With the competition for top talent intensifying, employment branding is increasingly important for today’s organizations. But unless you’re an employment brand expert, it’s all too easy to make a mistake when building and maintaining an employment brand.
These mistakes can unfortunately diminish the value and benefits of your employment brand, which isn’t good news for your recruiting results.
Thankfully, by understanding which employment branding mistakes companies often make, you can help your organization avoid making the same missteps. Here are some of the most common employment branding mistakes and how you can avoid them:
If you’re trying to attract and hire every job seeker out there, you are doing your recruiting and company a disservice. When employers try to be all things to all people, they end up hiring candidates who are less likely to fit the company culture. These poor-fit employees often become quickly disengaged at work and inevitably contribute to higher turnover rates. To attract candidates who will stay and excel, organizations must be honest and transparent about who they are. Ask yourself these questions, and you’ll be on your way to defining your unique employment brand:
Your ideal job seekers are looking for employment opportunities that speak directly to them and meet their specific needs. If your employment brand doesn’t resonate with them, they will search for other companies that seem more appealing and fitting. Take time to research and understand your target audience so that you can identify how to best communicate with them in a meaningful way. For instance, if your ideal candidates are nurses who value health and wellness, emphasize your health benefits on your career site. Strategically communicating your employment brand will incite your target candidates to apply.
If your career site and jobs aren’t front and center during a candidate’s job search, you’ll get buried underneath thousands of other employers competing for that same talent. While making your career site appear as the first option in search engines is a challenge, leveraging SEO best practices can certainly boost its online visibility. This will enable more job seekers to discover your career site and engage with your employment brand during their job search, increasing the likelihood that they will apply to your jobs. For more information and tips, read 10 Great SEO Tips Direct From Google.
Candidates are looking for more than a job, they’re looking for a work environment and culture in which they can thrive. If your career site doesn’t offer these details and only highlights your job postings, your candidates are less likely to feel a connection to your company and may look elsewhere for employment. So share engaging videos or photos of your workplace to let your candidates experience a day-in-the-life at your company, and highlight your company culture. By showcasing your employment brand along with your jobs, you can compel more candidates to work for your organization. Afterall, you want to hire long-term employees who are committed to the company and mission—not just a particular job.
Although your career site is one of the best places to showcase your employment brand, it’s not the only place that matters. Your employment brand is what your organization stands for and what it’s like work there, so it should be evident throughout every step of your recruiting process and within your workplace. If it isn’t, your candidates may quickly forget why they were drawn to your company in the first place and lose interest in accepting your job offers. So stay true to your employment brand during interviews, within emails to applicants, and when sourcing candidates online. This way, you can maintain your candidates’ interest and motivate them to favor you over other potential employers.
Whether your organization has already defined its employment brand or is considering doing so, keep these common mistakes in mind as you move forward. Doing so will help you avoid taking steps in the wrong direction, which will allow your employment brand to remain strong and effective. In return, your employment brand will more successfully attract the right talent to your organization.
