Employer branding: Leverage employee-generated content to attract talent
You could spend next to nothing on employer branding when you get your valued employees to voluntarily spread the word about what it's like to work at your organisation.
Interestingly, your target audience finds the content your employees generate more appealing and authentic.
What is employee-generated content?
Employee-generated content (EGC) are digital materials such as blog posts, videos, pictures, etc, that employees publish on internet-based platforms, social media platforms, and other digital and mainstream media platforms.
There is a lot of creativity going into employer branding nowadays.
Employer branding now goes beyond using cliche words and traditional methods to advertise company brands.
One crucial element in the business of employer branding is trust. The moment you gain the trust of your target audience, every other thing comes easy.?
An effective way to reach out to your target audience on a more personalised level and establish that much-needed trust is through your employees.
Trying to market your brand using wordy and well-written rhetoric from the marketing team may be considered inauthentic and ineffective.
The Usual Rhetoric in Job Ads
When it comes to job ads, the generic lines included in job descriptions by the People/HR Department, like: " must have great communication skills", "must be proficient in the use of…", “we are an equal rights and opportunities organisation”, "we have a great work culture and offer you growth opportunities" and so on, do very little to explain what a prospective candidate should expect on the job.
Such descriptions do little to give job seekers an accurate idea of what it is like to work at your company.
In such situations, what you will find effective is employee-generated content. Through such content, employees convey that personalised human touch which your target audience can relate to very quickly.?
For example, in a job ad for a graphics designer, including video content featuring a graphics designer at your company, where they explain, on a more personal and relatable note, what it is like to work day-to-day in that specific role, would be better appreciated and understood by a prospective candidate.
Once you can communicate with your audience in a personal and relatable manner, earning their trust comes easy.
Candidates, while exploring different options in their job search, place a high value on employee-generated content.?
The sort of content employees put out about an employer and how the message is delivered determines the perceived level of attractiveness of said employer in the minds of prospective candidates.
Leverage Employee Generated Content to Attract Talent.
The recruitment arena is a large playing field with very fierce competition, from the big players to the mid-sized guys, startups, etc. Every organisation is out there to get the best talent to help realise their goals and objectives.
For the job seekers in the recruitment arena, they see all the different companies with their offerings and job postings. But what makes one employer stand out from the rest??
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What appeals to the active or passive job seeker, making certain employers attractive and others not?
Salary and benefits, brand reputation, work-life balance, opportunities for growth and development, work culture, etc., are things job seekers want to know about a prospective employer.
Employers may easily communicate salary and benefits through the usual means. But other aspects, such as work culture, career growth opportunities, and work-life balance, are best expressed through employee-authored content.?
The personalised tone conveyed by employees through EGC boosts the message's authenticity and appeals more to job seekers or prospective candidates.
Bias on Company Review Sites
Without employee-generated content, prospective candidates eager to learn about an organisation and the work culture refer to sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, Vault, etc. Such websites are where individuals leave reviews about various organisations.
In this podcast, HR/Recruitment Professional and LifeGuides CEO Phil Strazzulla, while stating that Glassdoor is an excellent resource for this kind of research, notes that Glassdoor can be a bit negatively biased.?
Phil says that the average rating on Glassdoor is about 3.2 out of 5.0, which is not exactly a very favourable rating. Also, this rating may give a misrepresentation of what the organisation actually is like.
An employer may get ahead of this and own the narrative about his brand through employee-generated content.
By taking advantage of employee-generated content, employers provide prospective candidates with first-hand and unbiased information about what it is like to work at their organisation.?
When employee-generated content is put out correctly and absorbed by job seekers, it sends a good message, earns trust and improves employer attractiveness.
Dos and don'ts of employee-generated content
Now let us look at some of the things organisations should do and some of the things to avoid around employee-generated content.
Examples of the use of employee-generated content
Maria Yap, Vice President of Digital Imaging at Adobe, in this video content she shared on LinkedIn, provides an office tour of Adobe's Digital Imaging floor. Maria aims to demonstrate how the facility supports the imaginative and playful spirit of the team.?
The decor and art around the facility serve as symbols to foster employee motivation, engagement and inclusion.
Natalie D 'Hers, Corporate Vice President - Microsoft IT Digital Employee Experience, in this LinkedIn post, talks about the employee experience at Microsoft.?
Natalie shows how Microsoft tools help promote personal well-being and the mental health of its employees.
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