From celebrating employee appreciation week or offering mentorship and development opportunities. There are many ways you can build a positive employer brand in 2022. To make a great employer brand, you need to understand why you’re creating it, your goals, and the unique challenges you may be facing in 2022. In this article, we’ll explore what do know about building an employer brand this year.
Right now, experts are calling the situation employers are facing “The Great Resignation.” Millions of people have been leaving their jobs monthly.
There are a lot of reasons for this, but many come back to the fact that they aren’t happy with how their employer treated them during the pandemic. Employees feel like they have the flexibility to move around right now, and the pandemic has taught many people they’d like to have a different sense of work-life balance.
Employers are going to continue struggling with the effects of The Great Resignation, particularly considering before the pandemic, talent shortages were already one of the critical concerns cited as potentially hampering growth.
Whether you’re an existing business, but you feel now is the time to focus on your employer brand, or you’re a new business, this brand is potentially what will help you weather these labor headwinds. Without a strong employer brand, you’re going to be facing serious challenges in finding and retaining talent.
In the current environment, your employer brand can be as important as your overall brand, yet it’s something still so few organizations put resources into building an employer band.
What is an Employer Brand, and Why Does It Matter?
Your employer brand is your reputation as far as how you are as an employer. The brand stems from the perceptions job seekers, current and former employees have about you as a place to work. No matter what you think about how great your workplace is, if it’s not reflected in the perception, then it’s not good for you.
Your employer brand is described by SHRM is part of your employee value proposition. It’s what you’re communicating about your identity as a potential or current employer, whether you know it or not.
Your employer brand is made up of various factors that are similar to your overall brand, including your mission and values, but also relevant are your personality and culture.
When you have a positive employer brand, you’re effectively conveying the idea that you’re a good employer and a great place to work.
While it’s primarily focused on the perception job seekers and employees have, your employer brand also affects your general brand and the perception of your business in the marketplace. You can’t have a horrible employer brand and expect that your brand to consumers will be perceived positively. The two tend to go hand-in-hand.
So why, specifically, does your employer brand matter?
There are three big reasons—recruitment, engagement, and retention.
The stronger and more positive your employer brand, the better equipped you will be to attract, retain and engage talent. When you have great talent, you’re going to be more profitable and competitive.
Your people are your number one asset, and a good employer brand recognizes that and reflects it.
LinkedIn found strong employer branding leads to a 28% reduction in turnover and 50% more qualified applicants. The same research also found a good employer brand leads to a 50% reduction in cost per hire. Among surveyed job seekers, 75% said they consider an employer brand before they apply. Seventy-eight percent of candidates say their experience during the application and hiring phase indicates how they value their people.
In a Deloitte study, 83% of millennials were found to be actively engaged in their job when their employer fostered a positive culture, compared to 60% when that’s not being done.
Good Employee Brand
When you have a good employee brand, every person that works for you becomes a brand ambassador to the world around them.
Above we talked primarily about why employer brand is important in general, but in 2022, there are even further ramifications specific to the times we’re in.
For example, as we touch on earlier, many people are leaving their jobs because they don’t like some element or multiple elements of how they are treat by their employer during COVID-19. You have to be sensitive to what people are experiencing as the pandemic endures.
Employees may not feel like their health to consider, or they could feel mental health isn’t prioritizing. Another reason employees may leave or not feel favorable toward their employer is because they don’t think they’re offer enough flexibility in how they work.
There are other challenges that are specific to the time we’re in right now beyond the employer perspective. For example, employers are struggling to create a cohesive employee brand and culture if their employees are working remotely. It is doable, but it may require a different strategy and approach.
Signs of a Negative Employer Brand
In some circumstances, figuring out what you’re doing wrong can be as valuable as knowing what to do right. Signs you have a negative employer brand, or you need to make changes include:
- Your employee engagement seems to be down. When your employee engagement is down, no matter the underlying reason, you need to pinpoint why. A lack of employee engagement is a red flag there’s a big problem with your employer brand specifically. How your employees feel about their jobs and the culture will impact their quality of work. How much they’re willing to dedicate to their employer. If you really aren’t sure what’s going on but notice a lack of engagement. Ask for anonymous employee feedback or send out a survey to start getting to the bottom of it.
- If your employees fear change or seem to lack flexibility in how they do things. This may be a sign of a negative employer brand. When employees avoid change or resist flexibility. It can be a sign that they also aren’t to engage or aren’t going to be innovative. On the other hand, willingness to be autonomous. Take risks, and be a problem-solver can be signs of a positive employer brand.
- Some of the issues may be more obvious than others. If you’re having a tough time retaining and recruiting, it’s probably time to consider your employer brand. If you put up a job post and feel like you’re not getting much of a response, the issue might be your employer brand.
So, what can you do?
Define Your Goals Building an Employer Brand
Before you can create specific strategies for your employer brand, you want to have clear goals in mind.
Your goals might include getting more job applicants, or maybe your focus is on more high-quality candidates. Whatever your goals are, make sure they’re not only specific but measurable.
Improving your EVP
Your EVP is your employee value proposition. You need to define your EVP and put it front center in your other efforts regarding your employer brand. Your EVP should include compensation, career development and opportunities, employee benefits, and perks. When you outline and define your EVP. You want to ensure you’re attracting and engaging employees. On those things they need to be happy with their jobs.
If you aren’t sure where to start, a good place to begin is to take a look at your competitors. How you compare. Survey your employees to learn more about what they like. In terms of culture and benefits and what they’d like more of.
Your employees should be the driving force behind everything your employer brand offers. You’re not going to know how to achieve this without asking them.
What Channels Will You Use in the Promotion of Your Employer Brand?
Much like you do for customers. You want to think about the touchpoints you have with candidates and the candidate journey. These so-called touchpoints are also where you’re going to be ultimately promoting your employer brand.
Create Candidate Personas Building an Employer Brand
One part of your employer brand strategy should be the creation of personas, again, just like you have for customers. You’re going to create highly tailored personas of the candidates you’re speaking to. Or at least would like to be appealing to.
Then, you have something to build your content around. For example, when you have candidate personas, you can create blog posts and videos with them in mind. You can also use your personas as you write job postings.
Offer Development and Growth Opportunities
Finally, along with general dissatisfaction. Another big reason so many people are leaving their jobs right now is that they feel stuck. They don’t feel their employer is offering them opportunities for advancement and growth. This is especially true in remote work when a lot of employees feel like they’re being overlooked for opportunities.
When you are creating an employer brand, growth, and development for the future. Moreover, the current employees needs to be a big part of this.
The post What to Know About Building an Employer Brand in 2022 appeared first on Visualmodo.
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