But if an organisation’s onboarding experience has gaps, a candidate can be left scratching their head. You don’t want them wondering if they made the right choice signing the contract in the first place. 

By thinking critically about your onboarding experience and its gaps, you’ll be able to smooth over small bumps that often make new hires question their place in an organisation, and ensure that your future talent feel fully equipped to perform well from their very first day.

A streamlined first day

It’s the little things that set the tone for what’s to come for a candidate. Have you ever entered a workplace on day one, and their team wasn’t ready for your arrival? It signals that the work and culture to come will be more reactive than proactive. 

Small administrative tasks -like ensuring all IT and login information is correctly set up and allocated, or providing a starter kit with uniforms, payroll details, and access passes- can take the guesswork out of tasks that many existing employees take for granted. 

Furthermore, when introducing your new hire to the team, try to strike a balance between giving them time to get to know their new colleagues and overwhelming them with too many new faces on day one. Consider integrating a simple “team culture” video into your onboarding experience. Current staff members can film themselves giving video confessionals about the perks of the company that they enjoy.

Or, if time and budget allows, enlist a videographer to shoot an introduction to your organisation, its perks, the team culture, and how you recognise and reward your staff (check out this employer branding video that Scout Talent, a SaaS company, uses on all of their job ads). This is great collateral for your employer brand and future job ads. You’ll also be able to use it to streamline the first day of all future hires. 

Let them catch their breath

The transition from one job to another can be overwhelming, even for the best employee. Expecting excellence from day one can lead to burnout. Leaders should shoulder the bulk of the responsibility when easing their new hires into their roles. 

A long lunch in their first days with your organisation is a great way for new employees to slowly acclimatise to the work ahead. It also has the added bonus of letting them find their tribe within your team dynamic in a non-office environment.

Also, slowly increasing their hours over the course of the first week will help them adjust to your organisation’s pace. Try starting with a half day on day one, followed by incremental increases throughout the rest of the week. This will help them learn their roles and responsibilities, while still giving them time to decompress.

Prioritise feedback

No one likes to underperformance, especially when stepping into a new role or a new organisation. Take the time to provide feedback and show support to all new hires. It will show that communication is important to the smooth running of your business, and that they can be forthcoming with any issues or hurdles they are experiencing. 

Formalising this process in the form of regular 1-to-1 meetings gives structure to a review framework. Coming prepared to these meetings with feedback, whether good or bad, gives both you and your new hire the opportunity to discuss roadblocks, opportunities, and what the road ahead will look like. 

Like the idea of feedback, but not the idea of defined structure? Schedule time for your new hire to air their concerns or roadblocks over a weekly coffee. If they have no roadblocks, it can be great for your organisational culture to celebrate their early wins! Positive feedback when things are going well is just as important as constructive feedback when things are going poorly. 

Look out for passion projects

Our last point helps you identify growth areas for your new hire. Empowering staff to grow in areas that they are passionate about helps develop these potential growth areas into actionable goals. 

If you’ve got a great learning and development program, make this clear from the beginning. Your organisation invests in its staff and wants to help them grow their knowledge base. If you don’t yet have a dedicated internal L&D resource, start the conversation with new staff to find out what skills they can bring to the role, and how these can add value to your organisation. People work harder when they care about the work they’re doing. If you don’t ask your staff what they care about, how can you know where they’re wanting to grow?

Whether your onboarding experience needs a slight tweak or a complete overhaul, there are always steps you can take to make the first days and weeks with your new hires seamless.

As RMM’s assistant editor and frequent contributor, Fraser has an impeccable eye for newsworthy content and emerging trends. After starting his career writing for national sporting organisations, he made the move to the talent acquisition space, where he explores recruitment marketing, employer branding, DE&I, and more.

The post Does your onboarding experience need a makeover? appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

See, Shakespeare had a knack for understanding what makes people tick. His greatest achievements weren’t necessarily the plot lines, but the unique and dynamic characters he created – their personalities, their strengths, their weaknesses, their desires, their motivations.  These characters have endured through four centuries, they’re continually reincarnated on stage and screen, they’ve been translated into every major living language and have made Shakespeare the most widely regarded writer of the English language.

Can your employer brand claim the same?

When you think about it, what is your employer brand but your organisation’s personality? It’s what makes you different from every other company in the market – the accumulated sum of strengths, goals and motivations of every employee past and present and most importantly the promise of fulfilled desires to your future employees.

So how can you create an employer brand as powerful, influential and enduring as the characters that fill Shakespeare’s plays?

Courtesy of the genius words of The Bard himself, here are 7 tips and insights to ensure your employer brand stands out – no matter what stage it plays its part on.

1. Does your employer brand have purpose?

“… that glib and oily art; To speak and purpose not…” – King Lear

Purpose is the reason your company was founded, boiled down to a single sentence (or two), it’s the ‘why’ Simon Sinek talks about when we discuss what makes us do what we do, or work where we work.

“It is the purpose that makes strong the vow” – Troilus and Cressida

To paraphrase Cassandra, when the purpose behind your company is strong and clear, so too will be the commitment, engagement and output of your employees.

“To business that we love we rise betime, and go to ‘t with delight” – Antony and Cleopatra

2. What are the unique policies, programs, rewards and benefits that your company offers?

“Oh, how full of briers is this working day world!” – As You Like It

If you didn’t know, a ‘brier’ is a fancy way to describe a shrub full of thorns. And Rosalind isn’t wrong – sometimes our jobs do feel like wading through a thicket of thorns. But that’s not what we want to advertise to potential employees, is it?

“Thus did I keep my person fresh and new.” – Henry IV

Use your employer brand to highlight those fresh and new roses amongst the thorns. Changing jobs can be one of the most stressful things we go through in our life, up there with signing a mortgage and planning a wedding. If you want to attract high-quality talent, and entice them to believe your company is worth the stress of change, shine a light on all the things, big and small, that makes working at your company different from every other brier bush.

“How far that little candle throws his beams.” – The Merchant of Venice

3. Your employer brand needs to be authentic

“Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.” – Sonnet 94

There’s no point selling something to potential future employees that the company isn’t actually delivering. There’s no point selling a story that won’t match the testimonials and reviews of current and ex-employees. The contradiction will only ‘fester’ on the reputation of your employer brand.

“An honest tale speeds best being plainly told” – Richard III

Top talent often comes equipped with a healthy dose of intelligence and insight – that’s usually exactly why we want to hire them— and when presented with a fake and phoney sales pitch for your company, that same insight can create scepticism against you. Turns out too, that sharing the good and the bad actually has positive effects on how your employer brand is perceived.

“This above all – to thine own self be true…” – Hamlet

4. Show them your employer brand – don’t just tell them

“If to do were as easy to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches,
and poor men’s cottages princes’ palaces…” – Merchant of Venice

The best way to keep your employer brand authentic is to let your actions speak for themselves. Why waste copy telling people how important your employees are to your business, when you can share a video that shows how much you value them.

“…for in such business action is eloquence,
and the eyes of th’ ignorant more learned than the ears…” – Coriolanus 

Voluminia here agrees that people will far better believe what they see of your employer brand, than simply what they hear.

“Be great in act as you have been in thought.” – King John

5. Your employer brand is ever-changing, adapting and evolving

“O this learning, what a thing it is!” – The Taming of the Shrew 

Just like the personality of a person evolves and changes from childhood, through to adolescence and adulthood, so too should the personality or employer brand of your company. So don’t expect the same branding to apply from when you were just founded through the years as the number and motivations of your employees grow and change.

“Wise men ne’er sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek now to redress their harms.” – Henry VI

And if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s how important adaptability to circumstance is within an organisation. While a strong employer brand should be as applicable and consist through challenging times as it is times of prosperity, if flaws do start to pop up under the strain, they should be clearly and openly addressed with employees.

“…happy are they that hear their detractions and can put them to mending.” – Much Ado About Nothing 

6. Consistency is key for a strong employer brand

“Take but degree away, untune that string, and hark what discord follows!” – Troilus and Cressida

Imagine, as Ulysses describes, the sound of a guitar with just one string out of tune – not great is it? This is the lesson of consistency. Except in our example, the strings of the guitar are the potential platforms you can share your employer brand across, and the resulting sound is the candidate experience. Your employer brand needs to be clear, prominent and consistent across all platforms otherwise your experience is going to be discordant and just… not great.

“’Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support him after…” – Timon of Athens

Ok, I’m stretching this one a little to fit my purpose I’ll admit, but there’s something to be said for consistency not just across platforms, but within them as well. Your company and employer brand don’t need to be on every possible social media platform, if you don’t mean to continue with them beyond the first few posts.

“…superfluous branches we lop away, that bearing branches may live.” – Richard II

7. Your employees are the best advocates of your employer brand

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother…
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here…” – Henry V

While King Henry is talking about the glory his army will attain for fighting with him, his speech echoes the same sense of culture and family that can be created between colleagues, and how enviable that feeling can be to those that don’t have it. If this type of ‘band of brothers [and sisters]’ culture thrives in your company – make sure it’s front and centre in your employer brand.

“In them I trust, for they are the soldiers. Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit.” – Henry VI

Your employer brand is supposed to reflect the shared work culture of ALL your employees, not just HR or marketing. So why not get everyone involved in sharing content? You no doubt hired them for their ‘witty, courteous spirit’, so trust in these qualities and let them share their pride for their workplace too.

“…many strokes, though with a little axe, hews down and fells the hardest-timbered oak.” – Henry V

Shakespeare’s legacy persists precisely because his characters remain relatable and timeless despite changing contexts and time periods. His perspective on human nature offers inspiration and guidance on the course to ambition, success, failure, courage, and yes even employer branding.

“Are these things then necessities? Then let us meet them like necessities.” – Henry IV

The post 7 Employer branding tips Shakespeare can teach us appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

“Brand is so much more than people understand. I looked at my team members and even the most junior members were acting at the level of that brand,” says Watts. “How are you writing your recruitment ads? How do you run your campaigns in a way that reflects your story?”

Watts shares why your brand needs to be incorporated throughout the entire recruitment lifecycle, from the way you advertise, interview, onboard, even until your people become alumni and are no longer working for your organisation. (This lifecycle even includes how your employment contract has been written and how you conduct your performance reviews!)

Without integrated communication between your marketing and HR department, your marketing team may publish promises that are disconnected from peoples’ experiences when they make contact with your brand.

Watts even recommends HR and marketing teams work together to amend phone scripts so your brand presence rings true from the get-go when people first speak to you.

If your teams aren’t integrated, all the hard work you have done articulating your brand message may become redundant in a few months. The HR element is a crucial part of your brand.  

“Collaboration is about how two skills can come together to achieve a clients’ ultimate purpose.”

We love this philosophy! Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.

Source

Why marketing and HR need to work together

Sel Watts

The post Why your HR and marketing teams need to work together appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

Universum has been conducting their Employer Branding Now surveys since 2016, and their latest data demonstrates the changes that have occurred over two years. Their survey was divided into samples of small, medium, large companies, and the world’s most attractive employers (WMAEs).

80% of CEOs are concerned about attracting and retaining key talent. Employer branding ranks as a top priority (even for smaller organisations!).

Formulating your employer brand

WMAEs, such as PwC, Ford, EY, Ikea, Shell, Unilever, Apple, Amazon, BP, are leading the way. They typically use a few key ingredients in their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), which you can use to inspire your organisation’s own. They include:

• inspiring purpose
• innovation
• professional training and development
• commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Note though, that your primary objective in creating an employer brand should be to differentiate yourself from your talent competitors.

When creating your employer brand, be mindful! Mosley noted that many employer brands are starting to sound the same. For example, “make an impact” has become generic across the corporate sector.

“It’s not just about taglines and the visuals. It’s about really thinking hard about what you’re trying to achieve, the nature of your culture, the language that you use, and finding something that really clarifies what makes you special and stand out. Work hard until you’ve got that and really go the extra mile to find your signature difference.”

Mosley also noted that organisations’ customer brands and employer brands are moving onto the same playing field, as their vision and purpose become aligned.

Attracting Gen Zers and millennials

Gen Z and millennials are most attracted to an inspiring purpose, so keep this in mind when formulating your employer brand and EVPs!

Between 2012 and 2018, certain aspects of talent attraction have grown in importance. Students are interested in:

• high future earnings
• inspiring leadership
• flexible working conditions
• professional training and development
• doing (social) good
• leaders leading from the front.

Interestingly, Gen Z’ers are doing a mental trade-off between start-up and corporate culture. This demographic still holds the concept that big companies and corporate environments are more controlled and regimented (see: grey offices and cubicles).

“It’s important to recognise factors driving attraction. Big companies are not just competing against each other, but the startup sector too!”

Big organisations are trying to break down the image of being dull and grey (but perhaps not quite to the extent of the freewheeling casual culture of startups!). For example, some banks are setting up separate offices for their technology arms in trendier workspaces.

It’s important to note that these perceptions still exist among students and Gen Z populations, so take this into consideration in the way your organisation presents itself.

Channels to invest in

While social media is cooling off slightly, it’s still the biggest area of investment. Social channels are important for your employer brand – particularly with students tending to look to social content to get a feel for an organisation they’re interested in.

Digital advertising is the second best channel organisations are investing in, with video coming in third. In the last two years, video investment has increased year on year. WMAEs are placing a stronger emphasis on video in their strategy.

Your goal with social media and video should be to promote employee advocacy. Communicate your employer brand messaging authentically through your employees. Use Glassdoor, social channels, word of mouth, getting your employees to proudly advocate you as an organisation.

“It’s not just poking people or giving them bonuses for referrals. Create an environment that engages people and that they can be proud of! Provide them with information about what your organisation is achieving and doing, and communicate on regular basis reasons to feel proud and celebrate. This gives employees the ammunition to be more active and vocal.”

If you have employees advocating your organisation, you won’t need to spend as much on advertising.

For example, Siemens demonstrates this shift well, showing how employer branding works from the bottom up. They use employee-driven content, behind the scenes content, documentary reportage, real life, and real people. While this content is not scripted, polished, or corporate, it certainly feels more authentic.

Small and medium-sized organisations, in particular, should use this strategy more. While bigger companies have the resources to brand their content and invest more heavily in their communication strategy, small and medium-sized organisations should take advantage of their intimate culture. Even with a small budget, you can market yourself far more effectively.

Employer branding implementation  

Who is responsible for coordinating an employer branding strategy? Research reveals the responsibility is still falling to recruitment teams, although this trend is decreasing. Implementation is becoming increasingly dependent on talent management teams, HR, marketing/communications departments, and senior management.

Employer branding decisions are starting to be more data-driven. Organisations are measuring their data, the type of engagement they are getting from which forms of content, and what underlies results. Measuring the results of your employer brand is a great way to inform your ongoing strategy.

Technology and AI

Universum also collected data on how organisations feel about AI. For WMAEs, their responses were mostly positive or neutral (only 3% of those surveys believed it was a negative trend).

Organisations are implementing new technologies to support their recruitment and talent acquisition strategy. The top three technologies being implemented include video interviews, cloud solutions, and people analytics.

“Game-changing” technologies include AI, people analytics, AI-driven targeted advertising, programmatic advertising, video interviews, intelligent self-service tools, cloud solutions, Chatbots, virtual reality, and gamification.

From creating your employer brand, attracting certain demographics, and understanding the best channels to invest in, being aware of these trends will help to inform your strategy.

Which trend did you find most useful? Let us know in the comments.

Source

Employer Branding Now (webinar)

Richard Mosley

Universum

Further reading

Universum’s Employer Branding Now eBook.

The post Global employer branding trends you need to know appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

With unpredictable complexities and changes in today’s fast-moving business landscape, competition for talent is becoming increasingly competitive. A strong employer brand is just as important as an organisation’s general corporate brand, as it plays a pivotal role in promoting business performance, competitiveness and growth.

For larger organisations, it is becoming difficult to rely on HR and marketing departments alone to build a strong employer brand, particularly due to the emergence of social media.

Global Banking and Finance Review reports: “This shift in strategy brings senior leaders and organisational values into the spotlight, making employer branding a critical strategic priority for top management and all other organisational layers.”

So how do you create an authentic employer brand?

Understand your current position in the market

Conduct a thorough assessment of your organisation’s current employer brand awareness and reputation to understand where you stand in the marketplace.

• Do you have an easily accessible careers page?
• What messaging is prominent?
• Is your message targeted at attracting talent vague, or do you have any at all?
• Who are your talent competitors, and what do they offer that’s different?

By building a strong foundation of knowledge through initial research, you will be better equipped to formulate your employer brand messaging.

Conduct internal research

Good employer branding starts from within. Speak to your current employees to determine what they value about their roles, their perceptions of your workplace culture, what challenges they face in their roles.

This is where it can be valuable to hire an external specialist to maintain confidentiality. Allowing employees to share their true feelings anonymously can give you a more truthful understanding about your employer brand, particularly the challenges in certain roles. (Use these to your advantage: your ideal candidates will enjoy these challenges!)

You can also take this opportunity as an employee engagement initiative.

“By encouraging your staff to identify the difficulties and dysfunctions encountered in their work and asking them to propose improvement initiatives you’ll create an inclusive company culture that makes employees feel their voice and opinions matter.”

Create your key employer brand messaging

Use the feedback you received from the internal research to create a core employee value proposition (EVP) message, supported by a few key sentences about what you can offer as an employer. Target your message to your ideal candidates.

Building brand advocacy

Integrate your employer brand in your company values. Your authentic message should be promoted internally so that your current employees, as well as potential candidates, know what to expect from you as an employer.

“Ensure that everyone understands the value and impact a strong employer brand has on the success of the business and the role each person needs to play in sustaining a consistent brand experience and reputation.

Make sure the brand voice is consistent both internally and externally. Clear discrepancies between the public image and how your employees view the company create confusion and can alienate valuable candidates, customers and potential investors.”

Promote through social media 

Your LinkedIn and Facebook pages are powerful tools in attracting potential candidates. Get creative and showcase what’s special about your organisation through staff profile stories, events, and news posts relevant to your industry.

“Share company values and highlight your strengths to build an authentic and appealing employer brand reputation.

“Keep employees and potential candidates engaged through regular communication but don’t forget it’s a two way street – listening to your employees and regularly gauging their perception should be just as high priority as periodic newsletters, social media posts and team building.”

Your current employees can also provide useful insights. Encouraging them to propose improvement initiatives can create engagement and an inclusive culture—a useful talent retention strategy. Current employees have the potential to be an organisation’s greatest brand advocates.

In creating a compelling employer brand and building brand advocacy, create an authentic message with an engaging voice. Communicate your message in a way your current employees and potential candidates view you as an employer of choice. 

Source

Building a strong employer brand is critical for organisational performance

Mike Roe

Global Banking & Finance Review

The post How to create a compelling employer brand for organisational success appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.