ist magazine September 2022

Feature

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Six Ways to Get Real with Your Employer Brand By Jeremy Eskenazi

1. Let your em

E mployer branding is the external perception of what it’s like to work at your company. It has always existed in some form, but recently, it has not only become more planful, but it’s also become a lot more important. Employees always have a choice, let’s remember that first. It means that if the experience of working at your company is not good, they have as much ability to leave as you do to end their employment. It will likely be a lot easier for them to find a new role than it will be for you to replace them, and their experience does not end when they leave. Employees are your most important source of distin guishing your employer brand – both positively and negatively. A manufactured employer brand is very easy to spot – it’s high polish, very diverse and has a lot of smiling people. This may be false representation, but where a lot of creative agencies have made their money. Fast-forward now to Employer Brand ing 2.0. Nobody is buying the lie! Employer Branding 2.0 starts with authenticity and transparency of what it’s really like to work at your company. To help avoid costly recruiting cycles, or a lackluster pipeline of interested candidates because people are reading or hearing that working for your company is terrible, remember that employer branding has a very long reach. Here are the six top ways to “get real” with your employer branding (if you care about things like retaining your top people and attracting more who can knock it out of the park!):

actual employees is important. Seriously consider how you can encourage people to speak up positively – and authentically. This will help you and your poten tial candidates understand what the highlights and lowlights of their role. This means real voice and real employees. 2. Tell the story of why someone should not work at your company. It’s the real day-to day is like and

okay, and even highly respected to be honest about who fits into your culture as well as who may not. This will help you get the right talent and save both sides a lot of time in the interviewing pro cess. If you work at an incredibly fast pace and can break and rebuild processes as you go, you may not be the right place for someone who needs structure and repetition to thrive at work. It’s okay to admit that some people

ployees do the talking – even if it’s not always positive. You and your creative agency or small team focused on recruiting cannot possibly know what it is like to work in various parts of your company. You don’t know the manager’s experience, how the technology works, or how the policies help or hinder people when they need them most. The voice of your

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September 2022