When you posted that job listing, you were sure you’d have to fight off prospective employees. It’s an attractive job in a big Texas market — or so you thought. You certainly were not expecting crickets in your inbox.
Your competitor had 5,000 applications for a comparable job. So what happened? All signs point toward an employer brand failure.
This is what happens when you forget to impress job seekers as much as they seek to impress you.
Most Austin and San Antonio candidates are researching your company’s reputation before they even decide to apply for the job opportunity. And if you’re not meeting them where they are — job sites, social media, review sites — and giving them reasons they should want to join your company, you’re putting your company in a lose-lose position.
In fact, studies show that 34 percent of candidates are checking your brand’s reputation on LinkedIn, 30 percent on Facebook, and 15 percent on Twitter.
And nearly 70 percent of job seekers would flat-out reject an offer with your firm if the branding were bad or nonexistent.
Finding top talent is the key to your company’s success — both productivity and profitability-wise — so it is critical that your branding is attracting the right candidates and enticing them to flood your inbox with resumes.
Go Where Your Future Employees Are
The first step to creating a killer employer brand is to know your company’s values and a clear profile of your ideal employee.
Where does this ideal employee like to hang out? Where do they look for news in your industry? Where can you sprinkle information every so often to pique their interest, even when they’re not looking for a job?
Some companies might be looking for seasoned talent that tends to gather around the LinkedIn water cooler, others might be looking for Gen Z go-getters that are enjoying TikTok.
Once you find where your potential employees are hanging out, you can start to come up with a content calendar that will bring your employer brand to the forefront — specifically, quality content that is authentic and speaks directly to the excellent workplace culture you’ve created.
Keep in mind that 65 percent of companies were able to boost their brand recognition from positive things their own employees posted on social media.
Outside of social media, check your reputation on Glassdoor and Indeed to find your ideal employees who are already looking for jobs. Austin’s own BuiltIn is popular with tech-based talent and companies. On sites such as Comparably, you can see how your company ranks against competitors and how your branding is holding up.
Create Video Testimonials
The easiest way to change minds about your employer brand is to present it in video. People are twice as likely to share videos over any other content.
And if your video answers the “What’s in it for me?” question by providing testimonials from real employees, even better.
Forty-one percent of candidates are looking for this connection between employer brand and actual employee experience. Why do people choose to work for your company, and what motivates them to stay?
By showing them exactly what it’s like to work with you, you are both attracting and repelling — appealing to the ideal candidate and sending away those who might not be a good fit.
Ask your employees to volunteer for such a video by offering extra free time or a small gift as an incentive. And give them a list of prompts beforehand so they can be prepared. Try to make the atmosphere low-pressure and relaxed.
Consider asking your employees to send in testimonials they record at home, especially if they’re working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Getting an Edge on Your Competition
The easiest way to see how your employer brand is coming across is to take a hard look at your competition. Here are a few ways you can compare, contrast and make your company stand out.
Create a Process for Employee Reviews
Did you know that 55 percent of job candidates abandon the application process once they read a bad review about a company?
Going forward, employer review sites are only going to become more plentiful. Research shows that Millennials are 2.5 times more likely than Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers to share their opinions about their employers online.
And what’s worse is that only 45 percent of employers monitor and respond to reviews such as the ones on Glassdoor.
The good news is that you can easily take control of your company’s reputation on review sites by doing three things.
Alloy is a culture & employer branding agency that evaluates, aligns, and syncs your three critical pillars of business to powerfully impact the bottom line.
