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Employer Branding: What It Is and Why It’s Important

Over 50% of recruitment leaders are investing in employer branding. What’s the appeal, and how can it benefit your business? In the latest blog post from PCRecruiter, we explore the importance of employer branding and how it can make your hiring more effective, and benefit your bottom line. 

An image of a woman happy about her employer brandingWhatever business you’re in, your brand is your reputation – not just to your customers or clients, investors and other stakeholders, but to the people who make up your organization. Without them, there is no business.

That’s why getting the right talent through the door to fill the right roles in your organization is so vital for your business success. After all, you don’t want to waste time and money on acquiring and onboarding the wrong people for your organization.

However, in a competitive job market where you need to be quick on the hire to secure the best people for your business, attracting the right talent is easier said than done. That’s where employer branding can help. In this blog post, we explore the importance of employer branding and how it can make a difference to the effectiveness of your hiring process.

What is employer branding?

Employer branding is the perception of your business amongst your prospective workforce and your current employees.

Like your business brand, which defines your value proposition of your products or services within a particular market, your employer brand defines your value proposition as a place to work, develop a career, and grow as a person within the employment market.

Your employer brand embodies the essence of your enterprise, representing your people, policies, and values. In the same way that a consumer brand is designed to create attract customers, create familiarity, earn trust, and build loyalty, your employer brand is more than just your approach to managing people and business, it runs much deeper. Employer branding helps define and communicate your organization’s unique cultural and ethical standpoint, as reflected by your employees and your business actions.

Whether you’re looking to hire a part-time cleaner, or an experienced CEO, it may seem counterintuitive to focus on your offering, rather than theirs. But those prospective hires not only need to know that their skills, experience, and talent are a good fit for the role and your business, but also what they’re getting in exchange by becoming an employee.

Why is employer branding important?

Your employer brand is important because it helps to communicate what kind of employment experience you offer prospective candidates, what kind of experience they can expect when they come to work for you, and why they should consider working for you in the long term.

Effective employer branding communicates a positive message about working for your organization, encourages engagement, and creates a buzz around your company as a desirable place to work. Think of it as marketing for your role as an employer to existing and future employees.

If that sounds like an additional layer of complication over what your HR department or recruitment team does, it’s worth remembering that you already have an employer brand. It’s up to you to shape perceptions and the way it works best for your hiring efforts.

A recent study by LinkedIn revealed that the number one obstacle for candidates looking for a job is not knowing what it’s like to work at the company. So guess what 75% of those candidates look for before they put in an application? Employer brands. 

How can employer branding benefit your business?

The bottom line of effective employer branding is that it boosts your bottom line. So let’s dive a little deeper into that.

First impressions count. So getting employer branding right brings the right candidates knocking on the door, and if you’ve been actively pursuing the right hire, it welcomes them inside. That’s important because candidates have a world of openings to choose from.

To make your organization stand out in a competitive market, you need to make your offering more appealing to them. With over 50% of recruitment leaders investing in and deploying a proactive employer branding strategy, the competition for the best candidates is heating up. Standing by and doing nothing isn’t an option unless you want to get lost in the pack.

By more closely aligning your employer brand with prospective hires, it can significantly boost your recruitment efforts. LinkedIn’s study revealed that an effective employer brand results in:

  • 28% reduction in turnover
  • 50% more qualified candidates
  • 50% reduction in your cost per hire
  • 1-2 times faster hires.

There’s also a positive impact on engagement and retention. An effective employer brand makes it easier for recruiters to introduce your organization to prospects. And it’s only as good as the people that work for you. In fact, it’s the message that they put out about your organization that does the most employer branding work for you.

With the right organizational culture in place, you can begin to grow that positive messaging and become a trusted employer, someone that people enjoy working for, and one that they’re happy to champion to others.

How the right recruitment software can help

The right CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE won’t do your employer branding for you, but it can be a valuable tool for delivering the right message at the right time to prospective candidates.

Communication is a key to acquiring the right talent. You need to ensure a cohesive experience of your employer brand at every touchpoint of the hiring process, and you also need clear oversight and control over the entire recruitment process.

PCRecruiter provides scalable CRM and ATS functionality with a host of features designed to make communication with candidates quicker and easier, from seamless integrations for SMS and Email campaigns to automations for identifying the best candidates.

See what PCRecruiter can do for your recruitment.

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