Using Employment Branding to Attract Talent (And The Brands Who Did It Best)
You have a company that your employees love to work at. You offer a competitive rewards package. You support employees’ wellbeing. But that alone doesn’t mean you are going to attract the best talent.
The battle for the attention of the best candidates is a marketing challenge much like any other, but is one that is more likely to be neglected by employers.
Branding doesn’t just mean appealing to customers. It means appealing to the people that are going to run your business, develop your product, and interact with your customers. A business is only as good as the people that work there, which is why building your employer brand is so important.
In this article we will explain the basic principles of employment branding. Then we will show off some of the brands that are doing an outstanding job or appealing to the best talent.
If they can do it, you can too.
How to Build an Employer Brand
1. Decide on your key messages and create employer branding guidelines.
Before you assign your marketing department with a mission for a talent branding overhaul, know what your biggest selling point as an employer is and how to convey that message. If you could say just one thing about working for your company that would make application numbers go through the roof, what would it be? That message is the start of the framework that is your branding guidelines.
2. Relay your employer message everywhere online: your website, jobsites, and social media.
If you have a well presented landing page for careers, candidates will feel increased confidence to apply. Use Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn to tell the world how much you value your employers and are excited to work with new talent. The newest working generations are using social media to find jobs, so that’s where you need to be.
You also want to use these spaces to answer questions that candidates might have. Tell them what “A Day In The Life…” of somebody at your company is like. Tell them what sort of skills and experience would make them a great fit. Even tell them a bit about the interviews so that they feel at ease during the process and are able to share their true strengths to you.
3. Your branding should be consistent with the real experience of your employees.
You have a great company culture and you know how to properly compensate and retain your employees. Employer branding is about sharing the real experience of working for you. Misrepresenting what a career with your company is like is the opposite of great employer branding, because those employees who feel that they have been misled will simply take their complaints to social media and Glassdoor and scare future potential applicants — exactly the opposite of what you are trying to achieve!
4. Build an employee-focused culture
It’s not just about pay, but let’s not pretend it isn’t about pay. Offering a competitive salary is the first step to showing the talented candidates that you mean business. On top of that you need to think seriously about quality discounts, holiday entitlement, and a clear path to progression in the company.
5. Turn existing employees into advocates!
Offer referral incentives to your teams. If your current staff are great for the job, it’s a good bet that they know somebody else who would be great for the job too. There is a lot of evidence to show that referral programs reduce time-to-hire, reduce recruiting costs, and increase the engagement of employees. After all, they end up working with their friends!
6. View the examples below for inspiration…
4 Great Employer Branding Examples
These are some of the best employer brands in the UK that we know of.
Greene King
The message: At a Greene King pub, you’re part of a close-knit team.
Quotes from Greene King:
“At Greene King, we pull together as a team, we focus on our guests, and we do it in the Greene King way – with honesty, courage and respect.”
“We’re being recognised for the outstanding support we give our people”
Greene King runs food and drink establishments across the UK. They are best known for their local pubs but also run restaurants including Loch Fyne and Hungry Horse.
Their career site is friendly but not fluffy. They get to the point of answering the key questions: what is it like to work there, what is the application process, and an overview of the roles that make the Greene King engine run. You leave the site with the information needed to imagine yourself in one of those roles.
They’ve also worked with external partners to spread this message far and wide. See our this blog as an example: Which Greene King Pub am I best suited to?
O2
The message: With O2 you will work with industry leader in digital technology
Quotes from O2:
“…we’re all about providing the technology that creates new, exciting and personal experiences for more than 25 million people.”
O2 is the largest broadband provider in the UK, offering extra fast and extra reliable internet connections to their customers, as well as industry leading mobile and television packages. Being a prestigious name in mobile technology, it makes sense for them to show pride in this aspect of the company in their employer branding and recruitment. They are looking for candidates who are also passionate about technology.
O2 doesn’t stop at their own website, though. They have a dedicated YouTube channel where current staff share their stories, from salespeoples, HR staff and project managers. The cultivation of an online community for employees is a great example to follow. Quality applicants will appreciate this transparency and be inspired to apply.
Paddy Power
The message: Paddy Power is a fun, high-energy environment in which to work.
Quotes from Paddy Power BetFair:
“We’re a big player with a start-up soul”
“It’s quite a rush working at Paddy Power.”
Paddy Power runs betting shops across the world. These locations are at the forefront of gaming technology and process millions of transactions every day.
The Paddy Power careers page shows a commitment to hiring a diverse workforce. You are left with the impression that a career at Paddy Power can be for anybody, no matter their background, and that as long as you put your heart into the job you will have a rewarding and fun experience. There is even an animated and voiced horse on the page who is advocating the benefits of the job. That’s an effort that few talent branding campaigns will go to!
Paddy Power has collaborated with Placed to tell the stories of their employers, such as the interview two Paddy Power employees had with us recently: Meet the Faces of Paddy Power – Placed App Recruitment.
PizzaExpress
The message: At PizzaExpress you can bring your true self to work.
Quotes from PizzaExpress:
“We hire people with passion and individuality”
“Famous for our warm welcome, fun and lively atmosphere and delicious pizza – all created and enjoyed by our teams, our customers, and everyone who supplies us.”
Pizza Express brings superior pizzas to the public via sit-in restaurants, delivery options and cook-at-home products.
Part of their employer branding uses a secondary benefit that is almost as enticing as the pay cheque: pizza! From free food on shift to considerable staff discounts when dining, Pizza Express smarty uses its own product as an additional selling point for its vacancies. This goes for roles in customer service as well as others, such as for restaurant cleaners.
What stands out to us about Pizza Express’s career site is how it is full of emotion and warmth. It is a great example of the effect that graphic design, photography and writing can have when combined in the right way.
Level Up Your Talent Branding With Placed Today
As well as having fantastic messaging on their own websites and social media, all of the above brands have chosen to upgrade how they present themselves to candidates by working with Placed.
Placed is a job matching app for the modern age. It is mobile-first, data-driven, and creates a better experience for employers and employees alike.
By working with Placed, employers show candidates that they care about the employee experience. Moreover, our platform makes it easy to show off your best benefits, your culture, your values, and create eye-catching content that will appeal to the candidates you are looking for.
Are you looking to hire new staff? Meet potential employees where they are and post your jobs on the Placed App today.
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