An effective employer branding goes beyond just adequate pay and benefits. It reflects the organization’s ethos, its workplace culture, and the picture of a employee journey. For emerging companies, employer brand plays a huge role in attracting and retaining talent. An employer must, hence, demonstrate a strong connection between their brand and the ambitions and concerns of the employees.

An employer brand strategy that speaks to the talents that you want to attract and your current workforce. This article elaborates various strategies that you can employ to foster a strong employer brand.

List of 7 Employer Branding Strategies for New Companies

The below strategies will help to understand how to create a strong employer brand from scratch:

1.      Define Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

The initial steps to build employer brand identity is started by defining a well thought out employee value proposition (EVP). The employee value proposition is the center of the employer brand. It clearly communicates the distinct value, experiences, and opportunities an organization provides to its employees in return for their skills, experience, and dedication.

To define your EVP, begin by looking at exactly what is important to the people you want to attract. Run surveys and focus groups so you can understand the factors for talent attraction. The following things can help decide EVPs:

• Compensation and benefits
• Career development and growth opportunities
• Work-life balance and flexibility
• Company culture and values
• Learning and development programs
• Recognition and rewards

Once you know what your employees value the most, you should be able to create an EVP targeted towards addressing them. Keep in mind, an EVP should genuinely embody the company’s value proposition, not just be a collection of perks.

2.      Optimize Your Careers Page and Job Descriptions

Another strategy for attracting top talent with employer brand is optimization of careers page. It is important that it reflects your employer brand and EVP in the right way. Your careers page must be treated like a retail outlet window. It should advertise the employer brand vs company culture, values, and employee experience in a visually stunning manner.

Your careers page should be intuitive, well-structured, and optimized for mobile browsing. Make sure to follow these startup employer branding tips:

• The career page clearly conveys your brand’s mission, vision, and values.
• Use images and videos, as well as employee testimonials, that gives effective employer brand storytelling.
• Detailed descriptions of your employee benefits, perks, and professional development.
• Your company’s overview, including its history, milestones, and industry position.

While developing job descriptions, avoid the generic “duties and requirements” format. Use the space to showcase company reputation, demonstrating the unique value your organization can offer candidates. Talk about the growth opportunities, the co-operative work environment, and the other benefits that differentiates the company.

3.      Leverage Social Media and Employee Advocacy

Employer branding through social media is widely used these days to find potential employees. You can market the culture, values, and employee stories of the organization on social media channels, like Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

• Develop a social media plan that consistently focuses on the personal angle of your company. The strong employer brand examples include sharing employee testimonials that speak more about the company. You can also document the social and community events of the company.

• Share the real spirit of corporate participation to create an approachable and relatable organizational identity for future employees.

• Use the organization’s registered social media handles to motivate your staff and give their employee experience and branding.

• Ask them to narrate their journeys, share their viewpoints, and celebrate milestones on their personal social media profiles. This kind of employee advocacy promotes trustworthiness. These things matter most in low-cost employer branding ideas for small businesses.

4.      Cultivate a Positive Employee Experience

A new company employer branding works with how the company communicates and act on its words. Among employer branding best practices, developing a good employee experience is needed for building credibility. It fosters employee motivation, and they become high-performing employees.

HR marketing can be used to cultivate a welcoming, collective, and deeply-aligned work environment. Make it a priority to weave company’s principles into everyday employee interactions and in the policies that govern their workplace.

Startup employer branding tips also include fostering a culture where employees are encouraged to share ideas and are recognized for their achievements. Further, allocate resources towards your staff’s professional development and advancement.

Training sessions, mentoring programs, and crystal-clear advancement opportunities can help your staff sharpen their skills and realise their ambitions. These strategies also apply to companies that are keen on rebranding to position themselves better.

5.      Showcase Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Efforts

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are a major factor in deciding how employer branding helps in talent acquisition. Organizations that practice and publicize workplace diversity attract far better candidates, particularly from marginalised communities.

• Promote your DEI practices, through employee resource groups, mentorship schemes, and equity-driven recruitment strategies. Post them on your job portal, and social media to create a better image of recruitment branding.

• Collect and disseminate narratives and feedback from personnel who have been positively impacted by your DEI impact, showing the tangible outcomes of your dedication.

• Ensure that all of the visuals, including group snapshots and corporate functions, depict the true face of your personnel.

This HR employer branding strategy communicates to future applicants in a strong way that your organization appreciates people of any origin and life experience.

6.      Offer Competitive Benefits and Perks

The recruitment and employer branding are incomplete without competitive pay and benefits. In today’s market, job seekers want that they should be paid their worth. They want a well-rounded package that looks after their general health and career development.

To understand how to build employer brand, examine the list of benefits and perks company provides. Ensure that they match the needs and wishes of the talent market you are after. It should include:

• Comprehensive medical plans including dentals, vision and mental health supports should be provided.
• Paid Time off should be given for vacation, sick, and parental leave.
• Employees can be given retirement planning, financial planning, etc.
• Flexible working hours should be given including options for remote working.
• Gym memberships and fitness classes are good perks for fitness enthusiasts.

7.      Measure and Continuously Refine Your Employer Branding Efforts

Benefits of employer branding can only be achieved through perseverance and not as on time project. The strategies must be refined using data analysis to ensure that they continue delivering the intended results. HRs can set explicit key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate their steps to build employer brand identity. These can include:

• Recruitment metrics (e.g., number of applicants, quality of hires, time-to-fill positions)
• Employee engagement and retention rates, Online reputation, and brand sentiment (e.g., Glassdoor reviews, social media engagement)
• Internal employee satisfaction and advocacy (e.g., employee Net Promoter Score, referral rates)

One must look over these metrics periodically, and improve based on the results. For example, one could tweak job descriptions to really sell EVP, increase social media marketing to attract more candidates.

Conclusion

The recruiters should be aware employer branding for startups doesn’t mean bells and whistles or a fancy careers page. It means crafting an authentic experience and truly caring for employees. The agenda should always be aligned with company values and matches what the ideal candidates dream of. When recruiters keep their word on what they offer, they can build a good name. Ultimately, it boosts employee enthusiasm and dedication and hit the company targets.

At WhiteWinterMarketing, we help emerging employers establish their branding in authentic manner. Schedule a free consultation with us to kickstart your employer branding.