Employer Branding

Subterms

    More stories

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Employer

      How to Let Employees Generate Your Employer Brand Content

      by

      Employee-generated content may not be as strategically crafted as something straight from your marketing department. Its messaging may be more candid than what your company usually posts to LinkedIn.
      But these markers of authenticity are exactly what make employee-generated content (EGC) such an effective advertising tool, and they’re also what makes it so impactful for your employer branding.
      This couldn’t be more true at PetSmart, a pet supply company that offers candidates an employee experience unlike many others—how many places let you cuddle with kittens on-the-job? By showcasing the uniqueness of a career at PetSmart through employee-generated content, the company has attracted better candidates, along with a host of other benefits.
      Here’s what other brands (even those of the puppy-less variety) stand to gain with EGC.
      1. Employee-Generated Content Builds Unity
      Employer brand leaders might assume that the DIY nature of employee-generated content leads to a less unified social feed or inconsistent brand voice. However, PetSmart’s Manager of Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing, Dani Kaufman, sees a different story.
      2. EGC Attracts the Best Fits
      Kaufman’s team tracks common metrics like application conversions, hires, and retention to gauge the health of its employer brand. Higher applicant volume, however, isn’t a high-priority figure.
      Employee-generated content has been instrumental in attracting those best-fit candidates. After infusing PetSmart’s social timelines with more employee stories, Kaufman says, “People are able to see themselves in the role and make a more personal connection.” The employer brand team’s next project is a Careers website update, due to launch at the end of 2020, that foregrounds even more of those personal testimonies.
      3. Employee Stories Make Your Brand Unique
      Kaufman has observed that the things that make a career at PetSmart unlike a role anywhere else are the very things that attract their best hires. Walking dogs, caring for young animals, and assisting first-time pet parents are part of the job, but the employer brand team knows to frame these as strengths: “You can work at a place that you love. You can love the job, and you can also love the environment,” Kaufman says.
      4. EGC Keeps You Curious
      Kaufman strives to answer “Why here?” through PetSmart’s employer branding, and nowhere are the answers to that “why” on clearer display than in employee storytelling. Staying attuned to the culture in this way keeps Kaufman curious, an attitude she says is essential to successful employer brand leadership.
      Embracing EGC has helped PetSmart fine-tune its employer brand and attract candidates that share the company’s passion for animals, and the ripple effects have been obvious to Kaufman: “It brings our culture to life!”

      To follow Dani Kaufman’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For more strategies and data-driven insights that you can act on to improve your company, get in touch.

      Share this post: More

    • 88 Shares99 Views

      in Employer

      Top Employers for Working Mums in 2021

      by

      The past year has been an extremely challenging one for recruitment in many ways and has tested the innovation and creativity of employers.
      Despite examples of bad practice, many teams and individuals have gone above and beyond in the way they have supported their employees through so much uncertainty, from online onboarding, virtual recruitment fairs, and hand-delivering laptops to setting up mental health champions and supporting line managers to help their teams through countless upheavals and anxiety.
      The 2021 workingmums.co.uk’s Top Employer Awards was adapted to reflect the issues that have been prominent during the pandemic – from mental wellbeing to employee engagement and diversity and inclusion – a huge topic following the Black Lives Matter movement.
      The overall winner was McDonald’s who also won the mental health category. It had everything from work-from-home toolkits and wellbeing hubs with support for managers to a staying connected group for furloughed workers and medical and sleep apps and had gone out of its way to tailor support to its wide range of workers, including young people and those on the autistic spectrum, and franchisees, despite considerable challenges in its sector. Ninety-two percent of workers felt happy to return to work.
      Other winners include IBM UK for Diversity & Inclusion, PwC for Flexible Working, Teach First for Family Support, Sky Betting & Gaming for Employee Engagement, and UBS for Line Manager Support.
      The judges found it hard to pick winners this year because so many had made Herculean efforts to keep their organizations going despite the pandemic. “The sheer effort and resilience was outstanding across the board,” said judge Jennifer Liston-Smith, Head of Thought Leadership at Bright Horizons. She praised, in particular, the creativity of some employers when it came to matching specific initiatives to their particular workforce, for instance, Sky Betting & Gaming’s weekly Wheel of Fortune game to connect remote workers, Atos’ virtual summer holiday club, SMS’s Sunrise competition to address mental health issues for field-based engineers and PwC’s virtual education initiatives.
      Other judges also selected their highlights. For Dave Dunbar, Head of Digital Workspace at the Department for Work and Pensions, the amount of employee engagement and the importance of senior leadership involvement stood out. 
      For Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation at Cranfield School of Management, it was the impressive amount of innovation that showed what organizations could do if they were forced to rethink how they normally operate. 
      Andy Lake, editor of Flexibility.co.uk, remarked that the entries were “a showcase for business resilience under difficult circumstances”.
      So what are the challenges for the future? Here are some that the judges highlighted:
      There may be a rush back to the “straitjacket” of the office when many employees don’t want this. Employers need to adopt a tailored approach and ensure remote workers feel included.
      Pandemic working is not the same as remote working.
      Hybrid working should not simply mean putting a few meetings online. There is a need for transformative change, including modernizing working practices and designing smart working to ensure everyone has what they need to work effectively wherever they are working.
      Employers should think about the potential unintended consequences of their actions, for instance, when it comes to career progression and pay, treat employees fairly based on their overall track record, not just this year’s events.
      Employers should encourage employees to be upfront about their caring responsibilities through employee networks with senior leadership sponsorship.
      Employers should urgently address the mental health impact of the pandemic through regular check-ins, surveys, mental health champions, line manager support, and a focus on the work-based factors that contribute to mental ill-health.
      Mandy Garner is managing editor of workingmums.co.uk.

      Share this post: More

    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Employer

      How to Grow Awareness of Your Employer Brand

      by

      Ashley Cheretes faces a challenge familiar to many employer brand leaders: Her company isn’t top-of-mind for many candidates, despite touching millions of lives. “Cigna is the most well-known unknown company,” jokes Cheretes, Cigna’s Head of Marketing, Talent Acquisition. “When you throw in the fact that we are technically an insurance company, we are often not…
      How to Grow Awareness of Your Employer Brand Undercover Recruiter – More

    • 75 Shares169 Views

      in Employer

      Creating an EVP with Design Thinking

      by

      In building an EVP for Ritchie Bros, an online auction platform for heavy equipment, Employer Brand Specialist Thomas Reneau drew from his experience with design thinking firm IDEO. Reneau saw an opportunity to marry this innovative perspective with the company’s employer brand strategy and, in the process, enhanced the Ritchie Bros’ voice, values, and culture.
      A more traditional approach to EVP might assume your team is already crystal-clear on what your company offers to candidates and what your ideal candidate is looking for. A design thinking approach to EVP, however, flips that on its head.
      Design thinking encourages continually asking questions, rather than assuming your employer brand team already has all the data it needs. Design thinking highlights the difference between saying, “We need to attract this specific demographic,” and turning to current employees from that demographic to ask, “Why did you choose to work here?”
      “Think of it as reverse engineering,” says Reneau. “We need to enable the team to attract the right candidates.”
      Empathy and comfort with vulnerability are critical to this approach. When asking a colleague, “How does it feel to be in your shoes?” employer brand teams must be ready for honest and personal answers. They’re also responsible for creating channels and nurturing relationships where that kind of trust is possible.
      Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.

      To follow Thomas Reneau’s work in employer brand, connect with him on LinkedIn. To get started on your EVP, get in touch with us. We’ll help you identify the values and culture you want to create in your company.

      Share this post: More

    • 75 Shares149 Views

      in Employer

      How to Invest in Employer Branding

      by

      When Aaron Kraljev left Wells Fargo in 2019, he left behind many of the comforts that come with working for a large organization: a familiar order of operations, significant resources, the security of knowing where to turn for answers, and the stability offered by a company that’s been around for over one hundred years. Fisher Investments, where he now serves as GVP Talent Acquisition and Employer Brand, was uncharted territory and a fraction of the size of Wells Fargo.
      As Kraljev discovered, however, a smaller firm doesn’t always mean leaner resources. In fact, he found a wealth of possibilities and advantages at Fisher. The move has given him valuable insight into leading employer brand at a small firm and building employer brand strategy from the ground up.

      Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.
      The percentage of employees dedicated to employer brand management at a given organization isn’t universal. Relative to its size, Fisher Investments has a large employer brand management team. This gave Kraljev and his department significant resources and capacity to make a change, despite starting from scratch.
      Being small also allows for greater agility and faster growth. “Huge companies, they grow, they change, they evolve, but they don’t grow as quickly,” says Kraljev. Working for a company of 3,700—as opposed to multinational Wells Fargo, which employs hundreds of thousands—means signs of change have been more immediate, more visible, and more exciting to be a part of.
      In addition, younger doesn’t always mean inexperienced and untested when it comes to the age of an institution. Though not as old as many finance industry giants, Fisher has been around since the late 1970s and is no stranger to hardship. When Kraljev stepped in to lead employer brand, he learned Fisher’s brand values were not unlike those at Wells Fargo, despite the many differences in their size, age, and client demographics.
      To learn more about Aaron’s work in employer brand, follow him on LinkedIn, or listen to his previous episode on working with Wells Fargo. For help building an EVP and identifying the values you want to create at your company, reach out to us.

      Share this post: More

    • 88 Shares189 Views

      in Employer

      Leading Employer Brand in a Tech Company

      by

      Thanks to media and the headline-grabbing office quirks of industry giants like Google, tech culture’s reputation precedes it. Jobseekers perceive tech companies as fast-paced, innovative places to work, and many assume a “work hard, play hard” attitude is a necessity. These preconceptions have a major impact on employer brand, as Klook’s Marilyn Yee knows well.
      Yee serves as Senior Manager of Global Employer Branding and People Communications at Klook, a travel tech company. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, she’s an expert on what tech demands from leadership. Employer branding, Yee reminds us, is a long game—even in a field that embraces rapid growth.
      Tech culture isn’t a monolith, but there are a few characteristics that unite most tech workplaces. These characteristics inform employer brand, what being a “culture fit” means at a particular company, and who self-selects to apply.
      Moving fast is one of those characteristics. “If you’re someone who gets bored easily, or you love a challenge, consider a career in tech,” Yee says. “Change is the only constant. It’s like an organized mess every day.”
      Another is the tendency for teams to skew young. At many top tech companies, the median age of employees falls in the late 20s. While those in management positions tend to be slightly older, tech employees above the age of 50 are in the minority.
      Tech also has a different relationship to diversity. According to Yee, a diverse team is a must-have, rather than a nice-to-have. “If you’re building global products,” she says, “you need diversity of perspective.”

      Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.
      To follow Marilyn’s work in employer brand, follow her on LinkedIn. If you want to know how your employer brand measures up to others in your industry, talk to us about the Employer Brand Index.

      Share this post: More

    • 88 Shares189 Views

      in Employer

      How to Design the Total Employee Journey

      by

      At packaging solutions company Sonoco, employer brand management is tackling the “total employee journey,” from candidate to alum. Rather than taking a recruitment-focused approach to employer brand, Global Lead for Employee Experience Kristi Raines embraces a “start to finish” view of the employee experience. In her own words, “We’re looking at opportunities to engage at every stage.”
      Retooling the recruitment process at Sonoco started with a question: “How do we get our recruiters thinking like marketers?” Raines observed that recruiters tend to be much more analytical and process-driven than marketers. To serve the total employee journey, however, their relationship with candidates can’t end with the “sell.”

      Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.
      “Candidates rely on recruiters for much more than just selling them a job,” Raines says. The bond an employee forms with their recruiter may be the closest HR relationship they have during their tenure with a company. When given the opportunity, employees often return to them for career advice, networking opportunities, and more.
      To get Sonoco’s recruitment team thinking more like marketers, Raines offered them a curated collection of content to share, along with the freedom to pick whichever resources resonated most and adapt copy to fit their personal voice. This strategy saw results, and the team began forging more connections with new and different people.
      “Don’t go in with one idea,” she recommends. “Go in with eight.” That flexibility will pay off in the long run—for your employer brand and your employee experience.
      To follow more of Kristi Raines’ work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For help developing data-driven employer brand strategies to make real change, talk to us—the right data provides insight that you can act on to improve your company.

      Share this post: More

    • 75 Shares129 Views

      in Employer

      A Guide to Remote Employer Branding

      by

      For years, we’ve framed the virtual workplace as “the future of work”—a distant vision, and one many employer brand managers overlooked, despite the fact that more than half of workers worldwide were spending at least half their workweek telecommuting. However, as HubSpot’s Senior Manager of Employer Brand Hannah Fleishman reminds us, “The future is here.”
      COVID-19 has forced companies with little experience supporting a remote workforce to embrace working from home. Some were better equipped to make this transition in stride. Before COVID-19 closed offices around the world, HubSpot was already positioning itself as a leader in remote employee experience. Of its 3,500 employees around the world, 400 were full-time remote, making HubSpot’s remote workforce its third-largest “office.” That success wasn’t an accident—a major component of its success was its commitment to remote employer brand.

      Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Soundcloud.
      If employer brand describes how your values and culture differentiate you competitively, then remote employer brand describes your remote workforce’s place in that culture, as well as the competitive advantage you offer to remote candidates. As Fleishman puts it, “How you market and position your company, not only as a great place to work but a great place to work remotely, is really important as that becomes more competitive.”
      Before 2020, the remote employee experience was an afterthought at many companies. For years, HubSpot was no exception. Framing remote work as “the future of work” allowed companies to deprioritize it in favor of more immediate goals and concerns.
      However, supporting remote employees is becoming increasingly urgent as more and more job seekers opt to work from home for health and safety reasons. “Because of this pandemic, we can expect that candidates are going to expect more remote work opportunities.”
      Employers shouldn’t expect the importance of remote employer brand to subside as the pandemic subsides, either. According to Fleishman, an internal survey revealed that 61% of HubSpot employees are planning to work remotely more even after in-person office life resumes.
      To follow Hannah Fleishman’s work on remote employer brand, follow her on LinkedIn. You may also want to check out her previous interview Inbound Recruiting: HubSpot’s Approach to Employer Branding. For help creating data-driven, actionable strategies you can use to make real change in your company, talk to us.

      Share this post: More