Attracting Talent and the Employer Brand

​What do companies do to market their employer brand?

1. Active CSR locally. Broadcast CSR events on Social Media creating awareness of your company amongst potential employees.
   
2. Applying to the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work for.
   
3. Managers giving talks to University students and schools.
   
4. Unforced comments from employees on Social Media saying they are having fun, enjoying themselves, when they are attending external company events e.g. exhibitions showcasing products.
   
5. Case studies on the website and/or Social Media about an employee.
   
6. Actively arranging internships and work experience.
   
7. Use Social Media to broadcast the employer brand in a similar way to the marketing team do/ should for the business brand.
   
8. YouTube videos "Why it's great to work here" - to attract the right candidates.
   
9. Congratulate your employee of the month on Linked In / Facebook.
   
10. Good candidates will be attracted to a brand that appeals to their values however small the company and they only know about the company if the brand is out there.
    
11. There is a need to attract the passive candidate and Social Media posts help with this.
    
12. Some companies use corporate membership schemes  to attract talent

The candidate journey

1. The importance of giving every candidate a good experience and professional follow through.
2. The importance of interviewing managers being enthusiastic and passionate about the company and job at interview.
3. The importance of recruiting to values before skill set.
4. Survey candidates after the interview.
5. Good manners in responding to email applications to reassure that the application has been received.
6. Involve staff in the selection process (tours, coffee).
7. The importance of reception staff being good advocates for the company.
8. Make sure the advert and role description is outcome based and not full of acronyms.
9. Video CVs are new and some companies ask for them if they are relevant to their culture and sector.

Speculative applications
Reply to all speculative applications and offer to keep details on file. Have a standard message which aligns with your employer brand. Broadcast vacancies when they arise.

Unsuccessful candidates

1. Very pleasant NO reply but ask them if they would like you to keep in touch with them every few months. Then issue a newsletter with business developments and the latest vacancies.
2. Create a "talent bank" (as above) . One HR Manager in the group filled 30% of her vacancies from her Talent Bank.
3. One director in the group arranged to meet up with unsuccessful candidates with insufficient experience for a specialist  current vacancy in order to keep them in mind for the future, and the company in their minds as they developed skills elsewhere. This approach would only work if it matched the culture of the company and sector.

Use of social media in recruiting

1. The biggest job hunt days from an applicant point of view are Tuesday and Wednesday.
2. Send posts at breakfast time or in the evening otherwise they will get lost in all the other posts.
3. Consider the way candidates would like to be targeted e.g. a salesperson would be better targeted by phone.
4. Glassdoor: if you search for a company and you see the orange dot in the image below, it means that the company in question has not taken ownership of the site, you will only see feedback from employees. Nevertheless you can still follow the page.
5. Current employee referralsThese ranged from £300, £500 to £1000 in the room; paid at the completion of the probation period and are taxable. One company paid a charitable donation for high level referrals
6. New employeesHandwritten notes or cards to welcome them or a digital welcome card.
7. Have their desk ready and set up with extra touches.

Job descriptions/ WebsitesMake them funky / outcome focused / serious according to your brand.
Website for applications - make it match your brand, make it easy to use, highlight key selling points.
Free websites like Reed and Indeed may not attract the best candidates. Normal posts on LinkedIn are free.