How to Build Your Employer Brand and Attract the Top Talent

A company is no stronger than the people who work for it. It’s as simple as that. As a result, to make sure your business succeeds, you need to do everything you can to both attract and retain the top talent.

In today’s candidate-driven market, top talent is in high demand. Employers are competing for a relatively small group of top performers. For job seekers, this is good news, as this is how wages and benefits grow. But for employers, this means it is more difficult than ever to find the perfect person to join your team. In fact, around 72 percent of employers’ report having difficulty in filling their open positions.

Developing a strong employer brand is a great way to help your company stand out from the crowd and attract top talent. But this is much easier said than done, so follow these tips to help distinguish yourself from the crowd and recruit talent that can transform your business.

Determine What Makes You Unique

What is it about your company that makes it a desirable place to work? Is it your flexible schedule options? Your laid back yet innovative culture? The opportunities you offer people to grow and advance? Or your commitment to social action?

Whatever it is, you need to be able to answer this question quickly and easily. And the answer shouldn’t just be that you offer a better salary. While this is still important, people, particularly millennials —the workforce’s largest segment—are interested in more. Spend some time deciding what makes you different from the competition, and how you will make someone’s life better if they work for you.

Make Yourself Known

This unique characteristic is known as an employer value proposition (EVP), and once you figure out what yours is, you need to do everything you can to make sure job seekers understand it.

Make sure your job postings describe what it’s like to work at your company. Give detailed descriptions about what a day in the life of one of your employees looks like, and make sure to highlight what makes you different than everyone else. You’ll also want to update your website to showcase this aspect of your company, since job seekers consider this a valuable source of information about your company. And you will also want to be active on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

But always make sure the content you post is consistent with the employer brand you’re trying to build. You never know where someone will learn about you, so it’s important they receive the right message when they do. So for example, if your company is committed to social action, make sure your website and social media presences demonstrate what you actually do to create a positive impact in your community.

Back Up Your Words with Actions

Anyone can say what they are, but it takes dedicated action to authentically be that thing. And if your brand is inauthentic, word will get out fast and this will hurt your chances at finding and hiring the top talent.

Here are two ways to make sure your brand is what you say it is.

Offer Roles that Match Your Brand

It’s important for job seekers to see exactly how the roles you offer align with your claims about employer brand. If you’re claiming to be a company dedicated to offering employees a good work-life balance, then you need to design positions that allow people to do this. Perhaps you offer flexible or remote work opportunities, or maybe you offer people the chance to sign up for gym memberships, nutritional planning or mindfulness workshops.

Again, whatever your EVP is, make sure the jobs you offer are clearly connected to this, and that your job postings are clear about what makes you different. If you’re having trouble coming up with good job descriptions, or with developing benefits packages that match your employer brand, then consider working with a professional employer organization. These HR specialists can help you tailor the open jobs you have to reflect your brand and appeal to the talent you’re pursuing.

Develop Company Culture to Fit Your Employer Brand

Company culture is essentially the physical manifestation of your employer brand. To return to the socially-committed example, if you claim this as your EVP, make sure the culture you develop and encourage reflects this. If it doesn’t, then people will eventually leave, either before they get hired—some can spot this stuff during the interview process— or shortly thereafter.

Remember: you do have control over culture. Rewarding certain actions and discouraging others will steer culture in one way or another. Also make sure you have a company vision and mission statement that resonates with employees. Furthermore, include employees in your cultural strategy. Ask them what makes your company unique and solicit suggestions from them as to how you can make your EVP more real.

Cultural change in organizations is a slow process, but if you start early, you can have a real impact. And this will make your employer brand stronger and more authentic, increasing your chances of attracting the top talent.

Let’s Get to Work

To be successful in recruiting, you need to make it an active part of your job. The majority of today’s workers consider themselves passive job seekers, so even though the talent you want is already employed, you’ve still got a chance at winning them over. Start working on your employer brand and watch the top talent flock to your company.