Employment Branding

Source: Mike McNeal

1. An employment brand offers a differentiating value proposition for candidates and employees.

It draws applicants. Because if they hear something about your company that hits home, they'll remember it.

2. Target the right audience

Ask your top performers:
- how they found out about their jobs
- what makes them stay.
- what is in their jobs that will appeal to people like them
- where can you reach them during leisure time

3. Find the best way to get your message to your ideal candidates.
- ask your recruitment advertising agency for fresh media and event ideas
- go beyond newspaper advertising to find people in their own environment
- your emp brand is seen in your choice of media, your booth at a career fair, your recruiters in interviews (and it is reinforced or contradicted on the first day of work)

4. Features and Trust
- when you ask people to change their lives you have to make them feel safe doing so
- you have to tell them what distinguishes you as an employer
- and you have to give them reasons to trust you

5. Make everyone in the company a recruiter
- give employees words to say

6. Your Career Page
- make sure it can easily be found from the homepage
- it should be consistent with the branding on the rest of the site.
- your goal here is to help the candidate imagine what it would be like to work for your company
- think relationship building: let visitors create profiles, refer friends, request follow-up on future opportunities and subscribe to a newsletter

7. Measure Your Success
- gather data and create metrics on everything you've done

Comments

[Lindsay]

Bravo! Good advice! To get the best people, we have to reach out to who and what they are on their terms. Gone (thankfully!) are the days of the cookie-cutter employee -- thanks for bringing that awareness to the recruiting stage, too.