Employer Branding: 3 reasons why it should matter to you

Why is it important to look after your employer branding? Why does it matter how you treat for your employees and how that is communicated? I can think of three reasons (you can surely find others) sufficiently relevant as a starting point.

1. Knowing whom you invite into your house is of supreme importance.

It doesn’t matter how good your socialization, training, and development programmes are, if you do not attract the right people, you have a problem. It is with precisely this that your brand as an employer should help: it attracts people with the personal characteristics, education, and motivation to suit your company.

If you want to see a little example of an employer branding initiatives, take a look at these recruitment videos.

2. Those that make the day to day running of your company possible deserve to work in a place that meets their needs.

Of course their economic needs, but also their intellectual and emotional needs. Employer branding forces you to make sure that this is the case. If it is not, you are obliged to take action, resulting in more satisfied and balanced people who will have a greater ability and willingness to contribute. Bingo! A win-win: they will be better, as will your company.

There are multiple ways in which your employees explain “to the outside world” how you treat them (known as weWOM- worker electronic word-of-mouth), namely, the websites where employees talk about remuneration, professional development opportunities, management behaviour, training schedules, work/life balance etc…. You’d be surprised to see how workers talk about their companies on sites like Kombok, or the pioneer, Glassdoor.

3. People want to feel proud of where they work and want to tell others

We are sociable and communicative beings. As such we like to share what makes us proud. As if that were not enough, the message that the people of a company spread is much more credible than the company’s official announcements.

We also know that there is a social consciousness that guides us, for example with responsible purchasing. Reprehensible actions have consequences, such as the chauvinistic and xenophobic comments of Donald Trump that have caused many people to stop staying in his hotels.

Who does it well? Some examples

I’m sure you have some examples; please share them with us so we all may learn. For now, here are some I know of:

• Affinity know what they’re doing; offices that reflect their international character, a love of nature, dynamism and a focus on the needs of pet owners and their animals. Thumbs up! They are bound to attract people who can contribute to and be proud of their company.
• Ferrer is another very good example; a Spanish company with a large international presence, committed to serving their customers with information. Who can better their investigative teams, their sales teams and their doctors? They ensure they attract people who understand their value proposition and thus have clients that are satisfied by the treatment and information they receive.
• Mediolanum is a bank that can’t use its branches to make itself known as it doesn’t have any. They attract potential employees, collaborators and clients a different way. They look for them there, where they are, on the net. They serve them where they are needed: in the physical environments of their businesses or homes. In this way exploiting the full potential of what each client or employee contributes is of utmost importance and their Employer Branding strategy pays dividends.