employer-branding
What is employer branding?
Employer branding is the set of mechanisms that govern the relationship between the company and the candidates for the corresponding vacancies. It includes issues such as the logo, advertising, website, recruitment process, welcome protocol, career plan and, of course, corporate culture. In a way, it brings together the entire set of assets and measures that the company uses or puts into practice so that candidates decide to accept the job offered to them, and under the conditions in which it is offered. Obviously, this can mean a paradigm shift for many employers and companies that consider that the final decision to hire an employee is theirs. However, in an environment of scarcity of available talent such as the one we have today, it is the candidates who choose which company they want to develop their career in.
Your company already has employer branding
employer-branding-2Believe it or not, your company already has an employer brand. As I have already explained, the image it projects to candidates and the entire recruitment process, as well as the current corporate culture, define the employer brand of your business, whether you like it or not. It is up to you to consciously control this brand so that it plays in favor of the interests of your business, or to continue allowing it to be the result of a lot of unconnected and uncoordinated pieces, as it usually happens.
Integrating branding with the recruitment process
Without a doubt, the recruitment process is the phase during which employer branding is most strongly manifested. For this reason, it is important to ensure that the brand and corporate culture are fully integrated with this process, which must be a faithful reflection of them. In fact, it makes no sense to project a false image of the reality of your company, just as it makes no sense for a candidate to lie on their CV or in a job interview. In the end, reality will prevail, highlighting the huge waste of time that the entire process has been for both parties. To carry out this integration, it is important to take into account the following aspects:
Positioning of the job : the job description norway phone number library should never be limited to a mere description of the desired technical knowledge and requirements. It should also inspire candidates, creating an attractive proposal from all possible perspectives, including the work environment, the career plan and, of course, the way of understanding the business and providing a service to customers.
Maintaining your online brand image : Each and every one of the most sought-after candidates will research the company before submitting to a selection process. This requires that the organization's online presence be impeccable and offer an attractive and realistic image of its corporate culture.
The application process as a branding mechanism : the application process carried out by candidates also reflects the values of the employer brand. If this process is tedious and the subsequent communication is poor, or even non-existent (in the case of rejected candidates), your company will be projecting an image of indifference, which will end up being known by future candidates.
The job interview as a reinforcing experience : finally, the job interview must contribute to reinforcing the good impression perceived by the employee, who will project himself into the future position, based on what he experienced during that first direct contact.
The goal of this integration is to hire employees who not only have the desired skills for the position, but who also identify with the culture, mission, vision and values of the organization. Otherwise, their stay in the company is likely to be short, or their productivity will decline as they realize that their aspirations will never be met within your organization.
The importance of brand ambassadors
Finally, your company needs to have ambassadors for its employer brand, which are none other than your own employees. You must ensure that you have a team of employees who are passionate about your brand and the values it represents, so that they can contribute to expanding it in a favourable way. This includes various issues such as:
Conducting training processes that show them the corporate culture and how it aligns with the company's daily activities and the functions that employees perform.
Establishing a referral program, with incentives for employees who attract suitable candidates.
Training in networking techniques and creation of an “elevator pitch” for candidates.
Collecting testimonies from employees.
Ultimately, your company's employer branding requires coordination and joint work by the human resources department, employees and, of course, the organization's leaders. However, the impact on the quality of the talent recruited will more than pay for any effort made.
