Having an effective employment branding strategy in place can greatly improve a company’s recruitment efforts, an article on Accolo reports. And with negative employee criticism now able to spread rapidly over the internet, this has never been more important than in today’s digitally-focused world.
The job market is now also particularly “candidate-driven,” the article states; which means that strong branding can help attract the best talent to your company.
Whereas in the past companies could simply advertise a vacant position, today’s highly skilled and media-savvy candidates expect a little more effort from recruiters. Professionals tend to receive multiple messages from a number of recruiters, and are fully aware if their skills and experience are particularly in-demand.
This means that they can often be more selective about which organisation they wish to work for. And companies that fail to make their voice heard – or presence felt – in the online job market, could miss out on the best candidates.
The best way to do this is to positively communicate your working environment to potential candidates. Highly skilled jobseekers, the article claims, are looking for more to life than just paying the bills – they want to feel that they are a part of something.
Therefore, your ’employment brand’ should convey that your company gives workers a high level of job satisfaction, and provides a rewarding career opportunity, the article advises.
A good idea is to look at your company’s web-presence, and assess any faults that may dissuade a candidate from wanting to work with you. For example, a survey from Monster shows that candidates are put off of a company that makes grammar or spelling mistakes in their vacancy ad – so make sure that you proof-read anything that you put out to the world.
Furthermore, figures from JobVite reveal that 40% of jobseekers in their thirties will use social media when searching for a job. This means that your social media presence should be up-to-scratch, and tie-in with your company website and overall branding. This creates a consistent employment brand – something that jobseekers will quickly see through if there are contradictions in your company’s message.
You could also ask yourself these questions when looking at your web presence from an outsider’s prospective:
“Does the content give you a sense of company culture?”
“”What impressions are left on you by the various online communications (including social, company website, job ads and promotional content)? What does it all amount to?”
“Would you feel encouraged to sign up to the company’s social page to stay up-to-date with job opportunities? Would you know how to do this?”
The final piece of advice is to integrate the use of social media into candidate/company relations. If your employees promote vacancies through their own networks, then the brand becomes visible to professionals who are already connected with your staff or industry. This can only be a good thing, as it allows your talent network to grow organically through recommended contacts – and candidates approached in this way are far more likely to want to work for your company.
What do you make of this advice? Does your company have a strong employment brand?
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