What Is Employer Branding and Why is it Important for Your Business?

Ate a dry meal in a Michelin 3-star restaurant? Yelp it.

Had a bad Uber experience? 1-star it.

Your company is giving you a hard time? Glassdoor it to the world.

Today, there’s no running away from bad experiences. And people aren’t going to shy away from posting about it online. In fact, these bad experiences are exactly what destroys a company’s employer branding.

And when it comes to recruitment, the same stands true.

As a result, we’re seeing more and more companies continuously striving to build an exemplary employer brand to keep their competitive edge and reputation intact. So what employers initially thought was just a buzzword, turned into a crucial aspect of their strategy. In fact, 72% of HR leaders across the globe agree that their employer branding has a big influence on their recruitment.

With that being said, what exactly is employer branding? And why is it so important in recruitment?

What is Employer branding?

Simply put, employer branding is the company’s reputation as an employer in the market. It takes into account what value it adds or what it can offer its current employees and prospective candidates. When a company’s employer branding is great, it can seamlessly help in luring in and attracting the best candidates to the business. Not only that, but it also helps in retaining the company’s existing employees.
A major reason why your employer branding is super important is that it will help you stand out to top talent that is looking for jobs. So neglecting your employer branding will quickly sabotage your recruiting efforts and make it even more challenging to recruit the best talent.

Helps you retain your current employees

It goes without saying that having a strong employer brand will make your current workforce more proud of being part of your organization. Simply because a company culture that is healthy, inspiring, and encourages growth – is crucially important for employees. As a result, employees will be more engaged, motivated, and driven to unleash their full potential. In fact, they’ll be more grateful to be part of such a company. Therefore, employees will more enthusiastically and passionately talk about their work and put more effort into it.

So how can you make sure your employees are happy?

First and foremost, break all barriers of communication. Allow them to easily talk about their concerns with their managers. Give them flexible working hours so that they can better balance their professional and personal lives. This way, they’ll feel like your company values their well-being, and doesn’t want them to feel overwhelmed with stress.

Last but not least, give them the space and room to grow. Let employees know straight-up what their career path will look like, and that they have an endless array of opportunities to grow and succeed in your organization.

Increases your pool of qualified candidates

On average, a stellar employer brand could boost the number of qualified candidates in your talent pool by 50%. Essentially speaking, great candidates most likely cultivate the same philosophy and values as your company. It’s why they chose you as their employer of choice. Why? Because they resonate with your employer branding!

Even when there’s a talent crunch, your employer branding will play a big role in attracting the market’s best talent. In fact, it will be far easier for you (and less costly) to fill a vacancy. You won’t even have to put a strain on your budget to promote your jobs on job boards or on your career page. Why? Because top talent will find you, be intrigued by your company, and apply to your jobs organically. You no longer need to do the chasing.

What’s more, when prospective candidates get a good grasp of your employer branding, they’ll show more interest when a recruiter reaches out to them. They won’t be hesitant or worried about applying for the job. They would have done their research and seen what a great employer brand you have. Which means, they’ll feel more confident in their decision to apply. As a result, this can incredibly reduce time-to-fill and time-to-hire, which are two important KPIs that boost your talent acquisition strategy.

This is exactly why employer branding is super important for your business! It can wonderfully improve the candidate experience and turn passive candidates into great new hires, fast.

Employer branding is crucial for recognition

You know it, we know it – great employer branding allows you to get the recognition you need to enhance your brand awareness

Let’s look at this from a different angle.

Graduates and Gen Z candidates are slowly saturating the workforce. We’re seeing more and more of these young candidates striving to work in powerful companies with outstanding work environments and huge reputations. They even ask around and do their homework prior to applying to any company. They know what they want, and they won’t settle for any less. So any negative word-of-mouth or a tarnished employer brand will instantly repel these candidates – and many others – away.

Luckily, there are advanced hiring platforms out there that can help you appeal to top talent with ease. First and foremost, a hiring platform allows you to build a modern and branded career page. This career page does it all – it helps candidates better understand your business, get a behind-the-scenes look, and get a good gist of your employer branding. And the best part? You don’t need to spend big bucks, hire a bunch of developers or blow your recruitment budget. You can do it all on your own and with a few clicks and drag-and-drops.

You can add compelling team testimonials, pictures and videos of your company, perks and benefits, your open vacancies, and so much more. Not only that, but you can also fully customize it with the colors and theme that match your employer branding. This way, your career page will give Gen Z candidates the information and insights they need to determine whether or not they’ll blend in or belong in your company.

Reputation carries more weight than money

Let’s be honest here – reputation is everything when it comes to luring in top talent. The same way your financial performance and social responsibility play a critical role in how prospective candidates see you, your reputation as an employer is no different. These are crucial drivers to attracting top talent. On the bright side, when you have a great employer brand, it helps you build and also protect your reputation with ease.

So if your hiring process is super long, your recruiters are rude, and if candidates are always left in the dark – you can bet your bottom dollar that your reputation as an employer will be impaired. Especially if the candidate experience isn’t doing your hiring process any justice. Think of it this way, if you don’t treat candidates with respect, or let alone value their time and effort, they’ll instantly speak negatively about your company. Which all too often can destroy a company’s reputation, especially when hundreds of other candidates feel the same way.

Our pro tip? Don’t ignore your employer branding, particularly within the hiring process. Make sure you’re leveraging the right technology like a hiring platform to outshine competitors, build a great candidate experience, sail through recruitment fast, and simultaneously boost your reputation in the market.

Before you go

There you have it. Your employer branding is proven to make a monumental difference to your business’s ability to attract top talent. Gone are the days of slapping a logo on your product and putting up a huge billboard and calling it “employer branding”. These things will no longer cut it. You need to have an HR department and hiring process that also reflects your employer branding in the best way possible.
Not sure how to get started? We got you covered.

EVA-REC is a multi-award-winning hiring platform that helps small businesses to corporate giants build skillful workforces and hire top talent at scale. It makes it far easier for recruiters to find, attract, and hire the right people, every time. With world-class integrations and AI features, EVA-REC creates a rich and immersive hiring experience for HR teams and candidates alike.

Want to see EVA-REC in action? Claim your free demo today!

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