profile and branding your company that way across career sites, social profiles, and job descriptions are surefire ways to catch the eye of your perfect employee.

Consider these scenarios:

  1. Your company has a wall full of sparkly industry awards. You have no problem marketing your product or service simply through word-of-mouth. And your employees are always thinking about innovating the next big thing.
  2. Your office is pretty comfortable. You have summer hours and work-from-home options (check out the pros and cons of a remote workforce). You know that to keep your customers happy, your employees must be happy, too.
  3. Your company is all about making a difference in people’s lives. You hire positive, energetic people who want a meaningful career. And you reward them with excellent benefits and great employee experience.

These three examples show what a distinct employer brand looks like. It’s built upon the company culture that has grown organically within your walls combined with a clear vision of how your company lives out its values. Ideally, your employer brand is backed up by both tangible and intangible details. These range from competitive compensation, great health insurance, and flexible hours, to a great work environment, professional development opportunities and fun team building events.

Why does all this matter? A recent LinkedIn report sums it up nicely. Employer branding increases jobseeker consideration in your company, it reduces recruiting costs, and it lowers employee turnover. In short, the impact of employer branding on recruitment is significant.

Clearly, addressing the values of your ideal candidates with a distinctive employer brand is vital in attracting quality candidates to your team. If your company lacks that vision, talented professionals have no reason to give you a second glance. It’s a candidate’s market out there (demand for IT talent is soaring), and if your job ads, career sites, and social profiles blend into the background, you’re going to get passed over, no questions asked.

What Do Your Employees Say About You?

Of course, you also have to walk the talk. An employer brand is one thing, but unless you live it out within the walls of your workplace, your current (and former) employees aren’t going to do you any favors with word-of-mouth marketing. That could result in unfavorable Glassdoor reviews and social media comments, not to mention an unengaged workforce that will be immediately obvious the moment a candidate enters your office for their interview.

No matter how attractive your compensation package, benefits, and perks are, bad reviews and dissatisfied employees will send your best candidates running for the door. On the other hand, if your current employees love working for your company, they’ll be more likely to serve as ambassadors and spread the word. That’s why employee referral programs are a great way to recruit the best talent. If your employees love their jobs, they won’t hesitate to walk their talented friends right up to your desk.

How Does Your Employer Brand Impact Recruitment?

When recruiting and hiring new employees, it’s easy to fall back on the official process and workflow of advertising, screening and interviewing. But it’s important to remember that your candidates are evaluating you as much as you are evaluating them. There’s no doubt that they’ll be researching your company before they apply, and further scrutinizing you in the interview. Your employer brand has to shine through during every step, and everyone in your company who plays a role in hiring must understand how employer brand impacts recruitment.

Over the last 34 years, Resource 1 has been committed to developing our brand in order to attract the top IT consulting talent in the market.  Let us help build your IT team.