Recruitment and employer marketing are today highly interconnected fields. Successful brands attract the most competitive candidates and companies that employ the best in their fields are often most successful. Current employees derive a sense of pride from working for a well-regarded brand and strong brands can command higher productivity from their employees. Understanding and maximizing this connection is vital in attracting the most talented candidates to your company.

Employer Branding Explained 

Employer branding is similar in concept to brand marketing. Rather than promoting the image of your brand as a solution to customers’ needs, HR professionals present the company as a workplace where employee’s needs will be met, their careers will be furthered, and their full potential will be realized. Employer branding builds excitement and interest in candidates that ultimately blossoms into long-term loyalty among those hired. 

The goal of employer branding is to create a memorable and enticing corporate identity that will set your company apart from similar organizations in your field. The strongest candidates will always have multiple employer options available to them; employer branding can provide your company with greater leverage. With effective marketing as an employer, your company becomes more desirable, increasing candidate competition for offers and raising your bargaining power. Potential employees are more likely to move, commute, or otherwise make sacrifices to work for a well-branded, identifiable company.

Building Your Brand

HR professionals have several methods at their disposal to successfully improve their employer branding. Among the most powerful tools is social media. Resources such as LinkedIn can effectively disseminate positive information about the company through employee recommendations. Facebook and Pinterest offer opportunities to share image-rich content, allowing recruiters to post photos of appealing work spaces and attractive company activities. Word of mouth will reach more potential candidates through online networks such as this than through traditional in-person recommendations. 

Maintaining an online presence in other venues may also be valuable in marketing your company as an employer. Websites specific to the field in which your company works offer an opportunity for your company to establish itself as an expert. Websites that allow employees to review your company may also bolster your reputation and generate candidate interest. Ensuring that your company is active on the most important online resources in your field will encourage employer brand awareness and help keep your own HR professionals in touch with current market trends.

Why the Marketing Department Is Your Ally

The most powerful employer branding tool is a effective marketing of the company’s brand itself. While HR professionals have a variety of options for strengthening their employer brand, ultimately the overall strength of the company will be a large role in determining the success of recruiting efforts. Large, well-known companies frequently generate the most candidate interest as a result of their effective brand awareness and direct advertising for their products. This is why HR professionals can benefit from working more closely with the marketing department. When a company’s product is well-branded, it becomes easier for HR professionals to effectively promote employer branding.

HR professionals and recruitment teams no longer work in vacuum where only their own strategies affect the hiring process. Today marketing, brand awareness, and company image are important, undeniable factors when it comes to attracting top talent to your company.

Dunya Carter is a writer, blogger and consultant from Australia. She is currently working at the marketing department at Ochre GP Recruitment, a Hobart-based medical recruitment agency with a specific focus on recruiting GPs and other medical professionals for positions in rural and outback areas in Australia. Dunya is an experienced writer and blogger covering topics ranging from HR to business and marketing. You can connect with Dunya on Twitter.