What is employer branding

Employer branding refers to the practice of building and managing your reputation among future hires and current employees. It is the steps you take to position yourself as an employer of choice and your company as a place where employees would love to work.

Employer branding specifically targets prospective hires and current employees. Because of this, it relies heavily on internal and external communication channels to attract top talent.

What are the elements of an employer brand?

An employer brand is the result of employer branding. It is how job seekers and employees perceive your company or, simply put, your reputation as an employer.

There are many ways to signal potential hires and employees of your desirability as an employer. However, your employer brand primarily consists of the following:

• The careers page on your official website
• Your social media presence and company blog
• Your recruiting and hiring processes
• Third-party reviews of your company
• Employee experiences
• Your company’s culture

How is employer branding different from company branding?

Your employer brand is how employees and job seekers perceive your company. In contrast, your company brand is your reputation among consumers and the general public.

Employer brand and company brand inform each other. A strong company brand attracts consumers and raises your profile in your industry, making your company an attractive workplace.

Meanwhile, a solid employer brand helps you attract top talent who deliver high-quality products and services, solidifying your reputation with your customers.

See also: How to improve your candidate experience with new background checks

How does employer branding impact global hiring?

A good reputation among job seekers improves your chances of attracting and retaining top talent.

Research shows that about 9 in every 10 workers prefer to work for a company with a positive relationship with former employees and the public. Companies like this:

• Receive more unsolicited job applications
• Spend less time and resources recruiting talent
• Record higher employee retention rates
• Attract the best talent in the job market

These results are consistent with workers’ need for a healthy workplace. When employers create a positive work environment, they do not need to convince people to work for them.

This reputation is transferable to the global market. International job seekers looking to work in another country gravitate towards companies that treat their workers well.

Deel can help you position yourself as such an employer and attract talent from 150+ countries. See how our experts helped Slite hire 13 new team members in 3 days.

How does employer branding impact remote hiring?

A strong employer reputation attracts remote workers. Because remote workers have limited interaction with their coworkers, they rely on employer-employee relationships for career support.

Most remote job seekers look for employers who are strongly committed to supporting remote work through communication, resources, and career development opportunities.

See also: Why you should hire independent contractors with Deel

How does employer branding impact employee retention and company culture?

Within the company, a good employer brand boosts employee retention rates. Your employer brand is more than how you appear to new hires. It is also how you treat your current workforce.

By creating a positive work environment, you increase employee satisfaction and loyalty. Your employer brand then creates and reinforces a strong company culture by:

• Shaping how colleagues, teams, and supervisors interact with each other
• Reinforcing positive behaviors that align with your brand
• Attracting employees who share and practice similar values

How else is employer branding important?

Strong employer branding practices help you do more than hire and retain talent. The positive work environment you create for your company also:

• Increases employee engagement and performance level
• Improves diversity and inclusiveness in your workforce
• Attracts investors, stakeholders, and clients
• Improves your standing in the global market

See also: How to reduce income taxes for your international assignees

Who is responsible for employer branding?

HR is the team most responsible for how your employees feel and the experiences of job seekers. Your HR team can devise precise policies and processes to build your employer brand.

But because your employer brand encompasses everything you are as an employer, it is also influenced by the actions of the following parties:

• Business owners and founders
• The CEO, CFO, and other C-suite executives
• The marketing team (through company communication)
• Line managers and supervisors

Line managers and supervisors interact regularly with employees and directly inform the company culture. Your marketing team is the public-facing part of your company, influencing how job seekers perceive you. Meanwhile, visible executives like famous CEOs generate press for the company.

These parties must practice and project shared values to build a strong employer brand.

How can you build an employer branding strategy?

Creating genuinely positive work experiences is the best way to build your employer branding.

Begin by auditing your current brand. Conduct surveys, studies, and interviews to determine how your current employees and job candidates perceive you.

Collect employee feedback and identify gaps in your company's recruitment and employee experiences. With this information, enact the following measures:

• Build a strong and positive social media presence
• Implement positive recruitment strategies
• Improve internal communications with your team
• Introduce career support resources and programs
• Schedule regular team-building activities
• Prioritize work-life balance in your company culture
• Optimize your employer value proposition (EVP)

See also: Core competencies to add to your company’s competency models

How can you improve the recruitment process?

As your initial contact with potential candidates, the recruitment stage informs an employee’s first impression of your company. Optimize recruitment by:

• Posting clear job descriptions when announcing open positions
• Providing precise details on the required application documents and steps
• Eliminating repetitive or overly complicated stages from your recruitment process
• Offering candidates feedback on their applications and interviews
• Thanking and communicating with applicants, including those who did not get the job

Job seekers also appreciate diverse selection panels and fair and equitable pay offers. Keep this in mind when drafting employment contracts for your new hires.

Deel can help you automate this and HR tasks to produce uniform and complaint contracts for your local, global, and remote teams across 150+ jurisdictions.

What is an employer value proposition (EVP)?

Employee value proposition is what workers get when they work for you. It is more than monetary compensation and includes:

• Training and career development opportunities
• Awards and recognition
• Benefits and performance-based bonuses
• The company culture
• Visa and immigration support
• International assignments and other mobility support
• Networking and social opportunities

Your EVP is not something you share with the public. However, it guides employee experiences within the company and directly informs retention rates.

See also: How to streamline employee relocations

How can you measure the strength of your employer brand?

Once you establish an employer brand, monitor its effectiveness by:

• Conducting employee satisfaction surveys and engagement studies
• Analyzing the quality of new hires
• Tracking turnover rates
• Monitoring the number of unsolicited job applications
• Assessing social media engagement levels and sentiment

Are there compliance issues associated with employer branding?

Yes. In interacting with employees and potential candidates, your messages must be factual, locally compliant, and non-discriminatory.

Avoid making false claims about what you offer, including compensation, immigration support, advancement opportunities, etc.

Provide equitable experiences and opportunities for all employees and job applicants and use Deel’s compliance management software to ensure compliance with local employment laws.

Can social media and content improve your employer brand?

Absolutely. About 25% of all job seekers use social media to find jobs. 90% follow companies they would want to work for on social media.

This makes social media platforms an excellent communication tool for projecting your employer brand to potential candidates. Hire a dedicated social media manager to craft posts reinforcing your values and company culture.

This same employee (or a different type of content manager) can also use other forms of content to support your employer branding efforts. Have them create a compelling careers page on your website with memorable pictures, videos, and text about the company's achievements, company culture, and core values.

Other channels to explore include:

• Blog posts
• Whitepapers
• Surveys
• Infographics
• EBooks
• YouTube videos
• Podcasts

How can Deel help you build and maintain a strong employer brand?

Deel powers hiring and global team management, allowing you to recruit top talent and give them the optimum experience across 150 countries.

Our all-in-one HR platform is custom-built to manage your recordkeeping, communication, payroll, and compliance needs.

We give you all the tools you need to build, measure, and optimize your employer brand across different markets, helping you maintain compliance throughout.

Our experts can audit and revise your recruitment policies and employee contracts for a more positive workplace experience.

Contact us today to learn more or book a demo to experience our services firsthand.