Employer Branding – Behavior Has Changed the Way People Look for Jobs

Recruiting has become more and more challenging. Many companies are focusing their marketing efforts on Employer Branding, a phrase commonly used to describe an organization’s reputation as an employer as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation. Employer Branding is therefore concerned with the attraction, engagement and retention initiatives targeted at enhancing an organization’s employer brand, and is also known as Employee Value Proposition (EVP).¹

Employer Branding is not a new concept. It first started being used in the 90s but has become very popular.

As you know, it’s a candidate’s market because of low unemployment. This means that employers are fighting over the same small pool of candidates to fill their open roles, especially in hard-to-fill areas like data scientist and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)-based roles.

With the use of technology and multigenerational candidates, behavior has changed the way people look for jobs. The candidate’s journey isn’t simply seeking a job and applying. This is especially true of the best candidates: they want to research a company and build a relationship with it over months before applying for a job. They want to really understand the company.

Employee Value Proposition

This creates a dynamic where companies that invest in employer branding are seeing lower cost per hire and time to fill. In the way that Uber users can rate a driver, there are job sites such as Glassdoor, where employees and former employees can rate a company. Companies with higher ratings tend to hire better candidates and retain existing employees. Now companies are trying to market themselves to candidates through Employer Branding. Today’s candidates are thinking about the Employee Value Proposition as to why they should go to work for a certain employer and stay with that employer; hence the attraction and retention initiatives. Think in terms of a company’s culture leaking out and how this can either attract or deter candidates.

Some examples:

• Starbucks – Opportunity to be more than an employee.
• Lululemon Athletica – It’s not a job, it’s a journey.
• Southwest – Welcome onboard the flight of your life.
• Cisco – Change the world.

Need a leg-up to boost your hiring? Having a strong Employer Branding strategy may improve your attractiveness to candidates. ClearPath can help you design a solution pertaining to your contingent workers. We can help relieve this burden by outsourcing your back-office Human Resources and Payroll functions to our Employer of Record service. Contact us to learn more about how our expert personalized service can let you get back to focusing on your business goals. Work with a leader in the industry for outsourced Human Resources and Payroll functions associated with W-2 and 1099 contingent workers. Let ClearPath be the path to your peace of mind. For other questions about assessing your workforce or conducting a review of your current hiring processes, the ClearPath team can assist you.

Sources:

¹ http://lexicon.staffingindustry.com/alphabets/e/