Though there isn’t a single agreed upon definition of Employee Branding, it basically encompasses everything related to what it is like to work at the company in question. A well-managed brand helps the ‘right’ people in finding their way to their organization. A solid and well-planned employment branding can increase recruiting productivity, decrease recruiting workloads, improve workforce quality, and reduce costs. Believe it or not, employee branding is present in a company, regardless of whether they choose to manage it. In its simplest forms, it is simply the reputation of your organization. Your reputation can be composed of things, such as…
- Online reviews,
- Word of mouth,
- Stories that the company tells,
- Stories told in posted job ads,
- Stories that employers tell, and
- The experience of customers and job hunters.
So, why is it important to focus on your employee brand? Where is the payoff? What is the ROI? Having a great employee brand will reduce the number of unqualified candidates that are in your recruiting process. It can also reduce the amount of reliance on expensive data sources regarding prospective employees. More than anything, a good employee branding system helps future, current, and past employees to understand the value of working with and for your dealership. Your employee branding system is a combination of company generated and non-company generated information that an employee (past, present, or future) consumes. Whether you’re looking to approach you newly hired employees or you’re wishing to vamp up your employee branding strategy for your current employees, there are a few vital aspects that you’re going to need to know to build an effective system.
Regardless of anything else, the goal of a good employee branding system is to communicate to your ideal audience, including aspects such as:
- What is it like to work for your dealership?
- Why would someone want to work there?
- Why are the reviews wrong?
Starting From The Recruiting Process
Employee branding is a process that is woven through the recruiting process. A world-class employee branding strategy will have experiences, examples, and stories integrated into each process phase. As the process moves towards the hiring, your employee branding strategy is fundamental in persuading the candidate to join the company. Below, we’ll be listing nine steps of the recruiting process, which are further helped by an employee branding system.
Target
In this step, you’ll be accumulating the researching, creating the layout for the design compensation and EVP. Within this, it is important for you as a dealer to learn the demographics about each group that you wish to reach. This way, you can more accurately design the messages that will be relevant to them.
Attract
The attraction process is the equivalent of the traditional marketing’s advertising campaign. This step is about trying to create specific offers to reach specific kinds of prospects, which involves mixing all four PESO media types. The most successful things here are files, documents, stories, images, and ideas that can be shared across various delivery mechanisms.
Identify
Communication with any candidates who do not make the cut should be flavored with employee branding and written in reference to the candidate experience guidelines. When you eliminate a candidate from the list, you should also see if they might fit somewhere else in the organization.
Convert
The conversion process offers various opportunities for communication. Each interaction, whether that be in person or online, should be done with employee branding in mind. From the waiting period before an interview to right before the interview, your employee branding team should inset communications at strategic points.
Persuade/Select
The reason why employee branding is critical is due to the fact that you are setting up expectations for your employees about their life at the dealership. When it is well managed, your strategy can be self-fulfilling and rearrange the entire culture. By continually referencing stories and brands in the selection and persuasion process means ensuring that each interaction is suitably prepared.
Close
This will be the moment that the candidate is truly able to take in everything that has been said.
De-Risk/Final Verification
Without a doubt, this step is the most anxiety-inducing part for the candidate. With all the little details being worked out, demonstrating care for the candidate can serve as a visual reminder of the company’s values.
Onboard
The transition from being an outsider to an insider is full of uncertainty and complexity, which is why an employee branding strategy is so important. The system allows employees to focus on the benefits of joining, thus reducing any issues generated by waiting.
System Analytics
Many hiring managers do not care about the experience of a candidate or of the employment brand. So, the use of analytics will continue to help persuade them about the value behind employee branding.
10 Steps To Get Started With
Below, there are ten things that will help you get started with the Employee Branding Strategy.
- Develop A Workforce Planning Model
This can be as simple as a spreadsheet that estimates how many employee’s you’ll hire to as complicated as you wish.
- Adopt A Philosophy That Ensures You Define A Problem Before Solving It
Focus on the ‘why’ and avoid getting distracted by the need to be creative.
- Do A Supply Analysis Of Each Category Of Worker
Generally, there are two or three main data sources regarding the categories of workers. Match the demand data with research.
- Do A Demand Analysis Of Each Category Of Worker
The number of workers available in your city and the number of job openings in the current demand. Many job boards will tell you this.
- Identify The Most Critical Positions
There are several unrelated worker categories that are hard to fill. Compare these to the supply and demand data that was collected. Generally, the ones that are the hardest to fill are the one that is the most critical positions.
- Start Here
You should aim to solve your biggest problems first. Gather your resources and use things that you already have. You’ll need blog postings, lists of values, statements of mission, promotional videos, company newsletters, engagement survey data, and other collateral materials.
- Experiment With Messages
On web pages, email, and job ads, begin showcasing how great your dealership is.
- Develop A Profile
Favorite hangouts, level of expertise, outside interests, education level, and demographics. You need to create a picture of your ideal audience.
- Build A Values Display
Write a story for the employment section of your employment page. Ensure that you include examples of values that are used on the job.
- Continue Adding A New Element Each Week
Continue having weekly meetings in which you evaluate your progress to date and use that to pick your next project. It’s vital for a brand to be built from the inside out. Employers need to ensure that their employees have a stake in constructing your brand. Subsequently, they should also be rewarded for embodying it in their daily actions. If you discover opportunities to strengthen your brand, it’s important for you to act on them as quickly as possible. By taking initiative, you can transform your talent pipeline. As a result of creating a world-class employee branding strategy, you will be able to fill positions effectively and promptly.
