Every good business owner and company manager would agree that developing a strong employer brand image is crucial for recruiting. Reportedly, 80% of talent acquisition professionals say an employer brand has a significant impact on hiring great talent.
There are obvious reasons in favor of employer branding, including increased brand visibility and brand recognition. But, most importantly, job seekers expect a company to have a strong employer brand when they are looking for new employment opportunities.
Why are job seekers so hooked on employer branding?
A 2018 Glassdoor survey has shown that 69% of active job seekers are more likely to apply for a job if the employer is actively engaged in developing an employer branding strategy. But, for people, employer branding is something more than posting pictures online.
There are several reasons why more than half of active job seekers are carefully inspecting the employer branding efforts of different companies:
- - Top talent candidates want to work for brands who are open and upfront with how they run their business
- - active job seekers are interested in learning about the corporate culture before they become a part of the environment
- - Job seekers want to know what they are in for before meeting with brand representatives for recruitment
- - Active employer branding allows job seekers to eliminate concerns about job security, dysfunctional company culture, poor leadership, limitations in access to corporate education
Consequently, for the companies, having a strong employer branding strategy has a bottom-line impact on the recruitment process. According to the study by LinkedIn, in particular:
- - 50% lower cost per hire
- - 2 times faster time to hire
The study also shows that companies can get 50% more qualified applicants by creating a strong employer brand based on diversity and inclusion.
On top of that, studies show that the majority of job seekers want to work for a company with an employer brand based on transparency, as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives, which brands should broadcast through content marketing.
According to the 2019 study by Harver, 67% of job candidates consider a diverse workforce an important factor when evaluating job offers.
Job seekers want companies to show how they support their diverse workforce, and content marketing is the way to do that.
Employer Brand and Content Marketing
There is a strong connection between employer branding and content marketing. In fact, content marketing is an inalienable part of building the employer brand, and content is the primary medium through which the brand represents itself.
In employer branding, content serves as:
- - The source of education – content allows active job seekers to prepare for the recruitment process, get a sneak peek of the work environment, as well as show how well the diverse workforce is engaged in company’s life
- - The engagement trigger – content diversity allows you to engage different job candidates, from low-level to top-level managers
- - The guide – content provides a follow-up, guiding job seekers through the company’s activity
Now, let’s take a look at different types of content, how well they work for employer branding, and how it can be used to promote diversity and inclusion.
1. Employee Praise on Social Media
Marriott has one of the most outstanding employer brand strategies with their Marriott Careers Instagram page. Using this platform, they created a space where they give potential job applicants a sneak peek at how it is to work for Marriott. They are doing it by introducing their employees and telling their stories.
Most notably, Marriott takes pride in the diversity of its workforce by telling about the different cultures that Marriott’s employees come from and how it contributes to the company’s success:
Image credit: Marriott Careers
How does such content help the recruitment process?
The Next Web studied the effects of this type of content on the employee branding strategy and found the following results:
- - Content that recognizes employees creates a positive image of the workplace. It implies that the more praise is given to the employees, the more results they will deliver. Thus, it creates a positive image of your employer brand.
- - By praising employees, recognizing their origins, and the diversity of cultures, you create the image of a highly motivated team, which will, in return, attract highly motivated job candidates.
- - Content that praises employees sends the message that you trust your team, and, consequently, are looking only for job candidates who will fit into this culture of trust.
This type of content facilitates the process of screening job applicants that sometimes takes months for the recruiters to complete. With this content type, you’re sending the message with the image of a job applicant you’re looking for by creating the image of the perfect employee.
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Interactive Recruitment Guides
Interactive videos aren’t the common type of content that is used to build the employer brand. And it’s a shame since it works very well when it comes to making the recruitment process easier.
Take a look at Deloitte’s experience with interactive videos.
In this video, a potential job candidate has to go through several challenging situations. These situations test the employee’s readiness to fit in Deloitte’s multicultural and inclusive workspace by evaluating their professional qualities.
After completing the quest, a potential job candidate can meet the heads of different Deloitte departments and learn about the recruitment process in each of them.
How can an interactive video like this make recruiting easier?
This approach to content allows potential job candidates to complete the virtual recruitment process and be better prepared for an actual interview.
This content type also provides job applicants with useful resources for interview preparation.
For instance, if a job candidate is applying for a position of content manager, at the end of this video, you can provide a top writers list from your company, who can mentor job candidates and provide useful insights about the recruitment process.
By completing an interactive video, job candidates also get rid of the nervousness that often accompanies the interview process. It is also a great conversation starter both for the recruiter and for the candidate during the interview.
3. Employee-Generated Content
Many companies outsource employer brand content to their employees. Among all creative job posting ideas, this one works best for creating an image of the company that trusts its employees, supports diversity and inclusion, and takes pride in the big part that the employees play in building the company’s success.
This is the case with Microsoft’s Instagram page Microsoft Life, which is managed entirely by Microsoft employees.
Image credit: Microsoft Life
How does this content simplify the recruiting process?
At the beginning of the article, we talked about how 69% of job seekers are looking for companies that actively manage their employer brand. Employer branding is important to them because if it is managed well, it builds trust.
If a company trusts its employees with employer branding, and they contribute their employee-generated content to promote their company, this creates an image of an open-minded employer brand, which is exactly what employees are looking for.
This is also a great way to show that your employer brand supports diversity and inclusion, as you allow your employees to create content on different topics using their unique cultural and personal perspectives.
By involving this type of content to build your employer brand, you also eliminate a substantial amount of questions from job seekers, as employee-generated content provides everyone interested in the behind-the-scenes stories about the brand.
Final Thoughts
From the examples we shared in this article, you can see the significant role of content in employer branding.
As the main medium between an employer brand and job seekers, the content help can represent your company as a supporter of diversity and inclusion, and as someone who promotes transparency.
But while content can make the recruitment process easier and attract more qualified candidates, it can also turn it into a hot mess.
Hopefully, the tips and the examples that we shared with you today will guide you in creating an effective content strategy for your employer branding that will only attract top-talent candidates.