The Importance of Employer Branding
This is a piece by www.wearelaika.com, a platform for matching Tech professionals with companies. Check out more content here.
In the past few years, employer branding becаme much more than just a buzzword. It’s become an essential part of the identity of a company that wants to attract the best talents.
Employer branding is in fact how the company is perceived in the eyes of the (potential) employees. It refers to the values the company gives to its employees. Employer branding is the way the company shows itself as a great place to work.
And it goes beyond ping-pong tables, Friday bars, and team-buildings. It’s about what makes the team spirit and brings people together. It helps motivate current employees and attract the best talent.
Companies that are successful at employer branding really stand out. Their employees are happier and stay longer. Here are some stats to confirm this:
- According to Workable, nine out of ten candidates are likely to apply for a job when it’s from an employer brand that’s actively maintained.
- Talent Now discovered that 50% of candidates wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation.
- Investing in employer branding reduces employee turnover rate by 28%, according to Office Vibe.
- LinkedIn states that 80% of recruiters believe that employer branding has a significant impact on the ability to hire great talent.
- 88% of millennials believe that being part of the right company culture is important, according to The Undercover Recruiter.
So, why is employer branding so important?
It reduces the employee turnover rate
I already tackled this one with the stats. Great talents have great expectations. They know exactly what they want from a company. If they don’t get it, the employee turnover rate increases. A high employee turnover rate can demoralize even the happiest employees and make them want to leave the company even if they, personally, are satisfied.
It reduces costs
According to a study by Employee Benefit News, replacing an employee costs US companies $15,000 on average. In the Balkans, this sum is definitely lower, but not insignificant. Losing an employee means creating a new hiring campaign, going through the recruitment process that can last for months, and training the new employee.
Throughout this process, you’ll have a lack of one employee and their tasks will have to be completed by other people, which might turn out unproductive and inefficient.
Another cost cut is in the hiring process itself. Companies with a good reputation don’t have to spend too much on recruitment campaigns. Candidates apply even when there are no positions open, just because they want to be part of a company that treats its employees fairly. Some of them are even willing to accept a lower salary if the company has a good reputation.
It helps you hire the best talents
People who are looking for a job check online reviews before applying to a company. A popular and high-rated brand can help you attract good talents.
A good employer branding strategy can spare time for the HR team who won’t have to spend days, weeks, and even months in finding the best fit for the company’s open positions. Talented people will basically come by themselves, knowing that they’re coming to a company with a good reputation. A strong employer brand reduces hiring time by two times.
It motivates employees
Employees who are happy with the place they work at are more motivated and engaged. A University of Warwick study discovered that happy employees have a 12% spike in productivity. They will also stay in the company longer, identify themselves with the company mission and vision, and put in more effort to achieve the company’s goals. Moreover, happy employees become company advocates and recommend the company to other great talents.
It enables the feeling of belonging
Good employer branding means other professionals in the industry know about you, what you work on and how much you care about employees. And the product of that is employees who are proud to be a part of the team and have a feeling of belonging.
How to master employer branding?
A company that wants to master employer branding needs to start looking at it like it’s more of a marketing process. In fact, today’s best candidates choose you, not the other way around. ICIMS research discovered that 86% of HR professionals believe that recruitment is becoming more like marketing. It’s a way to promote your company to another target profile — potential employees. Here are some ways you can do it:
Organize events
Events are the best ways to show that your company has deep expertise and great talents who are best at what they’re doing. More importantly, you’ll show that your company is willing to share the knowledge it has and contribute to the community.
For example, InPlayer organizes the InTech Meetup, a Tech community event that discusses the latest events regarding a certain Tech industry topic. On their sixth meetup, the company chose to discuss artificial intelligence, bringing speakers from Amazon Web Services, Team Viewer, Netcetera, and Time.mk. The attendees also had the opportunity to participate in a workshop about Amazon SageMaker.
Laika also organizes Tech events. Our last event that had product development in the focus hosted more than a hundred guests and six speakers from companies like Upshift, Keitaro, and Telekom MK. This is a great way for companies to showcase their expertise in front of great talents who are part of the Tech community.
Go beyond the kafana Team Building
Let’s face it, people from the Balkans like going to the kafana. A lot. I actually can’t think of a person who doesn’t like it. But they also go there very often. Maybe even too often. So if you organize your team building there, it won’t be very different from your employees’ usual night out.
That’s why you should think of a more untypical team event that your employees will remember. Escape rooms, hiking, skiing, marathons, you name it. The number of possibilities is endless.
Be creative
You don’t have to do something that’s already been done. An employer branding strategy can contain untypical things that haven’t been seen before.
Netcetera decided to do this, so they created a comic that encourages women to pursue a career in software development. The comic featured a young female software engineer named Neta who’s involved in funny situations inspired by the everyday lives of software developers.
Employer branding can be anything you can think of. Be creative and go beyond what’s already been done.
Work on socially responsible projects together outside of the usual activities and duties
People appreciate working for a company that works for the better of others in any way. No matter if it’s sustainability, women equality, donating to shelters or other ways to be socially responsive, employees will feel proud to be part of it. So, the next team building can be planting trees or making your own lounge room out of upcycled materials.
Establish values that are important to the company as a whole
Discuss your core values and make sure employees know what is the company’s goal and long-term vision. That way, you will be able to mark a path and change the point of view — instead of task-oriented, you will have more goal-oriented employees with their own ideas on improvement and growth.
