Common Employer Branding Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Employer branding, also known as recruitment marketing has become a critical part of any strong recruitment strategy. In today’s market it is essential to attract potential top talent with your best foot forward with a strong employer branding strategy. Read on to learn more about employer branding mistakes companies make that can be damaging to their brand.

A lack of an employer branding strategy

In the absence of an employer branding strategy, it can be challenging to establish a strong presence and attract the attention of quality candidates. You can’t be all things to all people, so it’s crucial to establish a strong strategy to define your unique employer brand.

The best place to start in the absence of an employer brand strategy is starting with a goal and making sure it is clear, measurable, and attainable. For example, this can be responding to all reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed.

You can also ask yourself the following questions to help define your employer brand:

• What qualities make your organization stand out from the rest?
• Think of your top employees; what traits do they possess that make your culture and company successful?
• Why should people work for you?

Out of touch with employees

Your current employees are your best source for understanding your company culture. A big mistake companies can make is not reaching out and learning from employee feedback. For example, this can look like conducting a formal survey. After the results are gathered, be sure to highlight the common words used when employees describe the company culture.

Some other examples of driving internal feedback are:

• Giving an outlet to employees to say positive things about your organization
• Conducting employee interviews and creating social media and website content to express what it is like working for the organization
• Adding a detailed “About Us” page to your website with more content from your current employees.

Ignoring bad reviews

According to Glassdoor, the majority of candidates read six reviews before performing an opinion on a company and increasingly treat a job search like an online shopping experience. It is normal to receive a few negative reviews from former employees or even candidates who did not pass the hiring process. Acting like these reviews are not there will not make them disappear and can in fact make things worse if they are left unaddressed.

Review and analyze company reviews as much as possible and respond to each. Ensure to remain civil and positive, addressing each paint point mentioned and thank them for providing a review. Explain how you plan on rectifying the issue when necessary.

Overusing content

It is crucial to remain authentic in the content you create on social media platforms, when trying to attract the right candidates you’ll want to take the quality vs quantity approach and serve strong, informative content that reflects those values and qualities of your ideal employee.

For example, leverage infographics, videos, images of team members, or any other supporting media that goes beyond text.

In today’s market, it is important to remain competitive to attract the right candidates. Avoid these common employer branding mistakes and you are well on your way to developing the base of a great strategy.

If you need support with your employer branding strategy, Coit is here to help every step of the way. Start a conversation with one of our talent experts today.