Grab and recruit talent through employer branding

Why be an employer of choice – what are the benefits to your business?

The war on talent is not new. In fact, I wrote about it roughly 2 years back! With Brexit and the ever developing and evolving technical roles, it is no wonder employers are battling to win over skilled individuals from a small pool of candidates, and convince them to join their organisation.

The tables have turned. With there being less skilled individuals than there are available jobs, candidates have significant power in the recruitment process. With an emphasis on work life balance, greater career prospects and working for a company with a conscience, individuals are choosing the best employers to dedicate their highly sort after expertise to.

Organisations have to do more. Relying on out of date recruitment and retention methodologies will result in an ever growing skills gap.  To survive, organisations need to provide an experience to individuals which will inspire, excite, challenge, retain, reward and grow them. To do this, businesses have to re-evaluate their organisational culture and consider ways of creating this point of differentiation to become the employer of choice.

The knock on effect of a loyal workforce can be felt for the long-term; from increased morale across the business, to enhanced team-working, improved communications, enhanced customer service, increased productivity and better, easier recruitment (people love to shout about a great place to work)– all supporting growth for years to come.

Positioning your employee brand

It’s crucial to understand where your brand is currently and what needs to change to position yourself as the employer brand of choice. Thinking about how you wish to be perceived by potential candidates and what experience you wish to deliver to current employees is an essential first step?

Improving your employer brand is not just about improving your website and holding employee open days. There are more fundamental activities and behaviours that need to be considered and embedded over the long-term that are appealing and attractive to existing and new recruits. These aspects need to join together holistically to create an engaging and supportive employee environment.

Consider the following:

Create a positive recruitment experience

Think about your recruitment strategy, so before you even advertise a role, what does the business need from candidates and where and how will they fit in and be supported?

Take on board feedback from both successful and unsuccessful candidates and ensure that your selection process is engaging, thorough and fit for purpose. Take ownership of your recruitment, bring it in house if you can and don’t rely on agencies alone!

Put organisation values at the heart of your offering

Candidates are becoming increasingly attracted by an organisation’s culture and values, so ensuring that your values are clearly communicated and shown to be at the centre of your employee and customer experience will likely reap benefits.

Encourage positive team relationships

We all spend so much time at our work that getting on with our peers can have a massive impact on our daily role. In a business that has a defined employee culture, then the cultural fit is more likely to be right, and employees more supportive of each other.

This includes working relations between leaders and senior management and their teams. People often say, they leave a bad boss they don’t leave the business!

Get employees involved

Encourage your people to make suggestions, think up new products or service innovations, serve on employee committees, plan events and shape work processes and attend appropriate meetings.

Enable and empower employees

By giving employees the tools and ability to make decisions and take responsibility,  they are then more likely to make better choices, progress in their role and gain a better understanding of the company’s goals and plans.

Show commitment

Just as business owners expect commitment form their employees, it’s just as important to show your commitment to them. Commitment is a two-way street.

Your commitment can show in many different forms, from the ‘free-perks’ you provide to employees, to the events, bonuses and Christmas party, through to the training and educational support you provide, along with a career development program.

Commitment is made up of a multitude of actions and activities and can greatly influence employee’s motivation and loyalty.

Show job security

Whilst employment is currently at a high, in the not too distant past many companies had to make redundancies (some still do) on a large scale or on a yearly basis. A job is no longer for life, and many have gone through the redundancy process.

Feeling secure in a role is of great importance to employees, and if they have an understanding that as an employer you are financially stable and focused on growth, then it provides reassurance and eliminates any potential unrest over job security.

Support career growth opportunities

Career development and growth opportunities matter to candidates and employees alike. It doesn’t always have to be a training course to develop employees. Consider opportunities for cross-function working, working on special projects, short or longer-term secondments and internal mentoring schemes.

Employees like to have the option and tools to continue to develop their skills and careers. You can further support this through performance development planning, career paths, and internal and external training opportunities.

Show and encourage recognition

Employers of choice provide feedback to employees about their performance, growth prospects, accomplishments, and areas in need of improvement – regularly. One of the most powerful forms of feedback is employee recognition. For an employer of choice, recognition is regular, targeted to real successes, and used to reinforce positive, desired behaviour.

Review your remuneration package

Whilst it’s not all about the salary (as we can see above) the remuneration package you offer will impact employees decisions, both new candidates coming into your business, and your employees who have been with you long-term and have shown progression.

Your external persona

In a world of reviews and ratings, it’s also important to remember that as much as businesses may use social media to view prospective candidates, with sites such as Glassdoor, candidates can also view a business and read reviews, and one negative review can influence their decision to apply for a role with you. Through social media it is much easier now for anyone to gain an insight into a business, the people who work there and any reviews or feedback. So consider your external position and look to manage this effectively.

A work/life balance

Businesses are increasingly looking at ways to help promote a better work/life balance for employees. The modern day family life is very different to that 50 years ago, combined with technological advances, increased commutes and the fact that both parents generally work, means a more flexible approach to daily work is a high priority on many employees’ lists.

But if you are promoting empowerment and showing recognition and encouraging career development as in our list above, then employees will give their most to their role, whether that be working from home, or starting at 10am and finishing later, they will want to do their best for your business in their working day.

But how to get started?

This may seem like a lot to get in place or think about implementing in your business. But defining your company as the employee of choice is a business commitment for the long-term, and requires buy-in from your leadership team.

At Think Forward we support your aspirations by working closely with you and your team to define the pillars of your employee culture based on your business growth goals. We help define a programme of development and implementation specific to your business. Our experience as business psychologists and executive coaches, combined with using the Lumina suite of psychometric tools, will help identify where the focus should be for improvement.

Employers of choice attract and retain the best talent. Becoming an employer of choice is not an easy task and in today’s climate not an option you can ignore. It also won’t happen overnight. For support in getting started, get in touch for a free consultation.