Employer branding goes beyond sharing your company story. It's about shining a light on the workplace and how employees engage with your business daily. The steps below will empower you to launch a new employer branding strategy or boost your current strategy.
10 best practices for building an employer brand strategy
1. Define your hiring goals (e.g., get more job applicants, online engagement, or build brand awareness).
2. Perform an employer brand audit to see what current employees and candidates think of it: what words do they associate with your brand?
3. Create an employee value proposition based on what people love about your company (e.g., pay, benefits, training, and career development opportunities).
4. Write your employer value proposition covering the values and benefits you offer (with the help of HR and recruiters).
5. Use tech tools to prevent bottlenecks in the hiring process and provide a consistent experience for candidates.
6. Develop DE&I initiatives to show your commitment to cultivating a diverse workplace.
7. Build an ideal candidate persona to understand who will fit into your company's culture.
8. Select the channels to promote your employer brand based on where potential candidates visit frequently (e.g., LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, and Tiktok).
9. Establish overall metrics and metrics per channel to gauge whether your employer branding is resonating with your target audience -- top candidates!
10. With the information gathered, determine what works, and what doesn't. Use data to make smart decisions about new channels and messaging to continue testing.
Bonus: Use tech tools to implement and expand your employer branding tactics. For instance, Fetcher's automated candidate sourcing tool can help you build awareness with diverse, top talent faster. In fact, that’s how Foursquare expanded its talent pool.
Examples of employee branding in action
Employee branding comes with impressive advantages. But how do companies breathe life into their employer brand strategy?
It starts with seeing what works. Plenty of companies post employer brand content on social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Below, check out creative ways companies have used social media to build their employer brand.
1. Show off your company's culture
Your company culture is unique to you, so why not show it off? Zappos does an excellent job showcasing its strong values about parental leave through the employees' eyes.
And HubSpot takes it further by sending a cute and clever welcome pack for employees' newborns.
The takeaway: Be authentic. It's the only way to create a truly empathetic work culture that emanates across in-house and remote teams (and social media). And if you can get workers to speak from their experience — even better.
2. Show your team IRL
With more companies working remotely, the odds of teams meeting in real life are slim. But Zapier, a remote company, takes special care to create moments to meet in the real world.
They host an annual retreat for employees (and anyone else who wants to join) and this was day one:
The takeaway: Be human. Employees are more than just workers—they're people with their own personalities and interests. Taking time to get to know them outside of work builds unbreakable bonds (and it shows).
3. Recognize employees
Rewarding top-performing employees is a common way for managers to show their appreciation for team members. This is what Zappos does for its team on its designated Twitter account, @ZapposCulture. Rounds of applause and pats on the back (especially if they are public) are motivating to current team members. On top of that, they also let candidates know your company is committed to individual recognition and celebrations.
The takeaway: Show gratitude. Your employees will love it, and candidates will see how much you care. Take the time to share wins (no matter how small) publicly.
4. Instill diversity in the workplace
Microsoft has a profile on Instagram called "Microsoft Life," where they share what it's like to work there. And as part of this initiative, they're intentional with sharing stories from diverse communities in its workplace.
Here's an example:
The takeaway: Be diverse. Not just in your hiring practices, but in how you present your company to the world. Give all employees a voice in your organization, and they'll use it for the greater good.
5. Use social proof from employees
Foundation is a marketing agency that takes pride in its team culture. When a new member joins the company, they create cool social media templates for new Foundationites to share as an announcement of their transition:
The takeaway: Lead by example and encourage your team to share positive moments. When employees see their employer posting about real experiences and company culture, they'll be empowered to do the same. It'll show on their social media pages, which will expand your employer brand's reach to potential candidates. If you can emphasize the amazing hiring and onboarding experiences, and day-to-day management of your teams, even better!
Have an example of an employer branding campaign or strategy that worked? We'd love to hear about it at hello@fetcher.ai!
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