Employer Branding: Why Your Company’s Reputation Matters More Than Ever

Companies want a positive reputation to attract customers and sales, but often neglect other audiences like partners, vendors, staff, and potential candidates for employment. Taking a broader view of who your audience is can open you up to a fuller picture of the value of a good reputation.

Those new grads jumping into the talent pool are using Glassdoor and Indeed to read online reviews before applying for a position (they’re also checking LinkedIn posts from CEOs, employees, and partners). Vendors are evaluating you before deciding to trust you. And investors are learning about you without you. This new reality can be daunting if you have issues. On the flip side, a positive reputation on these new platforms can be built over time and considered a valuable business asset.

What Is Employer Branding?

Employer branding is a new category of reputation management. It is the comprehensive public image you have as a company for the offered experience of being a member of the team. This public image includes the benefits package, how you do compensation, and your company culture.

We are used to thinking about consumer brand value with brand recognition, the market’s impression of your brand, and share of voice against competitors. But this is totally separate. It’s more important to consider your offer to a potential employee compared to other options. And with remote work and more people moving for work, you can’t completely determine who you are up against. But, there are tools to get oriented to where you fit in the landscape currently as a potential employer.

Why It Matters in Today’s Market

COVID changed a lot of things. Remote work became mainstream, and a lot of workers decided it is a perk they want. This “negotiation” between the labor pool and employers is still working itself out, and as a result, workers are looking for more than a foosball table. They want to know exactly what is expected, how it will be measured, and how that work aligns with their values.

Employee reviews on third-party sites are where that conversation is happening. It’s also happening on discussion sites like Reddit and on social media. Do a few searches like this one for “working at comcast reddit” and see what comes up. This is reality going forward. In today’s reality, not only are your customers doing your marketing for you (or against you) with reviews, but so are your employees.

Steel your spirit, and do a search for your brand on Glassdoor, Indeed, Reddit, and LinkedIn. Seeing your brand from the point of view of a user of these platforms will, no doubt, give you a sense of how much the flow of information has changed from just a few years ago.

How to Strengthen Your Employer Brand

Getting in front of this conversation starts by showing up. Here are the best practices you can use to establish a reputation rather than wait for others to do so.

1. Tell your culture story. First, commit to showcasing your company culture with content (including video) that you share through social channels and your website. Candidates understand no company is perfect, but if you don’t take time to tell your story, it will be told for you.

2. Get to the root of your risk. Next, encourage employees to be a part of making you better before it’s too late. Gain input through surveys, actually read the results, and commit to acting on what you learn. This is the best internal strategy you can have for a reputation problem, as it gets to the root. Just asking also demonstrates a desire to solve problems.

3. Crowdsource your vibe. Once you have a good process of feedback and improvements, double down on asking your team for help. Enlist them in the work of putting out a message. If you are creating a positive work environment, ask your people to help you attract more people like them. You don’t need them posting content for the company, but you can use things like employee spotlight content to demonstrate your company culture for job candidates to discover.

Dial It All In

Make data your friend. It’s easy to look at your staffing history and measure your retention. You may have more or less turnover than other companies in your space. What does that tell you?

You don’t have to be in HR to care about people. Read up on trends and what is changing with employment trends. Every substantial industry has its own set of publications and sources of data to help you. Just a little bit of following this topic can keep you aware of how brand image is changing recruitment marketing and will absolutely impact your ability to attract talent. Groups like Korn Ferry are active in reporting what is happening in staffing with their annual guides.

Everyone is getting better at sensing authenticity. Getting your authentic message out there is a lot of work, but it can be done. If you need help producing content, social media posts, videos, or websites to support your brand for recruiting, reach out to us.