5 reasons why employer branding is the new black

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As a marketing agency for IT and software companies, we strongly believe in employer branding. It shows that you care about your employees and that you’re not just concerned about being profitable. If you do it right, it will help you to attract new employees and to retain your current employees. And as you know, with the significant shortage of IT specialists, being able to attract and retain employees is not a luxury. We do see the increasing importance of employer branding in some companies’ marketing strategies. However, for many other companies, employer branding is still something negligible. Let’s do something about that.

Do you still need convincing of why employer branding is the new black? We’ve got you covered! In only 5 points, we’ll explain the importance of employer branding.

1. You’ll attract new employees more easily

Young graduates, or talented people looking for new challenges, will want to work for a company with a powerful and good reputation. Whether it’s a 5-person company, or a 500-person company. A good employer branding shows them that your company is a good place to work for. The Talent Board, a non-profit organisation focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience, conducted a ‘candidate experience research’ in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). 32% of the research participants were active in the technology industry. Results of that study (2014) show that 41% of all candidates, researches the company’s culture before applying for the job. Companies with a positive employer culture get twice as many applications than companies with a negative reputation. So, having a sustained positive reputation will leave a positive mark behind on candidates’ perception. Therefore, it’ll take far less time to fill a vacancy. The opposite is true as well. A study by Corporate Responsibility Magazine revealed that 69% of the people would decline a job offer if the employer has a bad reputation. Even if they were unemployed!

2. A great employer brand can make up for lower salary

Money is important, but it isn’t everything. There are other benefits that are just as valuable. While you might not have the budget to be handing out huge salaries and bonus packages, a strong and appealing employer branding can help you to win job seekers over. Do you have flexible working hours? Do you let your employees work from home when they like to? Do you throw kickass company parties? Or is team building key? Can they get free lunches, or as much free coffee as they like? Let them know! Make sure those benefits are not only communicated through your job adverts, but also throughout the year on your social media channels and on your website. Different IT companies in Sophia Antipolis for example, openly communicate about only paying the minimum wage. But instead, they offer sun and lifestyle as extra benefits. Jobseekers look for more than a salary when applying for a job. Especially millennials care more about a healthy work-life balance than making big money. They have to see themselves working with you every day. So, if your company is known for all those kinds of benefits, it’ll give you the edge where money won’t be as important anymore.

3. Hire candidates that fit your company’s identity

It’s not enough to hire an employee who is right for the job. To guarantee a good working environment, it’s also important that employees fit your company’s identity. By positioning your employer brand, you’ll attract and retain people who “fit”. By being clear about your organisation’s values, goals and culture, you can avoid interviewing people who are not on the same page as your company and as your current employees. It’ll make a first shift – which at the end will also save you time, because as we all know: time is money. Speaking about money, take a look at the following benefit of employer branding.

4. A good employer branding can reduce your costs

If your employer branding is that good, you will receive open job applications throughout the year. This means that, when actually having an open position, you won’t need to spend a lot of money on job advertisement campaigns. According to LinkedIn, a company with a stronger employer branding than its competitors, sees a 43% decrease in the cost per candidate they hire.

5. Employer branding means happy and engaged employees

As mentionned in the beginning, employer branding also has a positive effect on your current employees. It’s been proven that companies with a strong employer branding have more engaged employees, as they are proud to be working for your company. Greater employee engagement and motivation has been shown to result in greater productivity and higher retention rates. Moreover, increased engagement also helps with building employee loyalty. And the more loyal they are, the less likely they are to switch to a competitor.

But that’s not all. Employees talk, and with the popularity of social media, there’s no way preventing their opinions being spread in no time. Therefore, you better give them a reason to talk positively about your company. In the long run, it’ll help you not only to attract new employees, but also to attract new customers. Remember that your employees can either be your organisation’s strongest brand ambassadors, or your biggest critics.

So, now that it’s safe to say that employer branding is the new black, it’s time to discuss how employer branding can be done in your organisation. Check out our employer branding page, or contact us to discuss the possibilities.