3 tips for leveraging your employer brand to recruit

Sydney Frazer

Think about the buzzwords you hear thrown around the recruitment and HR world, and employer brand is sure to come up.

You probably most frequently hear it used in reference to company culture, perks and benefits. But what does it actually mean and why does it matter?

Glassdoor defines employer branding as “the art of communicating who you are as an employer in order to win the hearts and minds of the talent you need”. With that said, employer branding is clearly closely tied to recruiting. In fact, a 2015 study by CareerArc showed that 3 in 4 jobseekers consider an employer’s brand before even starting a job application. Factor in today’s candidate-driven market and it becomes evident that you can’t ignore your employer brand if you want to attract top talent. The smartest companies are leveraging their employer brand as a key component of their recruiting strategy. The good news is, you can get ahead of your competition by doing the same. Consider these three tips to begin leveraging your employer brand to score the best talent.

1. Tout your employer brand on your careers page and within job postings

Your careers page and job postings are the first places candidates encounter your employer brand. First impressions matter, so you should tout your brand here. Help prospective employees get an idea of what working there is like with the following:

• Include your mission, vision, and values on your career site. These should inform how you approach your employer brand, and are therefore a great jumping off point for candidates. It will give them an idea of what you care about, why, and how that guides your decisions.
• Highlight positives in your messaging. Explain what makes your company a great place to work. Have you received any workplace awards? Include those on your career site and within your job postings. Explain what makes your culture stand out. Is there a focus on wellness? Talk about that. Is providing strong opportunities for advancement important company-wide? Discuss these opportunities. This is the place to emphasize what matters to your company. Be sure to tie it into your mission, vision, and values to keep things cohesive.
• Include office photos, a list of current benefits and perks, and quotes from current employees. This helps add a visual, personal and trustworthy element to your brand, which is important given a recent Glassdoor survey showed that 90% of jobseekers say it is important to work for a place that embraces transparency.

2. Engage with and share your employer brand online

Research from CareerArc shows that many prospective employees look to your online presence to get an early impression of your brand. In fact, 52% of jobseekers check out your company’s online properties to get a feel for your employer brand and company culture. This means going beyond your career site. It includes your company Glassdoor profile, as well as social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Don’t leave prospective employees wanting there.

Use your company Glassdoor profile to put your employer brand on full display. Be sure to upload office photos, explain why jobseekers should want to work for you, and respond to reviews. Research shows that 76% of survey respondents want details on what makes a company an attractive place to work, and this is a place you can display those details. Need another reason to engage here? Some 62% of respondents said that their view of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review. When responding to reviews, keep these best practices in mind: be prompt, address the specific issues brought up, and say thank you for the feedback.

Social media is another platform you can use to engage with your brand online and is particularly cost-effective. Be sure to use a multi-channel strategy, engaging on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Share and interact with content that is representative of your brand across these platforms. For example, do you have weekly ping-pong tournaments at the office? Feature pictures of this to give a look into your culture. In addition, keep your posts current with job openings, quirky perks, and standard benefits.

3. Ask candidates for feedback about your recruiting process

One of the best ways to demonstrate you care about your employees and are actively trying to improve your employer brand is to ask for feedback. This doesn’t just mean asking current employees for feedback or doing exit interviews with those leaving the company. This means engaging candidates in the feedback loop as well. This will demonstrate to candidates that open communication is a cornerstone of your brand and that your company is consistently striving for improvement. During interviews, ask the following questions to reveal your employer brand to candidates and to get a pulse on common themes jobseekers are seeing with your brand:

• What do you know about our company?
• What associations do you make with our company?
• What three descriptors would you use to describe our company?

Use this feedback to refine your recruiting strategy moving forward. Listen to what candidates are saying is important and feature those aspects of your brand more distinctly throughout the process.

Employer branding might seem overwhelming at first. However, in today’s increasingly competitive hiring environment, it can’t be ignored. It is important to use your brand to differentiate yourself from the very beginning, starting with the recruiting process. Take these tips one at a time and you will be well on your way to a recruiting strategy that cohesively incorporates your brand into it.

Sydney Frazer is Program Manager at Glassdoor, San Francisco Bay