When it comes to talent acquisition, the competition is fierce, especially when it’s not limited to salaries and job titles.
It’s important for companies to have a brand perception to attract the top talent. This is where HR is required to build employer branding talent acquisition for creating a lasting impression, driving loyalty, engagement, and better retention.
However, to understand the impact and why you need it, including how to improve with the right steps, here is everything you need.
Table of Contents:
What is Employer Branding in Talent Acquisition?
Employer branding is a process that helps in creating a unique and positive impression of the company.
Also, it creates a perception of current, past, and potential employees of the company as a place to work.
When integrating with talent acquisition strategies works as a powerful tool for attracting the best candidates, increasing chances of job acceptance, and better employee retention.
Why Should HR Consider Building Stronger Employer Branding?
HR plays a crucial role in building strong employer branding.
Prioritizing the branding position can help in adding multiple advantages, like reducing 43% lower cost per hire in talent attraction and retention, such as :
- Not just find interested people who align with values and culture, but also are skilled for qualified applicants.
- Investing in employer branding talent acquisition efforts helps in lowering recruitment costs.
- With this company they spend less on advertising and recruitment than they get attention originally.
- When employees feel valued and resonate with the company’s values, they are more likely to work longer and put in much better efficiency. It reduces turnover costs but also strengthens the culture.
- A compelling employer brand strategy not only helps in improving hiring but also enhances overall organizational reputation. This contributes to attracting more customers and investors.
- A strong brand ensures a boost to the candidate experience as they know what to expect before they consider the job position. It boosts the overall process but results in higher offer acceptance rates.
Key Factors Contribute to Shaping Employer Brand
Here are some of the key factors that you should focus on:
- Culture & Values: The crucial factor is understanding culture as it is the heartbeat of the organization. It should be authentic, aligning with the mission and communicating well with candidates.
- Employer Advocacy: Next is creating a brand using social media platforms. This is where your current employees come into the picture to become brand ambassadors to foster trust and engagement.
- Reviews & Online Presence: It’s crucial for a company to create a positive social media presence, including how you respond to feedback, employee testimonials, and updates to connect with potential candidates.
- Inclusivity & Diversity: To create a stronger employer branding, candidates evaluate the company based on their take on DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), reflecting the team structure, leadership, and policies.
How To Build a Roadmap for Stronger Employer Branding?
For a strong employer brand strategy, it is important to create a roadmap focusing on shaping HR strategy, including actionable steps, such as :
1. Start With an Audit of the Existing Employer Brand
To start a roadmap, first, it’s crucial to know what your current strategy has been using for employer branding.
Having a clarification on how the organization communicates with current employees, applicants, and the public can help identify the gaps.
You can start with:
- Sending out the surveys and conducting informal interviews
- Exploring the official social media channels to see what others are talking about the company.
- Consider employer review sites to read reviews by ex-employees.
- Once your research is done, it will give you a layout to work with, including what has been working well or areas where requirement is needed.
- It also helps in creating a list of where you should prioritize and what may not be urgent for a while.
2. Take A Look at the Recruitment & Selection Process
To boost talent acquisition, the first step should be understanding how the recruitment and selection process has been conducted.
- It includes job posting, the application process, interview, the final offer, and the onboarding of the new hire.
- The goal should be to provide clear branding to candidates, so they know what to expect.
- Having accuracy and better explanation gives you leverage on optimizing the new hires.
- Also, it reduces the admin process, provides on time and smooth functioning for teams.
- All of this contributes to attracting the right talent that knows their value is aligned with the company.
3. Balance EVP With a Combination of Benefits & Rewards
EVP or Employee Value Proposition is a reward in exchange for an employee’s skills, commitment, and time.
The better your EVP is, the stronger your employer brand will be as it adds uniqueness and an upper hand in the talent acquisition pool.
When creating the balance, consider these key elements:
- Focus on compensation as the employees should feel satisfied with the salaries they have been provided for their skill and contribution. It includes additional rewards and bonuses too.
- Add a work life balance such as paid vacation time, flexibility in time, remote working options, sick leave, retirement plans etc.
- Create opportunities for your employees to build a stable and progressive career with the company for developing their career.
- Make sure the physical space and cultural environment both provide a productive yet supportive atmosphere.
- Focus on Building an environment where employees feel team spirit and relationships are well respected.
- Also provide support, cultural diversity, and values for employees.
4. Empower Your Employees to Be Brand Ambassadors
Employers are your advocates who attract, intentionally or unintentionally, the best candidates from the market.
Having happy and satisfied employees shares their experience, that not only enhances the employer’s branding.
- As per report, employees receive 8x more engagement shared using the corporate channels.
- You can train in sessions where companies can provide better articulation of values and culture.
- Improving effective communication and leveraging social media or network platforms to spread employee brand messages.
- Educate the employees along with instilling a sense of ownership and pride to represent their organization.
Conclusion
Employer branding talent acquisition is a strategic necessity instead of a trend. When you do it right, it attracts the best talents but also the right candidates, resonating with the company’s values, missions, and culture.
Investing in employer brand strategy also ensures that the recruitment marketing is authentic but aligns with optimizing the overall experience.
However, to elevate your employer branding game, it’s crucial to use the right tools, and we at HROne offer you the HR software to automate the process, reducing manual tasks and streamlining the process tailored to per requirements. Try HROne for free today!