Written by Lauren Mackelden, Features Editor, Onrec
Being consistent with branding and planning how to integrate it into all areas of recruitment can seem too much trouble. However, Chris Brown, UK Director, at LinkedIn Talent Solutions reports that a strong employer brand can reduce cost- per-hire by more than 40 per cent, and 2015 will see more and more businesses turn their attention to getting this critical part of their overall brand right. “More and more senior executives are understanding the critical link between talent acquisition and business success, with employer brand being a vital differentiator when it comes to making great hires. In the UK alone, nearly three-quarters of recruiters say employer brand influences their ability to hire the best talent. Just as social media has enabled organisations to communicate with their customers in more transparent and authentic ways, so too has it become an increasingly important channel in attracting the best talent. “
Brown says that for businesses just getting to grips with this topic, there are plenty of great examples to learn from. At LinkedIn’s Talent Connect London at the end of last year, L’Oreal shared its approach to creating an immersive experience for candidates. This includes installing ‘beacon’ technology around the offices where candidates are interviewing to drip-feed personalised information to them at the right time as they move through the process. Brown believes that techniques such as this help make sure all candidates leave as ambassadors for the brand, whether they are successful or not.
How to do it well
As we come to the end of the first quarter, it is evident that employers across the
UK are increasing their recruitment efforts and investing in a workforce fit for future growth, comments Anna Gibbons, corporate communications director, at the Sellick Partnership. “Competition for the best candidates is fierce and businesses are vying to attract top talent. Being a well-known brand is no longer enough; from the company website to microsites, social media, as well as throughout the hiring process, brands must provide proof that they are what they claim to be.”
Gibbons suggests that being active online is a fantastic way to demonstrate this and allows you to reach your target audience quickly and efficiently. At Sellick Partnership, they have created a Working for Us microsite purely for this purpose, providing a platform to illustrate the strength of their employer brand, and demonstrate what they can offer prospective employees. Gibbons explains: “This is closely linked to our Facebook activity, which is all about personality and acts as an extension of the microsite. Twitter, meanwhile, is more suited to raising brand awareness as a business and engaging with like-minded organisations. And LinkedIn is perhaps the most obvious resource for online recruitment, enabling candidates to apply directly for new roles. However, regardless of which channel that you use, consistency of your message is key, through tailoring your terminology and tone to the target audience.”
In order to achieve this, Gibbons emphasises that any business aiming to attract the very best talent must take the time to understand their target audience and their motivators. “With the growing pool of millennials on the job market, employers need to take the time to understand the requirements of this generation when they are considering their career options – and how they differ from graduates of ten years ago. The message that you communicate has to resonate and be backed up in order to attract and retain that audience – and with the growing cost of hiring, organisations can’t afford to get this wrong.”
The concept of employment branding has been around for over 20 years, however very few companies actually dedicate resources to this discipline, according to Jim O’Brien, Operations Director at The Change Group, a niche luxury hospitality recruitment company. He says that for those that do, only a small number are doing employer branding really well, and that could be for a number of reasons:
1. There are blurred lines about where employment branding fits within the organisation. Is it within the marketing function or should it be within HR?
2. There are a lot of copy cats out there so maintaining a unique position on employment branding can be tough.
3. And the worst challenge of all for Employment Branding experts is the difficulty they face when trying to secure budget.
“As more organisations invest in employment branding as part of their talent acquisition strategy, and candidates become increasingly savvy and discerning when searching, applying, interviewing and selecting a new job, the fight for talent is ramping up, declares O’Brien. For those who want to stay ahead of the curve he suggests focusing on the following:
Social media
“Over the last few years we have seen a change in the way in which companies use social media and I expect this to continue to change. For example, the engagement you are able to achieve via Facebook is very minimal unless you invest advertising budget into this channel, and LinkedIn seems to be heading in a similar direction. With Facebook’s recent announcement about the launch of a professional arm to their network, it will be interesting to see how this affects the current LinkedIn monopoly.
Retargeting and iP address tracking
There are not many recruitment agencies or organisations that are using retargeting or IP address tracking for employment branding purposes and I think this would be an interesting avenue to explore.
Content, content, content
One of the best things you can do for your employment brand is invest in a content strategy that helps communicate your value proposition. The biggest tip I can give is always remain authentic and try depict the true essence of your company, candidates are less interested in corporate waffle.
Research is key
As with any marketing activities, the more you know about your target audience, the better. Don’t be afraid of conducting surveys, focus groups and perhaps even some external research that helps you better understand your current employment brand and also how you want to be perceived in the future.”
The significance of how your company is already perceived is shown by Mariah DeLeon, VP of People at Glassdoor. “Today, people have access to more information about jobs and companies than ever before. As an employer, you have a responsibility to not only engage with target candidates through traditional means but also make sure you are getting your story, your employer brand story, out to candidates that you may not have yet spoken with. For example, we have found that 46% of job seekers say they evaluate a job and company before ever having spoken to a company recruiter.”
Deleon cites a company we all used to know as “The Yellow Pages as an example. For consumers and job seekers, the company had to tell a new story of
just how much the business was innovating and evolving, and along with the shifts the company was making, it also rebranded the company name to simply, YP Tech. DeLeon declares that YP Tech saw a 44 percent increase in candidate awareness, not only becoming aware of the updated company name but what made the company an attractive place to work. “In addition, in less than three months, YP Tech welcomed a 20 percent increase in inbound applicants, specifically for hard-to-fill roles, through Glassdoor’s recruiting solutions.”