It’s the 21st century, and competition within an ever-changing market has never been more rigorous. From technological improvements to operational innovations, businesses worldwide are cutting no expense when it comes to setting their brands apart from the thousands that currently crowd the same space. As your company finds itself competing against an ever-growing number of similar offerings, the task of maintaining brand recognition may seem like an impossible task. 

It’s likely that your business already spends an incredible amount of resources to maintain an outward-facing brand. After all, attracting more consumers makes up the bulk of most workforce operations, as they are what makes or breaks a company’s success—but what happens if that workforce isn’t as productive as it once was? What happens if your business fails to create an employer brand that supports a healthy and efficient workforce? 

The two elements are not the same, which is why it’s so vital for a business to focus on where their employer brand stands. Just as you would refresh your business’s outward-facing brand every few years, the same should go for your employer brand. If you’re unsure whether or not it’s time to revamp company morale, examine the criteria below, and decide for yourself where your business lands. 

 

What Exactly Is Employer Branding? 

Everyone knows how crucial a company’s reputation is when it comes to consumers. For this reason, so many highways and city streets are crowded with giant billboards, television shows are stuffed with ad breaks, and the marketing industry spends billions of dollars a year to convince consumers that their product is the best of the best. 

While these efforts will always be an essential asset of your business, your final products or services won’t be worth the effort if the workforce behind them isn’t as productive, powerful, and qualified as possible. To acquire employees that actively support a successful business, your recruitment team must create an employee brand that attracts A-level industry professionals into your company. 

Employer branding is created by showcasing a business’s qualities, benefits, and unique differentiators that make it worth a potential employee’s time. (This is why lists such as FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” are so sought-after). A successful employer brand won’t only entice consumers, but also convince top-class candidates to seek out a position in your company, subsequently bolstering its capabilities and significantly improving output. 

Ultimately, your business needs to consistently communicate to job seekers what it stands for, and why such a mission makes it the best choice when it comes to recruitment. 

 

What Does Your Employer Brand Say About Your Company Culture? 

Research reveals that 78% of job seekers will research your company’s reputation and culture before applying for an open position. If you’ve failed to create a compelling employer brand, then your business has effectively robbed itself of almost the entire number of jobseekers on the market. Those who remain probably won’t have much to offer your workforce. 

Essentially, you need to attract job seekers in the same way you would consumers. Your employer brand needs to be direct, reliable, and targeted at a specific audience. Google’s success in creating a sought-after company culture is a remarkable example to follow and became so popular it even improved brand recognition for their outward-facing brand.  

Therefore, you must examine your employer brand to see what it says about your company culture. Will a jobseeker understand how they’ll be treated if they join your workforce? Is your company’s mission statement clear, attractive, and relevant? Will employees feel as if their talents aren’t only respected, but put to fair use? 

If your current employer brand fails to answer these questions, it may be in serious need of a refresh. 

 

Creating an Employer Brand — In-House or Outsourced? 

From IT maintenance to customer service, businesses across all industries utilize outsourcing to complete essential aspects of their operations. Compared to in-house efforts, outsourcing can result in dramatically decreased costs and even improved quality. However, when it comes to a topic as delicate as employer branding, your business needs to examine the pros and cons of the decision closely. 

If your business doesn’t have the resources available to maintain an in-house recruitment team, acquiring outsourced help can still reap the same results—though you should be careful in your choice. The provider you choose must wholly emulate your employer brand and represent it with enough understanding that candidates don’t suspect they’re speaking to a third-party recruiter (i.e., using the same email address as your company, etc.).   

Additionally, outsourced recruitment may be an improvement over a small-staffed in-house team easily overwhelmed by many applicants. Since most outsourced recruiters have large workforces, they can quickly process a greater number of job seekers while still supporting your employer brand.  

 

Using Video to Convey Your Brand Message

Once again, your employer brand will utilize many of the same marketing methods it does with consumer branding. There’s no better way to entice job seekers than by personally showing them why working for your company is the best choice they can make. 

Take Workday (listed at #5 on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list) and its recruitment page. Along with various listed benefits, the company also displays an introductory video that briefly walks jobseekers through some of the company’s key features. 

Investing in a few similar videos for your own business is a great way to maximize exposure and a foolproof method to prove to jobseekers that you’re serious about your company culture. If candidates can see firsthand what a day spent in your workforce might look like, they’ll be more than willing to send in their application. 

 

Crafting your employer brand may seem like a minimal task in the grand scheme of things, but it can be the difference between a business that suffers and one that thrives. Your employees are the seeds that will either see your company grow or wilt—a prospect that entirely depends on your employer brand. If your business has yet to implement the key aspects listed above, you may need to revamp your approach to this crucial piece of your workforce—before it’s too late.