In the present world where there is cutthroat competition for the best employees, the problem of finding and retaining the best employees is also a bigger challenge than ever before. Besides the way that they can choose different areas of specialization while coming up with their products and services, there is also the need for small businesses to build a good employer brand. An employer brand is the idea that your company is a wonderful organization in which to work and is a key function of recruitment, motivation, and even training of employees. In this post, I will guide you through some of the critical steps that have to be taken to build a strong employer branding message that is capable of capturing the attention of talented candidates.

1. Understanding Employer Branding

“Employer branding can be described as portraying a firm as an attractive employer with the kind of employee population that a company requires in undertaking its operations. This target group is among the groups that the company needs and will willingly embrace to recruit. To achieve this, the organization must create an image in the internal and external environment to equate the business to a desirable organization to work with. A strong employer brand thus indicates the culture, values, and mission statements of the organization, thus making it attractive to the candidates to work for the company as opposed to the other comparable business organizations” expresses, Mark McShane, Digital PR Agency Owner, Cupid PR.

2. Define Your Employer Value Proposition (EVP)

“Your employer value proposition, or EVP, is the distinct set of benefits that employees receive in exchange for the skills, skills, and experience your employer organization or business organization harnesses from them. A key challenge in the process of defining your EVP is determining what gives your business a competitive edge, what you offer to your employees, and how your company is unique. This should include attributes like company culture, promotion opportunities, wages, endorsements, work-life balance, and any other inducements that may be unique to the company” says, Tim Parker, Director at Syntax Integration. “Damage control and the overall possibility of employing members of the population whose values are parity with those of our organization are made easier by a well-written and articulated EVP” Tim adds.

3. Assess and Enhance Your Company Culture

“The culture of the company remains an essential aspect, which will help to create a strong employer brand for the organization. Co-worker questionnaires, focus group discussions, and interviews are recommended tools to assess the ethos that already exists in an organization. One should seek to implement only those changes that are in sync with the ethos and stated purpose of the firm after one has assessed problem areas. Employer branding in turn defines the need to create a strong culture and the advancement of an employer brand means the existence of a prosperous culture where people can be appreciated, encouraged, and engaged” said, Arman Minas, Director at Armstone. As with honoring talent, the appreciation of achievements should also go side by side with the culture of corporate diversity, which ensures the employees feel welcome.

4. Create Compelling Job Descriptions

“In most instances, the job descriptions that you give end up being the first impression that a potential employee has about your organization. Ensure that they are lively, simply communicative, and also have connotations that are consistent with your corporate standards. Inform people about the opportunities to become an employee of your company, the options for career growth, and the peculiarities of employment with your employer. Persons intending to offer a true depiction of the job description and the environment where this job will be carried out should ensure that the language used to communicate these details is sensitive to the targeted audience” asserts, Derek Bruce, Director of the Mental Health First Aid Course. Enormous, appealing, and viable job descriptions not only attract the targeted candidates for the organization but also put forward an amiable image of the organization to the candidates.

5. Leverage Social Media and Online Presence

“Employer branding can also be effectively implemented by the use of social media platforms. You also can use them to answer questions connected with the firm’s successes, stories behind employees, and the company’s values. Introduce yourself to prospective employees by creating content that is helpful and has information they are seeking about their possible employer. While employing the strategy of searching for top personnel, one has to be cautious of the fact that people search for companies and employers online, and one must be real in the attempt made” adds, Sasha Quail, Business Development Manager of claims.co.uk. To do this using social media portals these days, it is possible to post much information, which gives a behind-the-curtain view, endorsements by employees, events happening within the company, and so on and on in such social media portals like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

6. Employee Advocacy Programs

You should actively promote ‘employer branding’ among your employees. “When you have plans to support employee advocacy, you should appeal to your existing employees to share the great customer experiences that they had and share them on their social platforms. This is much deeper than personal opinions and would truly go a long way in terms of actual effects and can greatly help in the shaping of a strong and effective employer branding effort. This means that the firm should offer the employees content to post so that they share their personal feelings and about the firm embrace the opportunity to share and celebrate their achievements” says, Corey Longhurst, Head of Growth at LegalOn. This does not only scale the audience size you can address but also allows you to build trust with interested parties.

7. Offer Development and Growth Opportunities

“Any investment made by a company in employee growth tends to be effective when it comes to talent acquisition. It is important to make opportunities for action, opportunities for continued learning, career trajectories, and professional development accessible to employees. It is worth noting that employer branding can be boosted by proving your commitment to the development as well as the success of the employees. This makes offering and providing training programs, mentorship, and career advancement paths for employees free from ambiguity a must. As a result of ensuring that employees are informed that the company values them and cherishes their professional growth, the employees will not look for another organization to work for and thus remain loyal to the company” expresses, Sam Hodgson, Head of Editorial at ISA.co.uk.

8. Monitor and Measure Your Employer Brand

“Creating and sustaining a robust employer brand is an iterative process that demands that it be monitored and evaluated from time to time. Knowing whether your employer’s branding efforts work or not is best done by referencing parameters like employee satisfaction ratings, attrition rate, and recruitment data. One needs to ensure that the identity developed for the employer as well as the promise being made to attract and maintain the best employees remains strong and compelling by conducting surveys from time to time and updating whenever necessary. Policies like employee questionnaires can be of great help and even exit interviews or employer reviews can help in getting quite a lot of information” says, Gerrid Smith, Founder & CEO of Fortress Growth. From the implications highlighted in the literature above, you can sustain a competitive position to offer employment to the employees of your choice and retain them through effectively evolving your employer brand.

Conclusion

It is crucial for the creation of the magical EMPLOYER BRAND that will attract the right talent both in the quest for talent and talent retainment which has become a daunting task in the current talent market. Outlined below are some key strategies on how to widely market your employer brand and get the right talents: Those include; First, understanding what your employer’s value proposition is, second, next is culture optimization, third, is job description optimization, leveraging social networks, promoting employee advocacy, sixth is offering growth opportunities and finally, the last is tracking the process. According to the truths underlined above, investing in your employer brand is beneficial not only for the technical ability to attract the best employees but also for the general fruitful and successful experience of your company.

Guest Writer.