The business “brand”

The way that people see your business from the outside is an important factor in attracting new talent. If external people have a favourable impression of your business then you are already ahead of the game when it comes to recruitment.

Presenting a positive impression of your business as a great employer is also known as building your employer brand, and it’s a key differentiator in the competitive world of recruitment. If you want the best people to join you, you’re going to have to give them good reasons to do so – and it goes beyond job titles and salaries.

A strong employer brand can significantly enhance a business’ reputation in the market. A positive employer brand will be viewed more favourably by customers, stakeholders and even investors, leading to greater opportunities across the board. Developing a strong reputation for a fair, inclusive culture which prioritises wellbeing, progression and fair compensation will also help businesses to adapt to shifting regulations, societal expectations and managing change in a positive way.

Key elements of a strong employer brand

1. Clear communication of mission, vision and values

Clarity helps candidates understand what the company stands for and how they can contribute to its success. Bringing on board people who feel naturally aligned with the purpose and values of the business is more likely to create strong engagement and better retention. When employees feel proud to be associated with a particular business or brand, their motivation and commitment will increase and you are less likely to incur high staff turnover rates, which cost a lot in terms of time, money and productivity.

2. Distinctive Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

Your employee value proposition is effectively the benefits your people get for working for you – and salary is just the beginning. A strong EVP does begin with competitive salaries well benchmarked across your sector and geographical location, but it goes much further, encompassing everything from flexibility and annual leave allowance to benefits schemes, pension contributions and learning and development opportunities.

For more information about building a strong EVP, you can jump straight to the future of recruitment article here or see other blogs from our People Directors here or here.

3. Genuine company values

Your company’s values are not just ideals plonked on a website or employee handbook. They should be genuine standards and beliefs which guide the cultural tone of your business and need to be enacted and modelled by your leadership team to have any credibility. When values are truly lived throughout an organisation, everyone at every level should know what they are and should buy into them. Building values assessments in from the initial recruitment stage is therefore a key part of strengthening the values and ensuring that everyone is aligned in living by them in both intention and action.

It’s a bit of a generalisation but younger generations entering the workplace tend to be more demanding of a company’s lived values – there is no point brandishing your environmental intentions everywhere if you’re not actually living up to them in practice. People want to work for organisations with purpose and where they can feel they are making a difference – a recent piece of research from Octopus Electric Vehicles showed that over 71% of employees value sustainability action in business and over 80% want to feel their employer is making a difference.

Finally, showing real ways you have invested in lived values as a business is a great way to show your commitment to upholding them. For example, if you say you value honesty and employee feedback, then investing in a third-party employee pulse survey platform like Wotter could be just the thing to show you really mean it.

4. Meaningful employee benefits

We mentioned employee benefits above and they do come under the overarching EVP, but are such an important part of the package that they deserve their own paragraph.

To make your employee benefits meaningful, you need to properly understand what your people actually want. There’s no point putting in concessionary gym memberships or cycle to work schemes if they’re totally impractical to redeem, or if people are struggling to pay basic bills.

In our experience, taking the time to ask your employees what they want will yield great returns, and often the benefits that mean the most aren’t always the most expensive. It’s important to manage expectations in this process of course – it’s not a shopping list of wants, and nothing asked for is guaranteed, so communication must be handled sensitively. By communicating openly and honestly with your people and demonstrating that you are listening, you are more likely to create trust and appreciation for the benefits you are able to provide which will suit their needs better.

Communicating this throughout recruitment will help communicate your brand

5. Tell people stories!

Communicating your employer brand is not always easy and it can sound disingenuous when handled by a marketing team or third party. Use real employee stories and interviews to bring the culture of your business to life – hearing from real people within the business about their experience is a fantastic way to demonstrate the value placed on individuals. This might be on the website or social media, and you can also encourage people to review your business via platforms like Glassdoor, where employees can leave honest feedback about where they work.

A word of warning – not all stories will be positive. But the way you handle the bad stuff can speak volumes in itself, so don’t shy away from it; use it to learn and become better.

A strong employer brand is not just about attracting talent, though it’s a really important element of it. It is also a strategic asset that builds engagement and performance, protects market reputation, and prepares business for future challenges. It’s therefore an essential investment for any business serious about wanting to thrive in a dynamic and shifting market.