Whether or not your organisation has done anything to actively manage your employer brand, you already have one! And potential candidates are examining it before deciding if your organisation is right for them. According to LinkedIn statistics, 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a role.

There are a number of components that go into an employer brand, and all of these things work together to shape your overall employer brand. Linda Le Phan reporting for Kununu shares the ten components that comprise the framework of your employer brand. They include:

Things you can control:

• Careers site
• Recruitment advertisements
• Website and blog
• Culture and organisational values
• Candidate communication

Things you can influence:

• Employee stories and advocacy
• Social media channels
• Organisation reviews

Things you can indirectly influence:

• Public perception
• Accolades and awards.

So what are candidates looking for? And how can you attract the right people to help your organisation?

Your mission

Candidates are looking for more than a paycheck. They’re looking for an opportunity to contribute towards a valuable mission. For millennials, this is particularly important, as according to the latest statistics, 78% saying they want their employer’s values to match their own.

As Le Phan states, “to captivate potential hires, you must craft a coherent narrative about why you’re here and what’s important to you as an organisation. Your commitment to this mission should be the thread that connects all of your print and online materials, from your careers page to corporate activism to social media to employee testimonials. Give prospective talent a flavour of what drives the work you do.”

Real information about employee experience

When investigating an organisation’s employer brand, candidates aren’t interested in corporate jargon about your products and services. They want to know what it’s like to work for you, from those who know you best and are doing the work themselves.

The best way to do this is by filling your careers site and social channels with real employee profile stories, whether they be video or written, or both. This makes your brand more relatable and personal. People respond well and are most engaged with compelling visual imagery, a “day in the life” photos and videos. These make a far greater impact than essays of text.

An active, engaging social media presence

We live in a digital world, so social media is therefore crucial in your employer brand strategy.

We cannot overstate the importance of social media in your employer brand, considering this digital world we live in now. Up to 57% of job seekers use social media in their hiring search. How much time can you invest in this channel, and what is your strategy?

“Remember to tailor your content to the unique style of each social media account: Twitter is perfect for concise summaries of key industry news (such as industry blog posts and recent awards or milestones for your organization), compelling visuals trump all else on Instagram, and Facebook gives you space to post longer content that connects with a varied demographic. Ensure that your social media manager keeps all of your social media content on-brand as well, to give viewers a sense of unique company identity.”

Positive candidate experience  

The experience you create for candidates can seem intangible and difficult to communicate and represent. But it’s a hugely important part of your employer brand because it’s so personal and candidates are paying such close attention.

“78% of candidates say the overall candidate experience at a company is an indicator of how well the organisation values its employees. That means that job seekers look at your candidate experience as “proof” that you do, in fact, live up to your company values.”

Create a positive candidate experience by making sure your processes are short, efficient, fair, and involve good communication.

“Make sure your application process is brief, intuitive to use, and relatively easy. Many candidates will simply give up if employers ask for page after page of information. Also, remember to communicate with prospective talent throughout the recruitment process and respect their time and effort. An automated email or text message confirming submission of the application should be a given, but adding a personalised touch from a recruiter within a few days (even a simple “we are still processing your application and will be in touch soon”) is even better.”

“Also remember that the candidate experience doesn’t stop when you’ve made your hiring decision. Notifying individuals who didn’t get the job is particularly important, as 80% of people say they wouldn’t apply for another job at a company if they fail to hear back about a position. Leaving candidates with a positive impression of your company ensures that you have prospective talent waiting in the pipeline the next time you’re ready to hire.”

By understanding what candidates are looking for in your employer brand, you can review and fortify your strategies to strengthen and promote your employer brand.

Source

What candidates look for in a company’s employer brand

Linda Le Phan

Kununu

The post 4 things candidates are looking for in your employer brand appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

Word of mouth is one of your most important marketing tools. Why not use it in your employer branding strategy? Employees aligned with your mission, vision, and values are a powerful force to promote your organisation as a great place to work, attract future talent, and personalise your brand.  

Employee advocacy refers to employees promoting your organisation as an employer of choice. There are a number of ways to go about this, but the most effective strategy is through social media.

According to Hootsuite’s guide to creating an employee advocacy program, “Word-of-mouth remains the top influencer for buyers. Studies show that employees are more than twice as trusted as a CEO, senior executive, or activist consumer. Cisco notes that employees’ social posts generate eight times more engagement than posts from their employers. People are 16 times more likely to read a post from a friend about a brand than from the brand itself. In addition, employees often already have social media profiles. And it’s likely that they’re on some platforms that your brand isn’t.

“Plus, employee advocacy is as effective for small businesses as it is for large corporations…[An organisation of] 20 means a potential reach of 5,000.”

This strategy is beneficial for both employees and employees alike. Aside from promoting your benefits, your people are empowered to shape the type of people attracted to your organistation, and build their personal network and brands.

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to launch an employee advocacy program without engaged people with shared vision and trust in your brand. It’s beneficial to start with a strong workplace culture.

As Hootsuite explains, “For employees to become brand ambassadors, they need to love more about their jobs than just their paychecks. In one study, 18 per cent of employees said that corporate culture would increase their loyalty and engagement with a company.

“This is especially true of millennials. In 2016, a Fidelity study found that workers in that generation willing to take a pay cut of up to $7,600 for ‘an improved quality of worklife’.”

Develop authentic relationships with your people to build a high-trust culture. This beneficial in encouraging people to share idea and fosters authentic communication.

Find a way to link your people’s work to your overall mission and vision, and articulate this in a way that helps them understand how their contribution goes towards a higher purpose.

Get your people onside

Why should people participate in your employee advocacy program? Think about the type of things that would motivate and benefit them. For example, they can build their professional brand as a thought leader in their field and gain more recognition on social media.

Hootsuite recommends the following to win your people over:

• • Recognise their work. In a recent study, 72 per cent of businesses said that recognition for high performers had a significant impact on employee engagement. An “employee of the month” program or notice in a monthly newsletter sound old-fashioned, but can still be effective. So can setting aside time in team meetings to recognise certain employees. And certainly, few people are above accepting gift cards, bonuses, and even company swag.
  • Ask employees what kinds of incentives they would like to see. The more engaged employees are in the process, the more they will feel like they have a stake in the program.
  • Ask, don’t mandate.
  • Make advocacy a game. Create a leaderboard to show metrics on who’s getting the most impressions or engagement. Make a hashtag around a new development in the company. Then organise a draw among team members who create posts with that hashtag.
  • Make advocacy easy. Give them something interesting or fun to promote. This could be a new product announcement or a humorous video.
  • Recognise individual talents or accomplishments. Everyone is a micro-influencer in their own right. Perhaps someone is a renowned food blogger, or an expert on all things Apple.
  • Show enthusiasm. Remind your team about the program and give updates on new, shareable content. Enthusiasm is contagious, so play up your brand initiatives and goals.

Set KPIs

How will your people know they’re achieving success? Without an organised process, you won’t be able to track results to inform and tailor your strategy.

“The more you define your specific goals, the more your employees will be able to help. If your goal is to increase awareness, ask employees to post more about the brand. If it’s a new product, create shareable content about that product. If your target is [gaining your] share of voice, seek out and organise employees who use several platforms and/or post often.

“Other goals might include improving organic reach, increasing traffic from social media, and expanding your demographic. For each, look at how employee advocacy can help.”

Define social media guidelines

Employees need to understand both your message, and the best way to communicate it. This will ensure your brand messaging is consistent. (“You don’t want one employee adopting an irreverent tone, while others take a more formal approach.”)

Help them understand the best language to use, how often they should post and how they should respond to comments.

If you already have a social media policy, share it with your people. If you don’t, it may be a good idea to create one. Make your guidelines short and easy to follow!

Set up training and implementation guidance

Your people’s social media competency and following will differ, so ensure you clearly communicate best practices across all areas of the business and levels of seniority.

“Be consistent in offering new and shareable content. This helps employees also be consistent and create new social media sharing habits. Offer a mix, if possible, of fun, shareable content, and industry trends.”

Appoint advocacy leaders

Your leadership team should be leading the charge, however, you can outsource advocacy roles to your people. Some of their responsibilities may include communicating your program’s missions and goals, and creating incentives. These leaders should communicate their messages to a small group of people, who in turn pass the message on.

Proactive advocacy leaders will minimise people dropping off from the program after the initial excitement wears off.

Track results

Of course, with any brand initiative

Summarise your results to demonstrate ROI. Consider the following:

• Top contributors. Which individuals or teams are sharing the most? Which advocates are generating the most engagement?
• Organic reach. How many people are seeing the content shared through your employee advocates?
• Engagement. Are people clicking links, leaving comments and re-sharing content from your advocates? What is the engagement you’re getting per network?
• Traffic. How much traffic did the content shared by employee advocates drive to your website?

Take advantage of word of mouth as a recruitment marketing tool, and your people build their personal brand with great content. Design a robust program, offer training and guidelines,  and measure results. Employee advocates who share your mission, vision, and values are a powerful force to promote your organisation as a great place to work, attract future talent, and personalise your brand.  

Source

Employee Advocacy on Social Media: How to Make it Work for Your Business

Hootsuite

The post How to create an employee advocacy program appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.