Why is employer branding important?
Employer branding is a complex approach including the external communication (work performance, marketing, PR) as well as the internal communication (the relations within the company, internal processes, ways of management, company behavior in its competitive environment). The new brand of the premium recruitment we are just launching in the Czech Republic and Slovakia aims to cooperate with their clients based on partnership which includes also the consultancy with employer branding.
Thanks to nearly zero unemployment rate, this is the right time for employer branding. Very often the situation occurs at the recruitment when the applicant gets several nearly identical job offers. In this moment their decision is based on the name and the reputation the employer has. These all are the questions the applicant is trying to answer unknowingly with every job offer.
How can the companies benefit from it?
A good employer`s brand is not something one can create over a night. It works just like personal reputation – it needs to be built for a very long time and can be destroyed really quickly. The companies should communicate their visions and missions. They should let the applicants know what makes the company unique, where is it heading to and why is it great to get involved.
Does the company run any CSR projects? Does it support part-time offers for employees on parental leave? Does it follow strict ethical rules? Does it get the material for their production exclusively from eco-friendly suppliers? These are the matters that should be a part of the corporate communication.
When can the active building of an employer`s brand contrary do harm?
It can do some harm at the moment when it comes out that the values and attitudes the company communicates are in fact empty phrases. Let us give an example of the company that had been in long – term communicating strict following of the gender diversity and safe environment for all. When afterwards one of the top managers of the company was accused of sexual harassment, the whole previous corporate communication became completely untrustworthy. From the prospective on an applicant, the company has lost its credibility and they will probably not choose it for their future job.