If I were a potential candidate looking to work for your company, what does your Employer Brand – and particularly your digital presence say about you?
Is your business and are your leaders attractive to candidates you are trying to connect with?
In an environment where recruiting the right people to your business is critical, being able to attract talent has never been more important than it is now.
So firstly, let’s start by defining what is your Employer Brand?
Your Employer Brand is essentially your organisation’s reputation as an employer and essentially encompasses what the market’s perception of your company is from an employee perspective. This includes what the business stands for, products, services, leaders and team members and what it is like working for your Company and for you (or your leaders).
In the same light that customers ultimately define your Consumer Brand, when it comes to your Employer Brand (sometimes referred to as your Talent or People Brand), what is critical is how employees (past, current and future), potential candidates and interested parties see your company. When it comes to brand, what matters is not how you see yourself, but how others see you. Their perception becomes reality.
If you haven’t come across it yet, candidates are interviewing you just as much as you are interviewing them.
Any good candidate will well and truly research the business before applying and definitely before an interview. The first thing they will do of course, is Google your business AND normally also the business owner name.
If you have not done this already (preferably on another computer so all of your search history doesn’t bring up your normal/regular things), it is definitely time to ‘get your google on’ and do a search on yourself to see what comes up.
Is it what you would like to come up and what do you believe it says about you?
When you google these, are there good or bad things about you or the Company?
Both can have an impression on potential employees. You at least want to be fully armed on this so you have a response.
Similarly, if there is nothing, an Employee may wonder what is actually exciting about your Company and are you real?
Updating websites can be frustrating and costly however having extremely out of date information can be a negative look and send the wrong message.
Importantly, does your website capture the essence of your company and what you want it to say about you and what it is like to work for your company?
Whether your business is small or large, you will be surprised at how much your Facebook, LinkedIN, Instagram and whichever tools are relevant to your business will say about you. How consistent are you? Do you have a clear message? What are your comments and engagement like?
Potential team members can get a feel not only for your product or service but things you care about. They will get a feel for your voice, what you stand for, what you support (what you don’t support) and so on.
Again, a total absence may also suggest silence on matters so it is important to be clear on what you want your social media channels to say about both yourself and your company.
If you do a lot of recruiting, this is particularly useful for you and is a tool that can help you recruit all year around.
Minimum things to ensure you cover is key roles your company may employ, your values, what it is like working for your Company and how to apply.
As per point 3, don’t forget that leader’s social media are an extension of the Employer Brand and therefore, their individual digital profiles become incredibly important.
It is also important to think about the ‘Public Relations (PR)’ of your company. In the same way you share information to do with your product or service, sharing information about your values, charities/community groups you support and celebrating your team’s success ie 10 year anniversary of one of your team members, says a lot about your company and what it is like to work for you. These areas should be included in your marketing content plans if they are not already.
If you don’t know what your current team members would say about working for your company at a BBQ with friends, it is a good time to ask them.
Your team and what they say about working for your Company will be one of the most important things that will impact your Employer Brand so you want to make sure you are clear on this.
This is also important to think about in terms of exiting employees.
Exactly in the same way you may ‘reference’ a candidate, they will also reference you with any employees they know who may work for you (or have worked for you before).
Like google reviews on products, there are also many websites that can provide reviews on what it is like working for your company.
This may be on things like SEEK (generally for larger employers) however also may be via the company’s own review tools like google or industry community groups (on Facebook or LinkedIN).
If you are not attracting the right people to your company, one of the reasons could be your Employer Brand. The above 7 areas may at least help you identify if you have an issue.
Have you or your Employer done anything to significantly impact your Employer Brand? If so, we would love you to share it with us?
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