Your company’s brand is critical when increasing its ability to attract and retain top employees. When a company’s brand is the same on the inside as it is on the outside, employees are going to be more loyal.
Recently, on our Inside Executive Search podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Collette Litzinger, Jamf Talent Brand Manager, to learn how Jamf has been so successful in retaining employees through their company’s brand. Here are a few things we discussed:
The Rise of Employer Branding
Employer branding, or talent branding as it’s also known, has always been a part of the hiring process. Only recently has it become an active focus for companies; with some, like Jamf, establishing dedicated positions to tackle employer branding.
The challenge of employer branding is that it isn’t purely HR or talent acquisition. As Collette mentioned in our podcast, her background was in marketing and brand strategy and that suited employer branding well, as she was positioning the company for employees rather than customers. The other thing to note about the shift toward employer branding is that it is a new art, and there isn’t a how-to manual. What works for one company may not work for another, which makes it a distinct challenge for folks like Collette.
You Need a Custom Approach
Because it lacks a one-size-fits-all solution, employer branding requires a more custom approach. Where Jamf has succeeded in building internal support and content, they’ll require a different approach to keep that momentum going externally. In your organization, you need to take stock of where your employer brand is today, and where you’d like it to be. That has to be the starting point of a successful employer brand, especially because you need to be authentic. A forced culture and employer brand are incredibly obvious and, to many candidates, a red flag.
The other critical thing Collette mentioned was support. Not only do you need the support of leadership when building an employer brand, but you also need the support of current employees, especially your star players. Momentum for an employer brand is lost quickly without full support, and the key to keeping that support is building your brand on the back of the internal team that drives your business’s success. Giving them the outlet to highlight the things that make them love their job is a great avenue to establishing a strong employer brand that attracts top talent.
Match Your Messaging
At the risk of sounding cliche, you need to walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to your employer brand. Like I mentioned earlier, and Collette mentioned in our chat, an employer brand has to be authentic, and it has to be the same internally as it is externally. Think of it this way, if you were purchasing a car based on an ad that claimed it had a lot of features, but you discovered that none of the features actually worked once you bought the car, you’d be pretty upset, right?
The same goes for your employer brand, if you are presenting your company as a perfect workplace with a lot of great perks, you have to back that up when candidates sign-on. If you don’t, word can travel fast and you risk damaging your employer brand permanently. I’m not trying to scare people away, but I do want to drive home the importance of authenticity. You can’t force everything about your employer brand, it’s better to start from what has happened holistically and build with your team, it will always be more authentic.
It’s a New Frontier
As Collette mentioned in our chat, even Jamf, who has a well-established employer brand with support at all levels, is still writing the book on employer branding. There are things they do well, things they can improve, and things that they aren’t doing yet. Employer and talent branding is still a new frontier for many organizations, but it has already improved the hiring practices in high-competition industries like the tech sector
It’s never too late to start improving your employer brand, not only does it help to attract top talent for your team, but it helps retain the star employees you already have. If you’re not sure where to start improving your hiring experience and talent acquisition, Versique recently published an eBook all about building your employer brand. If you have more questions after that, get in contact today.
