Today, Employer Brand is more important than ever when attracting and retaining top talent.
Employees are more intentional about where they want to work due to increased flexibility, the blurring of work and home lives and recent economic instability. Meanwhile, businesses must stand out from their competition while being mindful of tighter budgets and closer margins.
In such times, having a strong Employer Brand can be a game changer for your business, creating a happy, engaged workforce that drives towards your company vision.
However, there’s a lot of work to get there. You’ll need to make sure your Employer Brand reflects your organisation, and, at the same time, speaks to each individual in a way that inspires trust.
Sound good? Keep reading. In this guide, we’ll look at what an Employer Brand is, why it’s important, and best practices you can take away for your Employer Branding strategy.
Let’s get into it.
What is Employer Branding?
Employer Branding’s meaning might differ from one person’s opinion to another.
Simply put, an Employer Brand is a business’s image and reputation as an employer. It’s what your employees - past, present and future - think of when they think of working for your company.
There’s an overlap between Employer Brand and Corporate Brand, as an organisation’s values, policies, and ethical standards all contribute to both. The distinction is in who the brand appeals to: a good Employer Brand speaks to the people who work for the business first.
So, what is an Employer Brand? We can start with several key characteristics:
- A clear and compelling identity. Think company mission, vision and a clear purpose playbook.
- A strong Employee Value Proposition. Great Employee Value Proposition examples include Hubspot, PWC and Nike.
- A positive employee experience at every stage of the employee lifecycle
- A clear diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategy that leadership prioritise.
- Commitment to continuous improvement. The best Employer Brand teams use an always-on approach to evolve their strategy.
Every company has an Employer Brand - whether it’s something that’s been a priority since day one or something that hasn’t been considered before. But with more ways than ever to find out about an employee experience - from careers pages to social media to Glassdoor - those who invest in an Employer Branding strategy that speaks to their people tend to reap the rewards.
Now we’ve looked at Employer Branding’s meaning, let’s find out why it’s crucial.
Why is Employer Branding important?
A positive Employer Brand will positively impact every part of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to engagement and tenure.
Building a strong Employer Brand is the first step in an effective recruitment marketing process. A strong brand foundation makes it easier for recruitment marketers to educate a candidate about the business. It’s also the foundation of a great candidate experience. Get branding right, and your business will make a strong first impression. This is key to standing out from competitors and securing the candidates you need.
Internal brand engagement also helps keep your workforce happy and loyal to your business. Engaged, happy people do their best work. The better your people’s work, your business will be more productive.
Plus, there’s a knock-on effect for your hiring team. If your employees consider your business a great workplace, they’re more likely to make referrals and less likely to leave. The longer your people stay with your business, the less time and money you’ll spend on hiring and training a replacement.
Employer Branding may traditionally be associated with larger, more established companies. However, its direct impact on the bottom line means it’s just as important for startups and smaller companies that must show efficiency quickly.
Employer Branding stats you should know
A crucial role of Employer Brand teams is communicating the function’s value to leadership. Focussing on a good Employer Brand’s tangible impact on attraction, retention, and engagement is critical here. Here are five stats to start you off:
Attraction and Employer Branding
- 76% of employees research a company’s Employer Branding
- 96% of employees would be more likely to apply to a company with a good Employer Brand
- 87% say that negative reviews would deter them from applying for a company
Retention and Employer Branding
- 92% of employees consider leaving their current jobs for another company with a better reputation
Engagement and Employer Branding
- 68% of employees feel disengaged in both their business and their role
The role of Employee-Generated Video in Employer Brand
So - we’ve covered what Employer Brand is and why your business needs to invest in one. Next up: your strategy for communicating your Employer Brand to your people.
In a world full of slick campaigns and AI-generated content, consumers are more savvy to marketing messages than ever. People are more likely to place their trust in messages from real humans rather than a polished campaign from a business.
To build trust in your brand, you need to utilise social proof. In other words, provide evidence that other people already trust you.
That’s where employee storytelling comes in. People connect to people - and having your employees tell your brand story comes across as more emotional, more human and more authentic. Hint: if you’re looking for Employer Branding examples that utilise employee storytelling, take a look at Google, Microsoft or Mars.
One way for your employees to tell their stories meaningfully is through User-Generated Content (UGC): content they create themselves. Employee-generated video is a key component of this strategy - it allows your people to connect with each other and the outside world, even if your business hires remotely or is split between home and the office.
Here are a few ways you can integrate Employee-Generated Video into your Employer Brand strategy:
- Have a member of your leadership team deliver internal comms through a self-recorded video rather than an email.
- Record a recruiter explain their favourite part of your company culture to send out to a potential hire.
- Got an amazing DE&I initiative - for example, your Pride Month celebrations - to share? Ask the employees who worked on it to take the audience along with them for the day.
- Ask an employee who lives and breathes your values to film an ‘employee spotlight’ video or participate in a trend for your content calendar.
- Team bonding day or retreat coming up? Combine Employee-Generated Video from the event to create a memento full of real human memories.
Employer Brand has more potential for businesses than ever before. Get it right, and you’ll build a community of natural advocates for your business - who will spread your story to their own networks and beyond.
Want to know how to unlock employee-powered video to increase your engagement across Employer Brand? Seenit gives your team everything they need to create videos with your employees. Create, share & measure engaging content to enhance your Employer Brand and Communications, no experience needed. Find out more about Seenit, the employee-powered video platform
