Why Employer Branding Matters in Tech Recruitment
When we think about recruiting, we think more about evaluating candidates. But we forget that the company’s reputation as an employer plays a key role in attracting the talent an organization needs.
If you have bad reviews from former employees or a bad reputation as a whole, chances are your recruiting process won’t go far.
In this article, we shine a light on why employer branding matters and how it can help your company attract top tech talent 🎯
What employer branding is about
First and foremost, employer branding is about your company’s reputation among employees, and your brand’s reputability in the job seeker market. Your brand as an employer also portrays your company’s values and overall culture 🤝.
It may seem like attracting the right candidates is about the right marketing strategy, but it’s not what it essentially comes down to. Your brand as an employer is defined by previous, present, and potential talent you’ve hired and continue hiring, and their experience working within your company.
To quote William Tincup, employer branding is about
“the feeling you want candidates to have about your brand”
and can be thought of as
“the unique scent of your brand”
Using a marketing analogy, in a general sense your company’s brand is what makes you different from other organizations, and what makes you stand out. Only recruitment is about what you can offer your potential employees, and how will you treat them if they join the team.
Now, should you even care about how others view your company? If you lean towards the “yes”, but don’t know what exactly is in it for you, here is why employer branding matters.
Why employer branding matters
Employer branding is a tool that can help you maintain an earned position in the industry and reach new highs on the market. And as a tool, it opens up new possibilities that come with specific advantages for your company and the people involved in the decision-making process. With employer branding, you get access to the following opportunities.
Shaping your narrative 📖
If you don’t proactively develop your brand as an employer, it will still be shaped by others, even without your involvement. Because those employees who are dissatisfied with their experience with your company will make themselves the most visible, and the prospect of giving the creative power to the displeased won’t serve your brand.
When you take employer branding into your own hands, you get to be the one deciding how others, including candidates, employees, and competitors, perceive you. You get to portray the value your company follows, which ultimately, creates a unique value proposition for employees.
Saving money 💰
If your employer brand is surrounded by a negative reputation, you are likely to spend more money on hiring. On the contrary, according to Glassdoor, with a solid employer brand, you can reduce your spending on hiring by 50% 😱. Moreover, by investing in employer branding, companies can increase their revenue by almost 30%.
So, there’s not only a general value to the concept of employer branding but the actual monetary value as well.
Accessing top tech talent 🌟
When talking about employer branding, it’s important not to undermine the importance of your current employees. People who are currently working for you build your reputation by how they feel about working for your company and how likely they are to recommend your company to others.
The tech industry has its own “ecosystem”, and top tech talent, metaphorically speaking, runs in their own circle. It is important to make sure that your employer branding is solid enough to reach people with the required specifications.
Speeding up the hiring process ⏱️
Tech professionals looking for new roles are more likely to apply for positions from companies that have a carefully curated employer brand. Having a curated employer brand means that candidates could very well be familiar with your company even before they look for a suitable position within it.
So, if you have a prominent employer brand, you are likely to be the first option that comes to mind for a tech professional looking for a job. This means that you increase your chances of filling open positions within your company faster. The faster you hire, the faster you can streamline the productivity of your team, and the more money you can save.
Who is responsible for developing an employer brand?
Employer branding goes beyond just recruitment practices since it is your company’s “identity”. Thus an HR team is not the only one involved in its development process. Other stakeholders also have an influence on your employer branding including:
Founders, the CEO, and people in executive positions with a specific vision for the company
Team leading managers
An HR team
The marketing team
To better your brand as an employer, you can work with a marketing specialist to do in-depth research and quickly promote your brand’s image in the job seeker market. However, recruitment marketing and employer branding are not the same thing. Recruitment marketing is about tools that you can use now to “mechanically” bring more engagement from candidates.
Employer branding, on the other hand, is a long-term strategy that lets you consistently highlight the values of your company.
Now, you can hire third-party specialists to work on your employer branding, or you can do this yourself, and we want to give you some tips on how to do just that.
How to approach employer branding
Now, to make it clear: if you have ever employed people, you already have an employer branding.
Your brand as an employer is not something that needs establishing, but it might need improvement and a mindful approach. If you have never touched on the matter of employer branding or you weren’t aware of it, know that candidates and employees have already shaped it for you. And it might not turn out to be the one you want.
In such a scenario, there are ways to improve your current employer branding, some of which we list below.
Optimize the “Careers” section of your website 💻
The “Careers” section can be the first place candidates go to learn more about your company. Here is how you can improve this section.
Highlight your unique value proposition. Here, touch upon the company’s values, the reasons why being a part of your organization is exciting, and how you can assist the personal development of candidates.
Consider including testimonials of your past and current employees to give a candidate an idea of what working for your company would be like.
Create clear and inclusive job descriptions.
Make sure the “Careers” section is optimized for mobile devices. More than 50% of applications are made through mobile devices.
Make the application process easy 🛠️
If the application process is too long and time-consuming, more than 50% of job seekers won’t finish it. The same goes for technical errors encountered in the process, which also contributes to fewer finalized submissions.
Companies actually lose top tech talent because of a complicated or unclear application process. The amount of resources spent on getting a job seeker to actually apply is considerable, so losing the opportunity to collaborate with top tech professionals this way is disappointing.
To eliminate the chance of losing candidates to an inconvenient application process, fill out the forms yourself, and see how easy-to-understand or complex they are.
Improve candidate experience 😊
You may have a curated employer brand, and encourage people to apply, but if the recruitment process doesn’t facilitate a positive candidate experience, they are likely to drop out.
Start with specifying your recruitment process, and the steps it includes, like interviews, assessments, and test assignments. For example, take them through how interviews will be carried out and their purpose or ensure feedback after every stage.
Here you have to remember that even if it doesn’t work out with a specific candidate, you should still strive to give them a positive experience with your company since it’ll also contribute to your employer branding.
To conclude
Employer branding certainly takes effort, but it undoubtedly pays off.
Having a distinguishable brand as an employer will help you attract top tech talent, through which your company will grow in the envisioned direction.
And remember, an employer brand is more than how others see your company — it’s the commitment you make to your current and future employees.
Good luck ❤️
