Something You Already Knew Announcement: employer branding has been around for quite some time.
But here’s what you may not already know about employer branding:
- 84% of job seekers rank employer branding as important when deciding where to apply
- 80% of talent acquisition managers think employer branding has had a significant impact on their ability to hire top talent
In today’s wildly competitive hiring landscape, taking every measure to separate yourself from the competition is worth exploring. Heading into 2023, employer branding is emerging as a top talent acquisition differentiator.
What Is an Employer Brand?
What is it about Patagonia that makes you feel as though you can smell fresh rain on fallen pine needles when all you did was buy a pullover?
No, there’s no magic involved. It is, however, another two-syllable word: branding. The same branding principles apply to companies as they craft their employer branding plans.
In its simplest form, employer branding is how a company introduces its values, culture, and work environment to potential employees. It’s how a company broadcasts the feeling and purpose those who work for it may expect to experience.
And in 2023 and beyond, employer branding will only become more and more of a necessity for talent acquisition.
The Siren Song for Top Talent: Which Notes Should You Hit?
In the years since the pandemic, there’s been a marked increase in attention paid to employer brands, both from the organization itself and job seekers.
The formula that supports such investment is straightforward: the more a candidate is aware of your brand, the more likely they are to be aware of your organization as a destination for employment. If their impression of your brand is positive, the more likely they’ll want to work for you.
The data also supports this claim: 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply for a given job if the employer manages its employer brand. With this statistic in mind, there are a few best practices when you set out to enhance your employer brand that you should consider.
Social media is one of the best avenues for employer branding—a staggering 62% of job seekers leverage social media when evaluating a potential employer’s brand. When creating content for your brand, the most important rule to follow is to be true to your core values—nothing will sabotage branding efforts more than inauthenticity.
Let’s look at some examples of companies that nailed their employer branding.
Three Employer Brands That Absolutely Nailed It
PetSmart
Everybody loves pets. Especially people who want to work for one of the largest pet specialty retailers in the country. And in their branding, this fact is first and foremost for PetSmart.
Starting with their careers page, PetSmart shows the underlying reason why they exist: the love of pets. The page is full of pets and passion, instantly striking a chord with like-minded professionals.
Their social media then carries this message to the masses. Petsmart consistently shares posts of happy workers cozying up to their furry customers or just spawtlighting (sorry for the pun) delighted animals of all kinds that frequent their stores.
Hulu
Hulu, one of the premier streaming services in the world, extends its great content-generating ability to its employer branding.
Take a look, for example, at just one LinkedIn post:
In just a few lines, Hulu accomplishes so much:
- Celebrating the hard work of current employees
- Granting a sneak peek into the collaboration and payoff that’s fundamental to working at Hulu
- Tying it all together with a widely recognizable image from a beloved show
Salesforce
Salesforce, the cloud-based software giant, does an incredible job of injecting its values across its employer branding, particularly with Its Salesforce Jobs Instagram account, like the post below:
This post is far from a hard call to action to apply for an open position. Instead, it serves as an artifact of a thriving workplace culture, educating the audience that this a workplace where you, your goals, and your family comes first.
As we march towards a new year, we hope these tips and examples can help your organization kickstart its employer branding efforts and attract the best and brightest talent in the marketplace!
Need help finding quality hires for your Marketing and Demand Generation, Information Technology, Engineering and Operations and other teams? Contact Versique today to unlock the potential of people.
