Reap What You Sow with Employer Branding

Reap What You Sow with Employer Branding

Published on: January 18, 2017

For better or for worse, your employer brand is how you are perceived as a place of work—whether by your employees, applicants, leaders or customers. While there are prescribed steps to building a perception that is both attractive and consistent, it is really still up to you to carve out what it means to be a great place of work.

While there are prescribed steps to building a perception that is both attractive and consistent, it is really still up to you to carve out what it means to be a great place of work.

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Here are some ways to ensure that your first steps become strides of achievement as you embark on your employer branding journey:

1. Start with Social

We often say that social media is now a channel we want to prioritize when it comes to reaching our applicants. From posting more job ads on LinkedIn to creating specialized groups on Facebook, indeed there are so many ways to promote your company on platforms that are easily accessible to everyone. As more HR professionals wear their creative hats to do this, the greater the need for intention on social media. Just before you post, ask yourself some questions.

Which talents will find my posts useful? Am I posting on the right platform?
Will my post generate more interest in my company or will this post be ignored like the rest?
What are my objectives for using social media? Does this post meet the objectives or am I just following the trend?

2. Own the Employee Experience

If you interview your employees today, what positive things would they be able to say about your company? In conferences where I am asked to speak, I often use the image of a roller coaster to describe what it means to own the employee experience. Though a roller coaster ride only takes 2-3 minutes, you know exactly what you're going to get. A loop, a fast turn or a high drop that makes everyone scream with excitement causes long lines as far as the eye can see. The design of your HR programs and the employee lifecycle as a whole must also have this kind of deliberate design. A design that knows exactly what response will be elicited from your employees, who after all, are your brand's greatest ambassadors. Just before you sign off on your new employee engagement initiative, ask yourself some questions.

What reaction will this activity generate from the team?
Does this activity reinforce what we offer as an employer? (e.g. If we claim that we offer learning and growth opportunities, does this activity support that claim?)
Are there other individuals from other functions or teams that can make this project better?

3. Work with Metrics

More than lack of budget, a big reason why employer branding projects fail is due to the lack of metrics. Often times, we run a project for project's sake without devoting effort into identifying our measures for success. Without it, the difficulty of justifying future activities is set into motion which also leads to the HR function being perceived as a cost center. We need to work with metrics and the right ones at that. Just before you approve your team's next brilliant project, ask yourself some questions.

How will I know that this project is successful? What do I need to track from the very start? (e.g.
Number of hires, Assessment scores, Number of referrals, etc.)
What resources do I need to track my metrics? Can I use any technologies to make tracking more efficient?
Who will benefit from seeing these numbers? Are they in the best position to support my current and future projects?

You may have noticed I used the word SOW to represent the three ways I highlighted above. This is by intention as I believe that you truly reap what you SOW with your own employer brand. Here's to creating memorable employee experiences and a great place of work!