There is an interdependent network of components reacting with one another that establishes your company’s recruiting brand . This determines how your business is perceived by current employees and potential recruits alike. Building this employer brand in a positive way requires proactive efforts on several fronts that eventually come together as the collective personality of your business as an employer. These building blocks include your digital presence, online engagement, employee involvement, internal resources and general public relations.
An up-to-date digital presence and a compelling career site are essential if you are to be taken seriously by top industry talent. It is important that your online recruiting channels reflect the latest trends in web page presentation. A poorly put together website will deter even the least tech-savvy person.
A large part of a favorable digital presence relies on the authenticity of your text and images. Stock photos and common phrasing cliches will send up red flags with people who take their work seriously. A generic image of a bunch of people in suits all looking serious with a caption like “be all you can be” beneath it is powerless next to a real photo of a company picnic with a caption explaining the occasion.
It’s a shame to go through all of the marketing it takes to drive traffic to your site, only to lose that person due to lack of compelling information. Be generous with details about a certain position including salary, benefits, advancement opportunities and commuting versus telecommuting.
An applicant with top talent qualifications will no doubt have concerns about how their involvement with your company will affect their identity. When fine tuning your recruiting brand and launching a recruitment marketing campaign, be sure to use language that describes the corporate culture and reinforces company values so that someone who is a good fit can determine immediately if they are in the right place. Be sure to include social diversity initiatives, community engagement projects, and philanthropy.
Recognizing top performers for their achievements is a great way to tell a potential employee that your company values its human resources. Sales challenges are a great way to create a spotlight that the winner gets to fill. This sort of friendly competition also builds morale and can give your bottom line the bonus of a productivity spike. As an indirect benefit, you also strengthen your recruiting brand.
Long-standing employees who have garnered a certain expertise can be a great recruiting tool. Allowing them to participate in blogging content on the company’s community pages allows them to share what they know and to endorse the company and its recruiting brand if they so choose.
A great way to edify your recruiting brand is for a current employee to willingly do it for you. When a position opens, ask a top performer if they can offer a referral of someone they know who might be a good fit. This will pre-qualify your company through association with the bonus of allowing you to save money on hiring-related marketing costs.
Current employees who could be due for advancement have already endorsed your recruiting brand by staying with the company — especially as the economy recovers and there are plenty of outside opportunities. This is a great way to build trust and loyalty while again saving on hiring costs.
Believe it or not, your biggest PR campaign is your ongoing relationship with your staff. If your company pays well but the workplace culture is stiff and the environment is unwelcoming, the likelihood of a current worker referring a qualified associate to the HR department is pretty bleak.
Conversely, if people can’t wait to get to work every day because the place is fun, upbeat, supportive and nurturing — they just might be eager to spread the joy among industry colleagues outside the company. That could give your recruiting brand a big boost.
The way your company is seen by the general public has a massive effect on your recruitment brand. Being proactive in this area is crucial. If you don’t assign yourself an altruistic and progressive identity, someone is likely to take the job on themselves with less gregarious intentions. And this type of perception can have a highly detrimental impact on your bottom line.
Community gatherings and seasonal toy drives attach goodwill to your company name. Partnering with local agencies such as city works and police and fire department to promote safety and awareness assures parents and local leaders that your company is home to the good guys. Why wouldn’t they want to come join your team?
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash