Talent nowadays is harder to find even in the growth markets and success no longer rests in dated organizational and siloed functional departments anymore. Dynamic flux and lightening pace of change in the operations of the marketplace demands that businesses have to adapt agile and reactive business models to compete and succeed. Added to this mix are the forces of technology and social media which are playing a dominant role in shaping and reshaping employer branding.

Therefore, companies need to take a strategic view of employer branding from pre-hire to retire making them a brand of choice for hires. It requires a dedicated, disciplined, visionary, and cross departmental approach from the corporate leadership.

What is employer branding?

Consciously or unconsciously all organizations have an employer brand. It is a way to distinguish oneself in the job market thus attracting, hiring and retaining the right people. The stronger the employer brand the easier it is to compete for the best talent. At its core, it has to do with the organization’s values and how it undertakes people management. Employer branding like any management practices moves in line with economic growth, which is the engine that pumps investment in people, technology, systems and processes.

Here are the 7 employer branding best practices

  1. Shift employer brand strategy away from HR

Research by Employer Brand International shows that over the last five years organizations relying on competent teams of professionals from the inside and the outside to develop and execute an employer brand strategy that builds value has worked wonders.

2. Factor in political risks

Every aspect of our society is in the sea of change. The threat of terrorism and political instability are looming large. And, the risks of shifting manufacturing or production offshore or recruiting from the outside local borders is a decision to be weighed about. One way companies can mitigate this risk is by hiring talent from abroad on a project-by-project basis.

  1. Understand that this is the age of the customer

This places the onus on the organizations to clearly define the roles of the employees in delivering signature employee experiences.  This can only happen by aligning the employer brand strategy at an organizational level so that systems, policies and processes can impact and influence the business and company culture to create optimized customer experiences.

  1. Be clear about who you are

The mission, vision and values of your organization should be clearly defined and saturate your employee branding communications. And, all this should be backed by massive action to prove to your employees and answer why they should work with you?

  1. Go digital and think mobile firs

The availability and accessibility of information about your company at the fingertips of customers is keeping companies to serve valuable experiences by the minute. These digital technologies that underlie employee attraction, engagement and retention have highly evolved with built in analytical and processing capabilities unknown in the past. And, smartphones and mobile devices such as tablets enable users anywhere to access this information.

  1. Make big use of big data at your disposal

Platforms such as LinkedIn offer the ability to mine data by the number of talents per segment – the number of job listings in a segment in each city. Analyzing such data better positions you to target your employer branding communications to reach the talent you’re trying to hire. There are obvious places to look and places where no one is looking. Targeting not so obvious places by leveraging the data at your disposal will sharpen your competitive edge.

  1. Foster relevant lifelong learning

For the cost of a smartphone or a tablet and an internet connection, organizations can put self learning at the fingertips of their employees. When the value of university education is fast losing its charm due to high course fees, companies should include the privilege of sponsored education and allot time away from work to do it. By investing in the employee’s learning, the company is investing in itself thus receiving a manifold return multiplied by the number of people employed by it. This makes the organization highly prized and attractive in the eyes of its hires booting the bandwidth of its image and brand.