Employer branding is one of the most misunderstood topics. For some people, it means that the company has a fancy career site. Others think it’s well-written job ads on LinkedIn. And some people may say it’s a cozy office space with free drinks, pizza parties, and ping-pong tables.
All the topics above are important details, but in today’s job market, employer branding is a strategic necessity that can positively impact a company’s recruitment, engagement, and retention.
Even if your company truly is a fantastic workplace, but you’re not actively showcasing it, you’re leaving an incredible marketing opportunity on the table. If you fail to communicate your amazing culture externally, the best talent won’t know what they’re missing.
But here’s the catch: authenticity is everything. Creating a polished illusion that does not match reality will have long-term consequences. Setting wrong expectations during recruitment is the last thing you want to do. Creating a false image will cost you more than you think.
Where HR and marketing come together, magic happens. Building an employer brand can never be the HR department’s or marketing team’s sole responsibility. To succeed, you need collaboration across borders. HR knows the current employee profiles, the details of open roles in the company, the job market situation, the mood among employees, and so on. All this information is essential when you start working on your employer brand. However, HR needs marketing skills to process all the above knowledge further so that the result can be an attractive employer brand. Content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing are all valuable skills when building an employer brand.
1. Employee experience first!
Just as in marketing in general, having people actively speaking well of your brand goes a long way, and that’s what happy employees usually do: spread the word.
The most important task is to make your company a great place to work for all those already working there. If your employees are unhappy and disengaged, no money used for EB will save your company. If you don’t know what your employees think, ask them. The easiest way to do this is to create an anonymous employee survey and use it as a mood barometer. Be open to constructive criticism, and then start fixing those problems. Focus on two to three topics that will make the most significant impact. Share an action plan, and over-communicate your progress on implementing it. Improving employee experience is an ongoing process; don’t expect results overnight.
2. Know your numbers and measure your success
Does your company management understand the importance of employer branding on a theoretical level? Great. Now, is there some money in the budget for this? Do people responsible for EB have free space in their calendars to actually work on this?
Getting the right resources requires a clear picture of how EB directly or indirectly impacts the business. Do you know how to measure employer branding? Some of the most common metrics are, for example, candidate experience, career page visitors, number of quality applicants, time and cost per hire, referrals, social media engagement, and offer acceptance rate. To get the ball rolling also budget-wise, you need to clearly articulate what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what defines your success.
3. What people say about your company online matters
Do you follow the debate in your industry online? When was the last time you read what people write about your company on social media or sites like Glassdoor? Do you systematically and regularly monitor these channels, respond, and interact? Do employees praise your organization on LinkedIn? Do they share job ads with their network?
You can measure your brand awareness by social listening and build a reputation as an attractive employer. A dream candidate for a critical role to grow your business can be just around the corner, and when looking for a new job, they will remember you – but only if you stand out from the crowd positively.
Bridging the gap between people and marketing 