Creating the right image for your brand means that the top talent in your industry will be attracted to work for you. Consequently, you won’t have to try hard to recruit the best and brightest, but instead, they’ll come to you.
However, to achieve this you must avoid some of the more common employer branding mistakes that are made across many industries. Avoiding them is simple, but if you don’t know what they are then you’re probably going to fall into the trap like so many other brands.
- No social media presence
Nowadays a lack of social media signifies that you haven’t really arrived yet as a brand. Anyone trying to do research on a potential employer will take a look at several social media platforms to see what they are about and what other people are saying about them.
Ensure that you have an active social media profile on the big platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You’ll get a lot of attention at these social media outlets if you’re an established brand. It also increases awareness of your products increasing sales in the process. There’re a lot of great reasons why social media is a must for the modern day brand.
A CareerArc study discovered that up to 52% of potential employees check out the social media presence of a company they are interested in.
- Employer branding and recruitment is not the same thing
Recruitment is more of a sales type approach, and employer brand isn’t as much. Such an approach might come across that you’re always on the lookout for new people and that career progression of current employees might be limited.
Typically the best people in the industry want career progression options so you’ll need to avoid this particular mistake at all costs. Employer branding is more of a general approach when compared to recruitment.
- No specific identity
Being the jack of all trades will not attract those that are specialized in a particular craft and are looking for the best fit – ironically those are the best type of employees to attract. Saying all the things that potential candidates want to hear isn’t a good strategy either. Such as high salaries, bonuses, lots of vacation time and great working environments.
You need to paint a picture of what the culture at your place of work is like. This allows those individuals who will fit in your culture to be attracted. Just because a person is qualified doesn’t mean they are a good fit. It might be the case that the environment at your workplace is drastically different to what they are used to and are unable to adapt.
As Brandon Abraham from SuperiorPapers explains: “sticking to a particular culture that current employees love ensures they are likely to stick around for longer.”
- Not taking the employer journey into account
Understanding the journey your employees take from discovering your brand to climbing the top of the ranks allows you to improve employer branding. Instead of focusing on attracting potential employees so that they only join, also make ongoing career development attractive.
This can be done by setting up a rewards program that actually motivates and makes employees feel empowered. This also leads to higher levels of productivity, and the end result of the work will be of a higher standard.
- Not making the effort to listen
You need to take current employee feedback into account so that you can understand how your brand is perceived. Create a questionnaire and ask employees what made them interested in your brand in the first place. Also, ask what they thought is off-putting. This can be used to modify how your brand will be perceived by employees of the future.
As a bonus employees will feel valued if you take the time to ask them questions. They will feel as if you care about their opinions and that the company actually cares about them. Consequently, they’ll feel more enthusiastic about going the extra mile for the company.
Conclusion
By paying attention to the common mistakes other brands have made with their employer branding you can avoid them yourself. These mistakes are easy traps to fall into because you might not be considering the perspective of the potential employee.
By cleaning up your employer branding strategy you can change how you are perceived by the top talent that you want to attract. In the end, you’ll be irresistible as a destination to land a career job leading to more high-quality candidates than you actually have space for.
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