Employer Branding Explained

By October 7, 2014Brand Tips

Employer Branding Explained

Employer Branding is vital to the success of every business – you need to create a brand story and a branded culture that engages your market, as well as attracting outstanding employment candidates that will make your brand even more outstanding.

What is Employer Branding?

Employer Branding is the process of building a perception of your brand as an attractive place to work, because it has something to offer employees. It’s how your business communicates and lives its true purpose in a way that inspires, motivates and mobilises its staff internally. How do you treat your work team? Are they connected to you for the same reasons that your market is? More importantly, are your employees connected to your business because it stands for something that connects to their desires, inspires their passions and feeds their energy?

How to be a good Employer Brand

A good Employer Brand is just as much about how the people within the organisation feel about the business, as it is about how your markets see your business. If you are a good Employer Brand, you will attract good people into your business team – imagine candidates lobbying to work with you, even if you are not advertising.

Take a moment to ask yourself; if someone is looking at your business as a potential opportunity for employment, is your brand sending them the right signals? You might be a very renowned and successful business, but if your visual environment, social media identity or web presence is conservative and dull, your Employer Brand isn’t as sharp as it could be, and could be harming your potential to engage with great employees. Have a look at your business card right now – what is it really communicating about you, your business and your culture? Would someone who is excellent at what they do want to see their name on your business card design?

Employer Branding Explained

It’s important to realise that people will make a judgement on the way you look externally; regardless of how pre-eminent, successful or capable your business is technically. This provides an opportunity to do more than just build and deliver a brand story, strategy and brand promise that connects to your various marketplaces. To make your brand the best it can be, you need to connect to both your current and potential employees.

If you look at companies like Google, Mattel and Apple, they are continuously attracting attention as some of the most attractive employers because they all focus on doing more than others in their field. They all give something to employees that they value beyond a salary – whether it be Google’s sleep pods and pool tables; Mattel’s paid leave for parents with children on field trips; or Apple’s internal education program – these companies provide experiences, memories and opportunities beyond work KPIs and duty statements.

If you want the best people, your Employer Brand must give current and potential employees something that speaks to their desires as an individual and a professional. Will working with you help others grow their CV, expand their experience, and give value to their future? Will it make them more than they were before they joined you?

About Jack Perlinski

Jack is the Director and Owner of DAIS – a dynamic business focused on ‘elevating brands’. With a career spanning over 35 years, Jack is passionate about brand and his folio of brand success stories evidences his skill as a branding entrepreneur.