What’s the point of an employer brand?
The simple answer to why everyone is investing in employer branding.
- 4 minute read
- Employer Branding
Not sure why you need an employer brand as well as your corporate and consumer brands? Confused about the difference between them? Senior management asking you to justify the need for your employer brand team?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you. Read on to find out:
- What an employer brand is and why you should care
- Why you need to invest in more than your corporate brand
- How to make your employer brand fit with the rest of your branding
What is an employer brand, and why should I care?
All organisations have an ‘employer brand’, whether it’s actively managed or not. Your employer brand is essentially the public perception of your organisation as an employer – it reflects your reputation in the job market.
Of course, it’s easy for your reputation as an employer to be damaged by unhappy candidates or employees. Those with a negative experience are likely to leave bad public reviews about your organisation, or to dissuade their friends and family from applying in the future. That’s why more than 3 in 4 large companies see investing in employer branding efforts as a top priority.
‘Employer branding’ refers to the proactive management of candidate and employee perceptions of your company. In other words, it’s how you market your company to the talent you want to hire and retain. When you get it right, it can make all the difference to your workforce productivity and engagement.
86%
Would not apply for or continue to work for a company that has a bad reputation with former employees or the public.
Source: Randstad
Why can’t I just use my consumer brand to attract talent?
In promoting your company or organisation, there are many different audiences that you need to reach and persuade. Sometimes these audiences will overlap, for example, if someone who buys your products or services would also like to work at your company. But most of the time, the people you want or need to recruit are unlikely to overlap perfectly with your consumer audience.
These different audiences require a different value proposition – essentially, you need to provide them with different reasons for connecting with your company. For example, the key question your candidates and employees need an answer to is, “Why should I want to do this job here rather than anywhere else?”
We need to consider the audiences that your corporate, consumer, and employer brand are designed to reach and what kinds of questions those audiences will want answers to. For example;
Corporate brand
Purpose: To promote the company brand as a whole
Target audience: Shareholders, partners, suppliers, media and communities
What the audience want to know: If they can trust the company and if they are making a positive impact
Consumer brand
Purpose: To promote specific products and services
Target audience: Customers or clients
What the audience want to know: Why they should buy this product or service and what differentiates it from the competition
Employer brand
Purpose: To attract applicants and retain employees
Target audience: Potential candidates or existing employees
What the audience want to know: Why they should apply for a role at your organisation, rather than anywhere else
OK, but how do I make sure my brands work together?
Both your employer brand and your consumer brand should be derived from your organisation’s corporate brand. Your corporate brand contains elements such as your purpose, vision, and values, which are the main drivers of your strategy, culture, and product or service offering.
Both employer branding and consumer branding usually involve creating and maintaining a value proposition, tone of voice, and a visual identity. Together, these elements inform what you say to your audience, how you say it, and what your messaging looks like.
Your tone of voice and visual identity may need to vary a little to better convey the key messages for each of your audiences. But all communications from your organisation should still feel like they come from the same family.
Because people can often occupy positions in two audiences at once, e.g., candidate and consumer, maintaining recognisable elements across your different brands will help your audiences to connect the dots and amplify brand recognition.
Need a hand with aligning your brands?
Get in touch at hello@thirtythree.co.uk to find out how we can help you craft an employer brand that is fully aligned with your corporate brand. From copy to art direction, social media to film production, we have all the experts you need to attract the top talent for your business.
