Fostering Employee Branding: Building Company Identity

In today’s talent market, employer branding is crucial. Top talent has more opportunities than ever to find a company that meets their needs, and they want to work for companies that care about them, not just as employees, but as people.

Employer branding is not just a “nice-to-have”, but essential for companies of all sizes. More than half of U.S. employers say their company is more focused on employer branding than it was five years ago. And these employers are seeing results: 75% report an increase in revenue and 50% report an increase in profitability through employer branding initiatives.

What is employer branding?

If you've been in the business world for a while, you've probably heard of employer branding. But what about employee branding? Employee branding is a new term in the field of human resources that describes how a company develops an image of its employees and aligns this with its employer brand.

Employee branding is an internal and external marketing strategy that encourages employees to develop a positive attitude towards their company and empowers them to be more effective brand ambassadors. The goal is to inspire every employee to be part of your company.

Summarized:

Employer branding is about creating a meaningful, engaging experience for your company's internal stakeholders.
Employer branding is different because it focuses on how a company markets itself to potential employees, rather than how it presents its current employees to the outside world.

Why is employee branding important?

Employer branding is important because it conveys a consistent message about your company and its culture.

We all know that the world has changed drastically in the last few years as we witnessed the “Great Layoff” where over 5 million workers left their jobs to start their own businesses. Generation Z is officially the largest generation in the United States, and they are disinclined to stay in a job that they don't find positive.

Employee branding is important because it attracts the right talent to your company. In today's world, people are looking for more than just a paycheck - they want to work for companies whose values align with their own.

A 2021 FlexJobs survey of 4,600 workers found that nearly 70% of respondents would consider changing careers to find a job that offers more work-life balance.

Employee branding is also important because it ensures that your employees are happy, engaged and loyal. Keeping your employees happy can help limit the threat to data security from disgruntled employees.

If you focus on conveying a cohesive brand image to both your customers and your employees, both groups will know what you stand for and be inspired by it.

The benefits of employee branding

Employee branding is a marketing strategy that focuses on achieving company goals by building and communicating your employer's brand. It's about connecting with employees, helping them build a professional identity and advancing their careers.

Here are just some of the benefits of building a strong employee brand:

They attract the best talent

For many companies, recruiting great employees is the hardest part of growing a business. Employee branding helps you stand out from other employers in your industry and makes it easier to find the right people for your team.

Mos is a great example of a company using employer branding, an ambitious mission and content to create a truly modern bank. The company focuses on students in a system that can be uphill in most cases, offering solutions for teen bank accounts, student debt, scholarships, and more.

Building an attractive brand requires identifying your company's unique value proposition (UVP) and effectively communicating it to potential employees. You should also promote your company culture, talk about your successes and define what you expect from new employees.

Keep your best employees

People are the best asset for any company, especially those who have been around for a while and know how everything works. They take years of experience with them when they leave the company and can be difficult to replace.

Companies with small teams that are trying to build something revolutionary and innovative need to create an employee culture that promotes their brand. In addition to offering great benefits, Stack wants its employees to share the vision of creating something that will change the lives of millions of users.

Employee branding helps you retain long-term employees at your company by offering them opportunities for personal development, incentivizing their performance, and engaging them through various feedback channels.

Attract more customers

By aligning your brand with your employees' needs and goals, you can create a culture where employees are intrinsically motivated to work well and spread positive word of mouth about your company.

Employee branding can help you attract more customers, investors and business partners. When employees are happy and feel like they are making a difference in their work, they are more likely to become brand advocates.

This type of public praise for your business helps build a good reputation for your brand. And if you have a great reputation among potential customers and investors, everyone benefits.

How to build your employee brand

A strong employee brand helps your company attract top talent and retain existing employees. The best employee brands, built on trust and transparency, convey what it's like to work at your company from your employees' perspective.

Below are some steps to help you build a strong employee brand:

Identify your company's core values

If you don't already have one, consider developing a set of core values that define your company's culture and identity. These should go beyond the pure pursuit of profit or customer orientation. For example: “We encourage innovation” or “We thrive in a collaborative environment”.

Define the company culture

To develop a great employee brand, you need to be able to define what makes you unique as an employer. This includes defining your company values, your mission and vision, and the overall workplace culture.

Company culture is multi-layered, ranging from your brand materials to the way you speak to your employees and customers. For example, using fun vector graphics in internal newsletters can show that your workplace is fun and creative. Eschewing pure business jargon in exchange for a more conversational tone on Slack and in emails can promote a more relaxed and pleasant company atmosphere.

Identify your target employees

To attract the most suitable talent for your company, you need to know who you want to hire and what skills they have so you can develop a strategy that appeals to them.

Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal candidate: What are they looking for in a job? What are your professional goals? Does he like working alone or in a team?

Once you figure out what type of employee you're looking for, you can tailor your marketing message to that type.

Record the employee's route

It's important to understand an employee's journey, from sales and hiring to training and performance management.

Once you have mapped out this path, you can determine exactly where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Maybe you find that an area of your business is working exceptionally well, or you discover that a new technology or process is needed.

Involve your employees

More than 45% of internal hiring comes from employee recommendations. Encourage your employees to spread the word about your company and you can cast a wider net in your hiring efforts.

5 tips for effective employer branding strategies

1.Link your employee brand with your employer brand

Employer branding is a worthwhile marketing channel, especially in times of a tight labor market and talent shortage.

If your company is an exceptional place to work, candidates will be more likely to apply to you than to a company that may not have as much to offer. When your employees are happy, they are productive, and when you hire the right people, your business will grow and prosper.

2.Focus on your current employees

According to a recent study, only 30% of companies use employer branding to promote employee retention. This is surprising because a single lost employee can cost a company 50 to 60% of its annual salary.

This is why it is so important to focus on the happiness of your current employees, as it is more expensive to hire a new employee than to retain the existing ones.

Starbucks has an account for job seekers - @starbucksjobs - where the company shows its appreciation for current employees and interacts with future employees.

If your employees agree with your employer branding strategy, ask them to share photos from their everyday work. This way, people outside your company or those interested in working for you can find out what's going on behind the scenes.

4.Don’t forget your company culture

Create an environment in which your employees enjoy working and about which they naturally only have good things to say.

Consider Google's "20 percent time" policy, which allows employees to spend 20 percent of their work time on creative side projects. This is a concrete example of a culture that promotes innovation, pride and loyalty.

5.Be consistent

Consistency is key to building an effective employee brand. Whether you distribute content internally or externally, your message should be coherent, consistent, and in line with your company culture and values.

Apple does a great job of aligning its employees' branding with its core values, especially when it comes to privacy. Apple's privacy page says: "Privacy is a fundamental human right. At Apple, it is also one of our core values. Your devices are important to so many areas of your life. What you share those experiences with, and who you share them with, should be up to you. We build Apple products to protect your privacy and give you control over your data. That's not always easy. But that's the kind of innovation we believe in.

Brian, an engineering manager at Apple, shares a similar message on the Apple careers page. He is particularly proud of his work helping Apple protect customer privacy.

As you can see, Apple's message is consistent. The company practices what it preaches, which in turn creates trust and strengthens employer branding.

Does your company have a strong employee brand?

Knowledge is power, and knowing what you already do well and where you can improve is the first step to an effective employer branding campaign. Use these three tips as a starting point to determine your company's reputation among current employees.

1.Put yourself in your employees’ shoes

It may sound simple, but it's easy to forget that your employees don't have the same perspective as you. They don't have the same history with the company and may not understand how the organization works. If you want to get a more accurate picture of your company's reputation among employees, you should try taking on a different role or position than the one you normally hold.

2.Survey your team

When you create a survey and ask your team members to fill it out, you need to make sure they are honest. Do not tie participation in the survey to a reward or punishment. Otherwise, participants may give biased answers that do not reflect their opinions. Let them know that their feedback will be kept confidential and then thank them for their participation.

3.Understand the metrics that matter

To know how your employer branding is doing, you should keep an eye on these important metrics:

Employee retention rate
Recommendation rate from current employees
Employee satisfaction rate during induction and after one year in the company

Conclusion

Employee branding means that you market your company to your employees, similar to how you would sell to your customers. It's a strategy that helps you attract and retain the best talent, increase employee satisfaction, and increase productivity.

Overall, it's a powerful tool for promoting a positive workplace culture, building a desirable employer brand, and encouraging employees to take pride in their work. And it can help you improve your company's reputation in the eyes of job seekers by highlighting your company's best qualities.

Employee branding is pivotal for attracting top talent and fostering a thriving workplace. Leverage IceHrm's tools to build a strong employer brand and empower your workforce!