Employer brand matters. In fact, 92% of people would consider changing jobs if offered a role within an organization with an excellent corporate reputation.
However, while companies operating in the recruitment space are often experienced in communicating the employee value propositions (EVPs) of their clients to potential recruits, many neglect to nurture their own brand sufficiently — and in today’s talent-tight market, it has never been more important to reassess how your firm is perceived by external audiences.
A Talent-Tight Market
As the CIPD highlights, all organizations have an employer brand. It’s the way in which companies differentiate themselves in the labor market, enabling them to recruit, retain and engage the right people. Even in times when talent is plentiful, a strong employer brand helps firms to compete for the best talent and establish credibility.
However, when candidates are scarce, the importance of brand is elevated to business critical. And brand profiles need to shift to accurately demonstrate why you are a great company to work for or do business with.
Changing Priorities
As we emerge from the pandemic, many individuals have reassessed their priorities from a career perspective and are seeking a greater sense of purpose in their work. The new value systems that resonate with candidates in a post-Covid world must be taken into account when businesses are building and communicating their brand.
With the dawn of Covid, the boundaries between work and home blurred — and there’s no rewinding from this shift. Thanks to platforms such as Zoom and Teams, we spent months stepping into each other’s homes and meeting our colleagues’ dogs and children. We helped each other through an emotionally challenging period in history, and consequently, leaders have organically taken on a more pastoral role.
Great businesses are now supporting their people’s well-being and psychological safety like never before — and this should feed into your EVP. Take a step back and see how you can reimagine, reinvigorate and refresh your brand so that it’s truly reflective of the way your business operates today.
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Authentic Brand
A great employer brand showcases your people and celebrates your staff as individuals as well as a cohesive team working towards a shared goal. In a world where digitization and automation enable service industries to operate more efficiently than ever before, the value of the human touch has never been more important, and emotional connection is central to brand.
According to LinkedIn research, a strong employer brand is twice as likely to be linked to job consideration compared to a strong company brand. However, EVP and corporate reputation are intrinsically linked. Glassdoor has identified that the vast majority of jobseekers, 79%, use social media to help find potential employers, and 64% of consumers have stopped buying a brand after hearing news of that company’s poor employee treatment.
Therefore, selling a brand that is not authentic is not an option, particularly when you consider that almost 30% of job seekers have left a job within the first 90 days of starting, indicating that the perception versus reality of an employer brand are often misaligned. Your brand can’t be an illusion — it needs to be authentic across every touchpoint.
I have a passion for people and DEI, and I’d urge businesses which are considering reinvigorating their brand to look internally and embrace storytelling to share the journeys, successes and perspectives of their own workforces. If your company is hyper-diverse, has a great track record of promotion from within or a strong culture of corporate social responsibility, then shout about it.
Great branding will not only enhance your own reputation in the marketplace, but also the brand value of the businesses your partner with — and after all the upheaval of the past two years, now is the perfect time to reassess how others perceive your business.
Employer brand is not just a logo, a website or a bit of collateral — it’s an ethos that excites and inspires potential recruits. In a talent-scarce market, it’s crucial that you articulate just how amazing your business is. Fill your people with purpose and pride and encourage them to tell their stories. After all, that’s what people buy into: people.