What is your Employer Brand and How to Improve It
Feb 07, 2023
Even though there is a staffing crisis in the country, some employers are doing okay or much better than others. Why? Because they have a great employer brand.
- What is this? The employer brand is your reputation as an employer, and what your current and past employees think about you and your organization.
Your employer branding will determine how easy or difficult it is going to be to get the staff you need and retain great people.
The good news is that there are ways you can increase it so that you can thrive in this staffing war that is happening in our industry. That’s what we’ll review in this blog post.
The Importance of the Employer Brand
People that are looking for a job tend to ask their friends about where they work.
During a job interview, interviewers often ask about the candidate’s previous job, what they liked and dislike about working there, and why they leave.
As a matter of fact, in almost every social encounter, an ice-breaker question usually is “where do you work?” followed by “what is that like?”. And from that casual conversation, people create an image around your organization.
Even in today’s world, word of mouth is a main source of reputation when it comes to employer branding. But now, with all the social media platforms where employees share their experiences in the companies they work for, the reputation stays online forever, and it can reach everyone on the web.
This means that not only employees, but everybody in the industry, in your markets, in your communities, and even your nearby competitors, know your employer branding and your reputation.
Whatever people share in these scenarios becomes your employer branding in the eyes of others, especially for those looking for a job. That’s why having a good reputation is key to attracting new employees.
- As an employer, you need to be aware of what is your employer's branding and take care of it as much as you care for the reputation with customers.
Like I said before, this will define how easy it will be for you to have great people on your team.
8 Ways to Improve your Employer Brand
1. Ask for feedback
One of the best ways to fo find out what your employer's branding is asking your employees for their feedback in a survey. Be sure to make it in the most anonymous possible way, so they will tell you the truth about their experience working for you.
With this information, you’ll have a starting point. These are some strategies you can do to improve your employer branding.
2. Be a great boss/employer
Having a boss that cares about their employees and their experience is critical. Start with some basics and then do some additional things to put yourself ahead of other competitors that are looking for the same great people that you are.
3. Offer fair and competitive pay
Employees need to be able to meet their bare necessities so you have to give them a fair salary as the baseline.
But you cannot be below your competitors and expect to win because you have a great business culture. You have to offer competitive pay so at least you are at equal standing with the competitors. Remember that you are all attracting the same staff.
4. Hire the right people
Every single member of your team builds the business culture and the experience in your organization, alongside their peers.
That’s why every hire matters. So you have to make sure you have a conscious and thoughtful hiring process so you encounter the right people.
5. Provide great training and development
People need to feel capable and confident in what they do every day. If you ask them to do a job, you need to provide the proper training so they can fulfill the tasks with a high level of excellence, and produce the expected results.
6. Provide growth opportunities
You have to give your employees some sort of growth opportunity, whether it is a career path, a raise, or a way for them to scale within the organization.
Otherwise, even if they like where they working they're probably going to leave you to go to a place where they can have growth and a way to increase their income.
In this same order of ideas, you should also provide recognition for good performance. It doesn't have to be those big old bonuses or a fancy way of doing it. Acknowledging what they're doing, thanking them for their effort, and verbalizing your appreciation, are great ways to recognize people and have them feel valued and cherished.
7. Mind the culture
Creating a culture in which people feel comfortable, safe, and part of something special with a great purpose is key. Having that kind of culture doesn't cost a lot of money, but it does take effort. But it is worth it because this will greatly impact your employer branding.
Ask the people in your organization how you can improve the business culture. I know business owners who created things they thought the employees expected when they wanted something completely different.
Especially in the retail franchising industry, with many first-time job employees. It is very unlikely that they are looking for health insurance so instead offer them ways to improve themselves in training, development, and pay.
Don’t spend time and effort on initiatives you think they want. Ask them first because you'll be surprised by what they answer, and these proposals may be cheaper and easier to execute across your organization.
8. Measure employee experience
Another thing that matters is people's experience working for you. This refers to what it is like to work in your organization and be in your team.
Whatever you do within your organization, with your pay, your culture, and your recognition, the ultimate goal is to have these team members speak positively and highly about you as an employer.
If you do that, you will have a positive employer branding and win at this staffing crisis that is happening right now.
Hopefully, this was of value to you and gave you a couple of ideas of what you can do to improve your employer branding and reputation and have better staffing levels and quality of people in your organization.
If you'd like to know more about how you can have great employer branding and what tactics and specific projects you can design for your employees, we have a program just for you!
In it, we share what are the systems and processes that top-performing franchisees implement in their organization to be successful.
- Join us in our next information session to learn all about it. Go to www.MultiUnitSuccess.com and register for free.
Stay tuned for more information, don’t miss our social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), and subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get more tools, business tips, and resources to help you be a successful business owner.
Reflections
- Are you aware of what is your employer brand?
- How are you putting yourself ahead of your competitors as an employer?
- Are you providing your team members with the training they need as well as growth opportunities?
- How are you measuring the employee experience?
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