Employer Branding and Talent Attraction in a Post-COVID World

Employer Branding can be termed as the identity of a business or enterprise. It is also defined as “The package of functional, economical and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified by the employing company.” A strong employer brand is necessary if you want top-of-the-drawer talent and repeat customers.

The employment landscape has changed, with employees looking beyond just getting a job.

They now want to be associated with employers that have a specific culture and associations in the world. This means employers have to now market themselves as viable options where people can build a rewarding career.

According to a 2018 survey by Randstad US, 86% of job seekers said they wouldn’t apply or work for a company with a bad employer reputation. 65% said they would leave an employer being negatively portrayed in the public or social media.

An overall brand presence is necessary for a business to exist in the competitive world today to attract and retain talent. And with the pandemic seeming to nearing its end with the introduction of vaccines and enterprises anticipating a surge in talent recruitment, they need differentiated branding for businesses, especially if they want to draw the best talent.

Employee Value Proposition or EVP

One of the ways to add to one’s stature in the market is through a solid employee value proposition (EVP). The EVP refers to the experience of employees at an organization, which includes rewards and growth prospects offered to attract and retain them. In short, it is the reason for employees to come and work at a place.

Leveraging Social Media and employee ambassadors

Much like other branding, creating a strong employer brand is all about creating a presence in the marketplace. The brand needs to be associated with a certain messaging and perception. One crucial vehicle in building up a valuable presence is social media. Leverage happy employees to become brand advocates of your brand on social media. Create a positive buzz around the company name using the various platforms and communication channels available.

Google is a perfect example of the creation of a buzz around its name and holding a prestigious standing among future employees. Its employees are the best ambassadors of the work culture at the tech behemoth.

It receives millions of high-quality applicants each year, of which just 0.2% make the cut. Starbucks uses social media for advertising its commitment to diversity and its open work culture. When the best talent competes to work at your organization then your recruitment costs go down and added to that are the benefits of reputation.

Crisis Management

The virus has served as a great opportunity to build a trusted brand. Companies that have resisted furloughing their employee or cutting jobs have definitely acquired added value to their brands. Trust and stability are both crucial needs in these troubled times.

Organization Purpose

A solid organizational purpose can make or break an employer brand. All employees should be aware of what their organization stands for. A survey found that only 4 out of 10 employees were aware of their company’s values and what it stood for. This disconnect from an organization’s purpose has direct consequences for employees’ everyday work.

Companies can leverage purpose and values in both their internal and external communications such as newsletters, internal emails, routine interactions with the outside world in the form of events and PR exercises, and job ads. Gallup helps clients to craft job ads to be used as strategic tools to help attract high-caliber candidates.

Decision making

The values should percolate down the decision-making chain. When company values are clear, managers have a framework with which to make every decision. This affects how they lead their teams, and decisions are easier to make as they have certain values to uphold.

Make employee needs central to values:

Now more than ever employee needs have to be put centre stage. Health and safety are primary concerns, along with a flexible approach to work and compensation. Leadership teams in a company need to show that they prioritize employee needs in their decision-making.

This, in turn, translates to attracting top talent who want to deliver for the brand and its customers.

When employers and employee align on purpose, it helps develop and propagate company values, which in the long run helps build the company brand, promotes productivity and efficiency, and overall profitability.

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