The current job market continues to be a candidate’s market and Salopek is seeing an increasing number of our clients inquiring about recruitment support and how to position themselves to stand out from competitors. A competitive job market presents an opportunity for organizations to revisit their recruitment strategies and ensure they are positioned to attract top talent. One way an organization can do this is by creating a strong employer brand.

 An employer’s brand involves two key components: its identity (mission, vision, values and culture) and its reputation (how others perceive the brand). An employer’s brand should be aligning the organization’s identity with its approach to people management. Building a strong employer brand helps organizations compete for the best talent, as well as establish creditability. Based on Statistics Canada data for Recruitment, 95% of job seekers say that an employer’s reputation impacts their decision to apply for a job. 79% of potential candidates examine a company’s mission and purpose before applying and 75% of candidates are more likely to apply at a company that actively manages its brand.

Here are some tips on how to build a stronger employer brand:

Promote Your Employer Brand- Get Creative & Stand Out

• Employer branding involves presenting the organization strategically, as a desirable organization to work for or partner with, not only to potential candidates, but also to existing employees, stakeholders, and clients. In a candidate’s market, organizations have to go the extra mile to stand out and attract top talent. When reviewing internal recruitment strategies, it is crucial to also consider how your employer brand is perceived by potential candidates. This is an opportunity to get creative and look at new ways to promote benefits the organization offers and highlight reasons a candidate should apply. Now, more then ever, candidates are “shopping around” and doing their research to ensure that the company they apply for is the right fit for them. By creating a digital job advertisement, organizations can promote the benefits their employees receive in visually appealing way that will stand out from competitors. Take a look at one of Salopek’s recent job advertisements for an example of how to get creative and showcase your Employer Brand to potential candidates.

Audit Your Brand:

• When was the last time you googled your business and read your reviews? More employees (past and present) are taking the time to post their experience and opinions on working with their previous and/or current employers. Potential candidates are doing more research on the organizations they are interested in applying to, which includes reading reviews from employees. Having negative employee reviews can greatly affect an organization’s ability to hire and retain top talent. Salopek recommends checking sites like Glassdoor, Trustpilot, SiteJabber and Indeed reviews to gain an understanding of how your brand is perceived by potential candidates. If an organization has negative feedback, it is essential that action is taken quickly, as this can be detrimental to the organization’s brand reputation. This is an opportunity to dig deeper into potential corporate culture issues and find solutions.

Consistent Brand Messaging:

• When creating an advertisement for a new service/product, or posting a job advertisement, brand messaging should always align with an organization’s mission, vision and values.

Employee Brand Ambassadors

• Employees are the best advocate for an organization’s brand. With effective and consistent employer branding, employees should be living and breathing the organization’s mission, vision and values daily. Understanding the power of the employee’s voice is critical in ensuring a team feels empowered and respected. Encourage employees to be brand ambassadors and write online reviews about their experience. Encourage them to share company posts and tag the organization whenever possible, to both build brand recognition and strengthen the voice of the current employees.

Creating Policies that Align with Values:

• One key aspect of building a strong employer brand is walking the talk. This can be done by ensuring Human Resources policies align with, and reflect, the organization’s core corporate values. It is essential for organizations to speak to their values throughout their policy manual and include this in both the recruitment and onboarding processes.

Understand & Promoting your Employer Value Proposition:

• An Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is the unique benefits and offerings that an organization provides to its employees. An EVP is based on a company’s mission, vision, values, and workplace culture. It is one of your most powerful branding tools and aids in the recruitment and retention of top talent. Organizations should evaluate their EVP often, as part of their strategic planning process, to ensure that they are staying competitive and recognizing added value benefits to employee’s above and beyond their salary. Things to include are: flexible work schedules, management style, learning and development opportunities, security, social activities and internal career growth opportunities.

Recruiting, Hiring & On-Boarding

• The way an organization recruits, hires and onboards employees will speak volumes about its employer brand. Job advertisements should be a true reflection of a company’s brand and promote their EVP. Organization’s can get creative and tell a story about their company, rather then provide candidates with a list of information. View one of Salopek’s Job Advertisement for an example. During the hiring process, it is important to ensure there are fair, consistent, and transparent procedures in place for Hiring Managers. Lastly, it is crucial to have proper onboarding procedures in place for new hires to properly educate them on the organization’s corporate culture, and ensure they understand how they are a valuable asset to the organization.

Invest in Your Brand:

• Building a strong employer brand is not easy, and there are multiple levels that factor into a brand that can help attract and retain key talent. Salopek understands how important creating an employer brand can be, especially in such a competitive market. Salopek can help client’s develop employer brand strategies, from helping to create an organization’s mission, vision, and values, to developing and implementing the processes and procedures needed to align these with the corporate culture. Salopek has team members with years of experience building award-winning brands across Canada. Everything from the digital design elements, to strategy, process, and procedures – we are here to help!