November marks the birth of Cohorts, a freelance network of HR professionals whose aim is to elevate the standards of people management. We celebrated it by holding seminars focusing on topics close to our hearts One of them was Employer Branding that is especially dear to our HR expert Carina. Here’s a summary of her presentation.
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As our population ages, the job market is slowly but surely shrinking. By now, it’s clear to most of us that employer branding is an inseparable part of a successful business strategy. A strong and sustainable employer brand is not backed by a single subject matter expert in your company, it’s the responsibility of the whole organisation with its employees. In this article, I will share 5 ways to engage your employees in activities that shape an authentic employer brand that attracts candidates.
#1 Integrate Employer Branding activities into your company culture
Each individual within the organisation is responsible for the employer brand and that should be clear to every employee from day one. Incorporating small activities that enhance employer visibility into your everyday to-do list is crucial. We often talk about employer branding on a strategic level and how it requires a lot of research. This is definitely important but engaging your employees in employer branding should be easy and get as much attention.
Lead by example and through communication, encourage people to:
- use your company merchandise – wear that shirt or hoodie you chose and designed so carefully; or take that water bottle to the gym. This can only be done only when the merch is practical, suitable for use outside of work and is actually cool.
- follow the company’s social media accounts and actively engage by sharing, liking, and commenting on their posts.
- Take part in internal initiatives that the marketing team will post about on social media.
Engaging employees becomes more accessible when employer branding activities are integrated into daily tasks. This approach fosters a sense of inclusion, making people more willing to participate.
#2 Get the Executives on board
One of the functions of an executive, team lead or a manager is to lead by example. If they understand the importance of shaping the organisation’s employer brand and actively contribute to it, their team members are more likely to do it as well. But what to do if the leader is not yet on the same page with us? Show them the impact of employer branding on the business results. Numbers, especially if they follow clear logic, are every manager’s favorite justification for making decisions. So, what is the data-based proof that active employer brand ambassadorship is key to successful recruitment and sustainable business?
Here are some metrics:
Lower:
- Attrition
- Cost-of-hire
Higher:
- Number of (referred) candidates and employees
- Employee engagement (and therefore better employee experience)
- Number of candidates
- Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
- Visibility on social media
There are several success stories you can find online to share with the leaders in order to persuade them. You can also become a proactive employer brand ambassador yourself and bring your own experience as an example.
#3 Start with onboarding
If one of the internal goals of employer branding is to integrate ambassadorship to your work culture, it would make sense to start the process with new employees. Create various supportive materials that both the new and existing employees can easily access. Add this information to the onboarding programme so that as they start a new job, they would already have a positive attitude towards employer branding.
What type of materials should you share?
- A landing page in your internal workspace with information about what it means to be an employer brand ambassador, the benefits for the employee and easy steps to get started.
- A custom LinkedIn header image, copy for a voluntary “Yay, I started a new job!” social media post and a visual to accompany it.
- A video greeting from the Employer Brand Manager introducing the importance of being an ambassador.
- Guiding questions to help employees come up with their own brand messages.
People are more likely to jump on the Employer Branding bandwagon when they have the necessary tools, examples and encouragement for it.
#4 Create simple initiatives
Being an employer Brand Ambassador doesn’t necessarily mean that the employee has to independently share their work experience on social media. A successful ambassador is also an employee who participates in various employer branding initiatives that you organise. However, to encourage their contribution, you need to make the process AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE for them.
Consequently, this will require more effort on your part but it’s going to pay off in the long run. This underscores the importance of having a dedicated role in the company focused on Employer Branding. If this is simply one of the tasks of an HR partner or a recruiter, its impact will be significantly smaller.
Here are some things you could do:
- Put yourself in the shoes of an employee and imagine what would be the easiest way for them to give you input for an article, video or quote.
- When engaging multiple people, create a document or a landing page with all the necessary information about the project. Initially, ask them to jot down their name if they’re interested. Organise the rest of the logistics later in small parts to make it less overwhelming for the employees.
- Manage expectations effectively. Provide detailed descriptions of what you expect, use guiding questions and offer examples. In the case of a video clip I’ve even recorded examples myself. That way people will spend less time seeking clarification and can get started immediately.
When the employees realise that they can make an impact with little effort, they’re more likely to collaborate with you.
#5 Support the naturals
We all have different strengths and there will be employees for whom sharing their experiences online is second nature and they do it effortlessly. Your task is to notice these people, recognise their effort and support them. A skilled employer brand ambassador can only become better!
How to support natural talents:
- Notice them – if you see an employee sharing their experiences on social media, reach out and tell them what a great job they’re doing. This will encourage the individual to continue being an ambassador.
- Share the results – if a candidate mentions during the hiring process that they have seen the posts made by employees and these have shaped the candidate’s image of the company, let the employees know. This is the direct evidence of the impact of their work.
- Give them a chance to represent the company at conferences and career fairs.
- Offer support with content creation – ask if the ambassador has questions or needs assistance with increasing their visibility or generating post ideas. Share your knowledge or invite someone from the marketing department to collaborate. Together you can achieve much more.
I talk a lot about authenticity because I believe that it’s the fastest way to reach and connect with the right people for your company. By empowering employees to share their experiences with others you not only create a positive employee experience but also become more visible to motivated future team members.