Why is Employer Branding in Talent Acquisition crucial for attracting top talent and retaining them?

I am a recruiter with over a decade's worth of experience and I've learnt that some of the best value you can add to your organisation is to identify creative ways to attract talent that don't necessarily have a huge monetary value attached to them and one of the best ways people can do this in Talent Acquisition is by creating an effective Employer Brand Strategy.

So, how do you even start doing this? And what is Employer Branding?

Employer Branding is what you represent internally and externally, It's the image a company projects to attract and retain talent.

It may be a deep question, but who are you and how do you wish to be seen? This has to be a true reflection though as nobody likes being catfished especially by an employer!

So when you're starting, be sure to take time to think about who you are and how you want to be seen, you can start by developing a narrative that showcases your company culture, values, and mission, highlighting what makes your organisation unique and why someone would want to work for you, be honest though as the holiday must match the brochure, you'll notice the common theme here is that employer branding must exude authenticity.

So how do we get this out there to the people we want to see it?

Utilise social media platforms I highly recommend Linkedin as most recruiters probably would, company websites, which showcase employee testimonials, company events, and workplace culture, with any platform be sure to engage with people through regular updates and interactions, consistency is key!

When you select your platform you need to create engaging content, develop informative and engaging content like this article ?? blog posts, videos, podcasts, pictures, feedback and webinars that provide insights into your company culture, work environment, and employee experiences, try to experiment with content and see what works for you as there are many forms of it out there.

In my experience, people are looking for things in your business to connect to and showcasing certain aspects of your organisation can help people imagine themselves working there and being in your shoes.

So what kind of content should we be getting out onto our socials?

Having people fly your flag is an amazing way of spreading the wonderful things your company does, try encouraging employees to become Brand Ambassadors by sharing their positive experiences on social media and how the business impacts them directly, attending events, and participating in things like industry conferences, being busy allows for a lot of content!

If people are looking at an organisation and they see that people are happy to talk about where they work, it means people are happy, motivated and encouraged to be creative which speaks very highly of your organisation's culture.

Remember having people who are brand ambassadors will help you reach more people than a company post will, supposedly LinkedIn rewards this type of content (Employee Generated Content) and you are 16 times more likely to be noticed or interact with people on this platform in particular.

You can start by highlighting employee benefits and perks, and showcase the unique benefits and perks your company offers, such as flexible working, professional development opportunities, wellness, diversity initiatives etc.

Utilise your employer review sites, they are places a lot of people will go to when making decisions on where their next move is, encourage employees to leave honest reviews on employer review sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn to enhance your company's reputation as a desirable place to work.

Collaborate with People, whether that's marketing, comms or other people who are brand ambassadors for your organisation, working with other people can help to generate new ideas that help us create brand new ways of doing things...Remember we can do a lot of good things as individuals but together we can do amazing things!

A strong Employer Brand promotes employee satisfaction and engagement, leading to higher retention rates. When employees feel valued, connected, and fulfilled in their roles, they are more likely to stay with the company long-term, reducing turnover costs and maintaining continuity within the organisation.

Lastly, be sure to continuously monitor your employer branding initiatives through metrics like candidate engagement/impressions if you use LinkedIn like me, application conversion rates, and employee retention rates, and remember to adjust your strategies accordingly because like most of us have seen the recruitment landscape is something that is constantly changing and evolving and we need to be doing the same!

One Last note, people want to connect with real people, remember that when approaching anything employer branding-related.

There is so much more to this world of employer branding but this is the basic rundown of how it can help and some suggestions, If you have any questions or want to learn more, feel free to reach out to me!