What does Employer Branding have to do with Recruitment and Retention?

Employer Branding seems to be a term that is being banded around a lot recently and is being heavily utilised in the ‘War for Talent’. It is described as “the process of promoting a company, or an organisation, as the employer of choice to a desired target group, one which a company needs and wants to recruit and retain”.

This is basically the same process that businesses use to promote a product, lure consumers away from its competitors, and ensure that they stay loyal to them by continuing to buy their product. 

So how does it work in recruitment and retention?

A developed employer brand that’s communicated clearly within the recruitment process means that employees will know exactly what to expect when they start within your business. Continued communication of this message will make people proud to work for the business. Just make sure that you live up to expectations otherwise people will leave!

If you have a positive, well-known reputation as an employer then, generally speaking, you won’t need to spend as much on your recruitment advertising. A good employer brand acts as a great advertising tool in itself; if you have a positive reputation then jobseekers will always be on the lookout for a role with you.

It takes much less time to fill a vacancy if you have a positive reputation as an employer as if you have a negative employer brand then candidates are likely to be put off working for you. A survey by Glassdoor found that 69% of candidates would not take a job with a business that had a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed!!!!

A company is so much more than their corporate website so give it a face and show the human side of the company. When a candidate is considering applying for a job with you, they don’t want to see a website loaded with jargon, they want to hear about employee experiences, your culture and the things that will resonate with them and make them want to work for you.

How do I build an Employer brand?

It won’t happen overnight and there is lots of advice online but as a starting point you can follow this process;

Discovery - understand how the employer brand is perceived internally and externally

Analysis, interpretation and creation - build a clear picture of what the organisation stands for, offers and requires as an employer – its distinctive ‘value proposition’.

Implementation and communication - sees the brand being applied for the first time in the organisation.

Measurement, maintenance and optimisation - concerned with checking progress and maintaining momentum.

Is it all a fad? I do not think so. We have rapidly progressed into a candidate driven market and through the increase in social media and the information available online candidates have found new ways to scrutinise and benchmark businesses.

People talk about good brands…and bad brands, so be the good one.