Understanding Employer Branding

An employer brand is a company’s reputation as an employer. It is how people perceive a company in terms of its values and work environment. Employer branding is how the company markets the employer brand – its values, culture, and work environment among current as well as potential employees.

Why is employer branding important?

1. It maintains the company’s reputation:

An organization’s employer brand is one of its most valuable assets. It helps you control the perceptions of your company. A strong employer brand can work wonders for recruitment as well and it also helps significantly cut down on attrition. This contributes towards a positive reputation for your company as an employer. It also helps you tide over some negative PR.

2. It demonstrates the culture of the organization

The culture of the workplace (how your employees think, feel, and act) has a strong influence on the company’s employer brand and vice versa. Employer brand when aligned with your company culture, helps your employees – both present and future, to get a clear view of the company culture. With a positive employer brand, you can attract the right talent that’s also culture fit.

3. Job-seekers perceive your organization positively

Your employer brand is what makes you an employer of choice, as it directly impacts the rational decision of a potential candidate to apply for a job and pursue a career with your organization. A positive employer brand can be so powerful that even without having first-hand experience about the organization, candidates mentally form pre-employment expectations, beliefs, ambitions, and obligations (anticipatory psychological contracts -APC).

4. Attracts top talent

Actively creating and nurturing your company’s reputation as a great place to work at, is key to attracting the top talent. Boosting your employer branding efforts can have an immediate positive impact on attracting quality candidates – who wouldn’t want to work in a company that has a great reputation as an employer?

5. Gets an increasing number of suitable applicants

As your employer brand grows, it attracts more of the top talent and improves inbound applications. These potential candidates strengthen your talent pool, thus reducing your recruitment costs. Employer branding gives you a competitive advantage when it comes to hiring. Top candidates seek more than just an attractive salary. They seek job security, development opportunities, better teams, good company values, a positive working environment among other things. If your company has these qualities you will be able to leverage these benefits and hire at highly competitive compensations.

6. Helps hire at competitive compensation

Employer branding gives you a competitive advantage when it comes to hiring. Top candidates seek more than just an attractive salary. They seek job security, development opportunities, better teams, good company values, a positive working environment among other things. If your company has these qualities you will be able to leverage these benefits and hire at highly competitive compensations.

7. Reduces time to hire

Several studies across the globe have shown that companies that invest in employer branding fill vacancies up to 2 times faster. The positive employer brand attracts a larger and better talent pool from which to fill vacancies. This translates to lesser time selling your company and more time finalizing talented candidates.

8. Improves retention

According to a popular study, companies that invest in employer branding experience a 28% decrease in staff turnover. A good employer brand will help you to create a bond with prospective employees before and during the recruitment process. This will lead your new hires to have a high level of engagement with the company. More engaged employees means higher productivity, better company morale, and lower turnover for your company.