The what, why and how of employer branding

Employer Branding and What It Comprises?
In an era driven by Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Employer Branding is the much-needed human touch to a company. According to LinkedIn, 80% of HR managers and recruiters around the world agree that a great brand makes it easier to recruit the right talent. Before diving into the details of employer branding, it is essential to highlight the differences between certain terminologies that are often misused synonymously.

Corporate Brand (CB), or simply ‘the brand,’ encompasses a firm’s business and the product or service they sell – brand as a service provider. CB can be perceived as the image of a company that helps consumers differentiate between them and their competitors. Employer Branding (EB) focuses exclusively on its future and current employees – brand as a recruiter. EB plays a vital role in talent acquisition, as it denotes the reputation of the company. This reflects on how potential candidates and employees view you as an employer. The main goal of EB is to establish your company as a desirable employer.

Once you have established your brand, it is time to market! You have to find ways to deliver the message to the right candidates, at the right time. That is the role of Recruitment Marketing (RM) – to promote your employer brand. The important aspect of RM is to paint a clear picture of what your company has to offer aspirants. This is referred to as the Employee Value Proposition (EVP). EVP is how an organisation identifies itself and expresses the values, benefits and opportunities, an employee can expect. The main goal of RM is to attract and drive the best talents to apply for the job openings in your company. Thus, using Employer Branding in tandem with Recruitment Marketing is the best hiring strategy there is!

Why Is It Crucial?
In a social media driven market, it is all about transparency. For any employer, the following two things are undeniable – their reputation is vital, and the most important asset of any company is its employees. When a company maintains consistent quality, the right talents will approach them. On the contrary, if they fail to keep their standards, it could lead to their downfall. In order to attract the best talents, the company has to stand out as their employer of choice, and employee-centric company culture is one way to do it.

As a matter of fact, the only option to stay ahead of the game is to be a progressive company. Here are three reasons why this is crucial:

1. Your company has to be millennial-ready! Period. Largely influenced by dreams and inspiration, the generation of upcoming talents cannot be persuaded with just salary and securities. So, it is essential to reinvent your brand, include a company culture that not only inspires your employees, but also provides them with a good work-life balance, and an exciting workplace.
2. Differentiate from your competitors. Big companies like Heineken and GE are adapting to the emerging digitalisation and evolving marketing, as they face fierce competition from innovative startups. EB undoubtedly enables you to establish a global presence, and secure long-term recruitment needs.
3. Reach your audience. Nowadays companies create new roles in different categories, which job seekers are often not aware of. Find innovative ways to attract an energetic workforce. A job description is outdated. It does not convey emotion. Instead, create a persona, tell stories and show how they would be a great fit.

Employer Branding Campaign Examples
With the emergence of startups and remote job opportunities, youth unemployment is steadily declining. And this has forced the market to be candidate-driven. Employer Branding is not just a biz buzz, it is the need of the hour to a company of any size. Some of the recent examples of outstanding EB include: Adidas (HereToCreate), L’Oréal (lorealtalent), Microsoft (MicrosoftLife), Etsy (Inspire). These companies have realised that investing in employer branding is the only way to compete for the best talent.

How It Could Benefit Corporates, SMEs & Startups?
One thing that all organisations agree on is: Branding and Employees go hand in hand. Size does not matter in branding anymore. Corporates are reinventing their brands to fit their existing employers and attract new candidates, while startups are taking advantage of their size to create the right culture fit and expanding at an accelerated pace. Done right, EB could benefit a company of any size. Here is a list of benefits as part of this brand and marketing innovation.

• Improves applicant’s conversion. Attracting the right talent.
• Reduces time to hire.
• Lower cost to hire a new candidate than your competitors.
• Leverage Social Media Marketing.
• Enable you to actively manage your online brand, whilst keeping up with the trends.
• All this contributes to a firm’s visibility and its reputation on the marketplace, which is of utmost importance.

Build Your Employer Brand on Together Abroad
Together Abroad(TA) is a one-stop platform for expats to find jobs, housing, financing and other deals. In addition, we provide students with in-depth articles on a wide range of sub-topics that are relevant for university life. Consequently, it has become the largest international student hub in the Netherlands. For this reason, TA is an ideal place for companies to reach their potential candidates. Furthermore, thousands of students actively use our Job Portal to search for internships, full-time and part-time positions. We effectively utilise our multifaceted RM approach (blog posts, campaigns, social media, events, videos), to engage students with companies.

Not only do we help international students find jobs, but we also have strategic partnerships with corporates and academic institutions across the globe. And with an increasing number of international students in the Netherlands, our business partners hugely benefit from our platform to promote their brand globally and locally.

Reinvent Your Brand Campaign
Want to attract more talent to your company?
Want an insider look at company culture, international presence, ultimate job flexibility, and how it is a perfect opportunity for students?
Want to emphasise employee value proposition and how it could boost your networking?

Overall, building an outstanding employer brand can appear to be a bit overwhelming. That is why at Together Abroad we architect a tailor-made campaign for every company, such that it aligns to their objectives and needs. If you are interested in Employer Branding or Recruitment Marketing, schedule a call wit our team! Our experts can help you create, develop and boost your employer brand.

Written by Gokul Sreram Sankar for Together Abroad.