- December 11, 2020
- HR Services, Latest News, Recruitment
Errors That Harm Your Employer Brand and Talent Attraction
Mistakes That Harm Your Employer Brand and Talent Attraction
Does your company have a strong EVP (Employee Value Proposition)? Are you promoting your best advantages? Are you highlighting real employees? These tactics will help elevate your employer brand to a higher level.
The term employer brand is a powerful way to reach today’s talent, who are hungry for information. But it turns out that there is more that can be done. Employer branding actually helps motivate job seekers to take action.
Survey data from Monster, conducted among candidates who have already applied for a position, shows that candidates highly value three components of an employer brand. They are:
- the company’s reputation
- the information it provides
- its values
These three factors determine candidates’ decisions to apply for a specific position.
If your company still wants to fine-tune and improve your employer brand, don’t worry! This article will give you the right guidelines for that.
To help you avoid some of the pitfalls other companies face, we outline five common mistakes that companies often make in their employer branding efforts. We also provide some actionable strategies on how to overcome these pitfalls and mistakes.
Mistake #1: Offering Unique Perks Without Understanding What Candidates Really Want
A Monster survey conducted among already applied professionals found that candidates rank work-life balance as a top priority. Yet, this benefit alone is often no longer sufficient. More and more employers are trying to differentiate themselves by offering unique perks to their employees. For example, indoor climbing walls, free snacks, home cleaning services, and other unique perks, especially when trying to attract Millennials.
This can be a good strategy for some employers if they have done their homework and already started with a strong Employee Value Proposition (EVP). However, for many, this is just a misguided attempt at employer branding.
This is because while Millennials may enjoy these perks, they are unlikely to be their top priority. According to a survey by Grovo, Millennials look for companies that offer autonomy, communicate effectively, provide training and professional development, present the opportunity for meaningful work, and for which innovation is a core value.
Why This Happens
When trying to quickly hire new employees, especially highly skilled ones, unique perks are an easy tactic. However, implementing an unusual perk just to advertise it on career sites will likely only achieve a temporary spike in applications.
While offering home cleaning services and in-house espresso bars can certainly attract attention, the key factor here is whether they will inspire the right candidates to apply and stay with your company.
What to Do Instead
Develop an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). This will help you better understand the core reasons why your top employees want to work for you. It starts with seeking input from your employees rather than making decisions in a conference room without real data or evidence.
Once you define the data with the key motivational factors for your employees, use this knowledge to create a brief statement that communicates your EVP. From that point on, make sure to consider these data points when offering any new perks.
When coming up with new benefits, ask your employees for feedback. These discussions will help you identify ideas that both improve employees’ lives and boost their productivity. This way, you will implement benefits that matter to your employees and attract the right candidates.
Mistake #2: Failing to Share Information About Company Benefits
Today’s job candidates often shop for their next role in the same way they shop for a new car. Job seekers increasingly expect to be able to find information about the benefits offered by their prospective employers. Unfortunately, most companies remain silent when it comes to the perks they offer.
Why This Happens
Employers have various reasons for not openly communicating their benefits packages until an offer is extended. Some employers may know that their benefits package could be more appealing. Others may simply be unaware that job seekers are looking for this information, especially in job postings and job descriptions. Whatever the reason, the concealed approach to benefits can be a missed opportunity for job seekers.
What to Do Instead
If you already offer great benefits and have the green light to share them, be sure to include detailed information about the benefits on your career site. Even better, consider creating a dedicated and public site or career page solely focused on your employee benefits.
If your benefits are not as attractive or you don’t have permission to explicitly share them, consider a campaign personally tied to your employees. For example, you could create content where current employees share stories about how the perks they receive at work have positively impacted their lives.
Whichever strategy you adhere to, start listing your benefits in job descriptions and recruitment content as soon as possible.
Mistake #3: Ignoring the Highlighting of Your Real Employees and Their Work
Have you ever heard someone talk about how much they love their job without mentioning their colleagues? Neither have we. Job seekers want to know about the people they would be working with, what those people think about their jobs, and how they impact the company culture. Too few companies consider this, and as a result, their recruitment suffers.
Why This Happens
Many employers do not realize how effective it can be to showcase the daily lives of current employees. As a result, they do not invest in creating content that achieves this. However, this is a great way to help job seekers apply to your company.
What to Do Instead
Humanize your workplace. Create content that emphasizes and tells the stories of your current employees and their work. Even if you don’t have the budget for an office video tour, you can still ask your wonderful employees to write about their work on your blog.
Mistake #4: Creating Content but Not Promoting It Through Targeted Advertising
Creating great recruitment content is an important step, but keep in mind that it’s only the first step. Many employers publish recruitment content on their career site but then neglect to implement a distribution strategy for it.
Why This Happens
Even experienced marketing teams are sometimes guilty of investing heavily in content creation without allocating a budget for its promotion and distribution. This not only hinders your ability to attract and recruit great talent but also does a disservice to your team’s efforts. Without advertising and promoting your content, it is likely to underperform simply because no one knows it’s there!
What to Do Instead
When planning your next recruitment content, include a marketing strategy for how and where you will promote it. This means promoting it outside of your own site and career blog. Consider allocating funds to distribute your content among targeted audiences.
Advanced targeting options will help your job posting reach the people you most want to attract.
Mistake #5: Lack of Employees Who Are Ambassadors of Your Employer Brand
Your own satisfied employees, especially top performers, can be your best source for attracting more like-minded candidates. Ensure that ambassadors of your employer brand promote your company as the employer they have chosen. Too many employers overlook this valuable resource.
Why This Happens
Some companies are still wary of what might happen when their employees externally represent them, especially on social media. But with a little training and trust, your employees can be a powerful weapon in your recruitment arsenal.
What to Do Instead
Start by communicating (or creating!) a company social media policy. Include positive things your employees can share to promote your brand. You might even consider reaching out to some of your top and happiest employees. Check how Booking.com employees share their experiences and how the company promotes it.
These lessons will allow your company to find its unique tone for your employer brand. And remember – Horizons’ employer branding solutions can help you accelerate these processes!