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The Importance of Employer Branding

Staffing industry sector is a fast-changing industry… because it has to be. As employment trends rapidly change due to an ever-fluctuating worldwide job market, those acquiring talent for companies in any industry need to constantly evolve to keep their respective companies well staffed with key skills and able to compete.

Recruitment has had to keep up with the huge shifts in the remote working space, as well as diversify hiring techniques and constantly stay up to date with changing employment regulations across specific countries and industries. But what can current trends tell us about where talent acquisition is headed? 

In this article, we take a deep dive into a recruitment trend that will continue to shape the job market moving forward. Read on and we’ll explain how to foster good employer branding and its importance in the current job market.

Why employer branding matters, the stats!.

Employer branding from a customer-facing perspective has been a core of most businesses for as long as ‘marketing’ has existed, but while curating a desirable brand is undeniably important in attracting customers and driving sales, so too is it an important tool for attracting talent.

Whereas historically in a job-driven market salary & benefits may have been key deciding factors, in the modern space where skills shortages have led to a largely candidate-driven market, many potential employees are looking to good employer branding as a deciding factor.

Strong employer branding comes from a multitude of streams to culminate in an overall perceived brand image from potential candidates.

LinkedIn harnessed their extensive data and compiled what they call the TBI or Talent Brand Index, this measurement takes numerous measures of what can be considered strong employer branding and uses it to compare talent acquisition results and the finds were staggering.

Comparing brands with a strong TBI vs those with a weaker TBI they found:

– 31% higher rates of InMail acceptance 

Companies with higher TBI had much more success employing this essential tool when getting a foot in the door using proactive recruitment methods like directly reaching out to candidates.

– Cost-per-hire figure decreased by 43%

This figure illustrates the huge difference in recruitment costs based on employer branding, put simply, the better your employer brand image, the cheaper (and faster) you fill important vacancies.

– 20% faster growth

Companies with a strong brand image tend to expand faster and their hiring rate for new roles is up 20% indicating strong growth.

– 2.5 X more applicants

The most important of these states, two and a half times the applicants, people want to work for companies they perceive as being desirable, and having people actively search for jobs with your company is of huge benefit. The study also found that the people applying to these roles tended to be better qualified and more appropriate for the job, Quality and Quantity!

In 2015 56% of global talent leaders said they prioritised employer branding, that figure has continued to grow as markets become both shorter in skills and more candidate-driven.

How to achieve strong employer branding?

Thankfully there are tried and tested methods of achieving a fantastic employer brand, and while achieving an attractive status to candidates is best seen as an overarching strategy as opposed to a single task, some key factors to initially consider include:

– Creating a smooth hiring process

 A quick and easy application process improves the chance that candidates will recommend the company to others, it also shows you value candidates time. Also consider how your brand is perceived by candidates who you won’t be moving forward with -even if it’s just an auto-generated thank you note to unsuccessful applicants it shows your business cares about people taking time to show interest.

– Highlight flexible working

In light of recent times flexible working has shifted from a perk to an expectation for many, people have seen that the model can still ensure productivity and companies that understand this will be higher up people list when searching for a new role.

– Emphasise your company’s commitment to diversity

People want to work for companies whose values they appreciate, especially amongst young professionals. As highlighted in our article here, it also fosters a better workforce so the benefits are two-fold.

– Showcase the right benefits 

While pension plans and retirement packages are important they’re also run of the mill, focus on benefits that set your company apart like progression & mentoring programmes and maternity leave.

– Get strong messages out on social media

Nearly all potential hires will be on social media of some form and it’s the quickest way for them to see what you’re about.

Just by example, Air BnB’s CEO Brian Chesky announced employees could work from anywhere in the world and compensation wouldn’t be based on location, AirBnB spread the message via social media and AirBnB’s career site was visited over 1 million times.

– Utilise employee feedback

A good starting place to make sure your a company people want to work for is surveying the people who already do (Anonymously for the best results)

How did employees find the hiring process? Do they think the company values inclusion and diversity? What suggestions do they have? The opinions of the people you already have is a useful tool -utilise it.

If you’re finding all this a bit of a minefield or struggling with any aspects of international employment and talent acquisition (including employer branding) get in touch with the professionals at EWS and see how an experienced worldwide recruitment firm can guide you in creating a brand that people line up for the chance to work for.

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