Employer Branding for SMEs

Do you know what your organisation’s reputation is as an employer?  Have you thought about how you can manage and influence your reputation as an employer among job seekers, employees and key stakeholders?  Employer branding encompasses everything you do to position your company as an employer of choice.

Why is this important?

75% of candidates when researching your company will check your reputation and 77% of candidates will want to understand your culture and values before they even think about applying to you. 

What does it include?

Your employer branding covers a wide range of different areas including compensation, culture, the work environment, job security and career opportunities as well as employee insights.  So how can you showcase this for candidates applying to your organisation?

There are three quick wins that are easy to implement to improve your employer branding.

1.      Improve your on-line presence and your company profile

Candidates will research your organisation at some point in the recruitment process therefore your messages need to be as clear and positive as they can be.  Make sure you show the history and vision of the company and show what problems your company solves.  Use social media and your website to showcase your work environment and culture.

2.      Improve your online reviews

The main places for candidates to see your online reviews is via Indeed and Glassdoor.  Make sure you are addressing all your reviews, positive and negative.  Take a positive viewpoint that will diminish the feedback and show that you care.  Rate any reviews as either helpful or unhelpful as this affects the positioning of the reviews.

3.      Look at your social media strategy

This is a longer-term strategy with the one objective of why this is a great place to work at.  Think what platforms you are using for different demographics of candidates.  The things in 2024 which are most important to candidates include seeing your diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, what digital innovation you are using and showcasing your people and culture. 

Action points for you:

Considering this information as a business owner/hiring manager you may want to:

• Review your website and social media in line with your employer branding objectives.  Consider what you can post in the longer term as well as on a weekly basis.
• Look at your recruitment process and the candidate experience – what can you do to make candidates feel that they have missed a great opportunity, rather than dodged a bullet.  Think about timeliness, communication and doing what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it.
• Spend some time looking at your reviews (refer to the last edition of this newsletter for more action points in this area.
• Ask people within your teams what information they want to share and how to share it.  If some departments are regularly getting together outside work, or you run regular activities for the teams, then make sure you are writing about it and posting.
• Run an employee engagement survey to find out exactly what your teams think of working with you and address any areas and themes that are uncovered.

If you want help to reduce the time that you spend on recruitment as well as optimise your hiring processes and attract the best candidates book a free strategy session with me, Caroline Hunt at Emerald Starfish HERE.