For decades, branding has been a dominant force in the marketing world, connecting everything from shoes and food to fashion and accessories. But this blog isn’t about product branding. It’s about something equally powerful: recruitment branding.
How can recruitment companies weave their brand into the hiring process? And how does it transform their results? In this blog, we’ll explore actionable strategies to brand recruitment, uncovering how it can reshape the way you attract, engage, and retain talent.
“86% of HR Professionals report that recruitment is becoming more like marketing, while almost all job seekers are researching the company they consider applying to. With growing times, recruitment process has never been a simple task of finding a “job ready” candidate.”
By delivering a positive brand experience, you ensure that candidates associate your brand with positivity, leaving a lasting impression that benefits your company in the long run.
A company can brand itself in a variety of ways. You may not necessarily need a full-fledged marketing team to build and maintain your brand. This blog will also discuss options for both – those companies that want a dedicated marketing team; and those that don’t – on how companies can leverage Branding to recruit better talent.
Grasping the Concept of “Brand”
A brand marks your company in people’s psyche. When we talk about a “brand” in marketing, we mean a positive impression that resonates with your audience, encouraging them to engage and interact with your company.
Brand also has a qualitative side. Your brand determines the people your company attracts and interacts with. This is why you can’t just throw together some colors and a logo and call it a “brand.” Your branding goes far beyond that, it is how your company moves forward.
Standing out from the competition is essential to get noticed and that is where branding comes into play.
In recruitment branding, we try to build a brand with focus on the best talent you want to hire. Branded recruitment is nowadays as important as a telephone and the prospect’s contact number. Almost 90% of candidates research the company they are about to apply to. While your HR team is on the phone with a potential hire, spelling out your company name, the candidate is likely researching your company at that very moment. Branding for recruitment should make the candidate trust and be comfortable enough to regard your proposition.
Why You need Recruitment Branding
Now that we’ve discussed the differences (and similarities) between general branding and recruitment branding, it’s essential to highlight why recruitment branding is crucial beyond your overall brand identity.
1.Cultural Transparency
Finding better qualified candidates through branding in the recruitment pipeline is a no-brainer. The major advantage of branded recruitment lies in hiring a person who is fit holistically.
Through transparency, recruitment branding provides candidates with a clear picture of your company, revealing those who align with your ethos and culture. Candidates who resonate with your vision and values feel more comfortable within the workplace, fostering better peer relationships. Recruitment branding ultimately makes it easier for employers to find candidates who best fit the company’s culture.
2.Connection
A well-brand recruitment process leaves a long-lasting impression even for a brief interaction a person may have. Even though they may not fulfill your current criteria, they may recommend you to their peers. Through branding, candidates may automatically act as your marketers. Every candidate looks for the best suited company to increase their level of happiness and satisfaction in life, a well branded recruitment process will help attract more candidates, whether it be from traffic or through personal recommendations and word of mouth.
3.Get Noticed!
Standing out from the crowd is an essential part of branding. When you distinguish yourself from the competition, you open a new avenue for your company to explore. Branding for recruitment helps you increase your candidate pool and sets you apart from the rest.
4.Pro-active Hiring
Recruitment branding also helps to stay engaged with passive potential hires. In an unpredictable market, staying engaged with potential hires, whether you have an opening or not, is one of the best ways to avoid frenzy hiring. Waiting for someone to serve their notice period and then starting to hire is highly taxing, and not a rewarding way to recruit. Whether it be 1 month or 3, hiring during a fixed tenure of time can be stressful and the pressure of a deadline can lead to recruitment staff making rash and unwise decisions, leading to a vicious circle of bad hires. That is why staying engaged with your increasing pool of candidates through your brand voice is the best thing to follow. Elevate your recruitment process with Orpine, offering top-notch HR solutions that help you attract and retain talent.
Branding is fun, it is rewarding, and most importantly, it is YOU.
Next, let’s explore the different ways you can brand yourself to ensure the best hiring experience.
Branding Sans Marketing
They say big brands don’t need marketing, their brand does ALL the marketing for them, yet all we see around us is big brands. If that’s not the work of marketing, then what is.
Marketing is an essential component of a successful business but many small businesses, or companies working under a niche industry, may not feel the need to market themselves as aggressively as others.
To those companies we say great, but. They should think about branding themselves for recruitment. The following are ways to brand yourself without needing a marketing expert.
Think of the aesthetics, experiences and values people associate with your company, and follow the following steps for branding your company for recruitment
1.Clearly communicate Your Mission, Value and Culture
When employees connect with your brand’s culture, mission, and values, they are more likely to experience a sense of belonging and alignment, which can lead to higher job satisfaction and longer retention.
A strong company culture isn’t just buzzwords or a list of values—it’s demonstrated in the actions of everyone, from top executives to entry-level employees, especially in tough times. especially during challenging times. Employee surveys can provide insights into areas that need improvement.
It’s crucial to make your mission and values meaningful for your employees. Identify what aspects of the company resonate with them and focus on nurturing these areas. Implementing a reward or bonus system aligned with your mission and values can further motivate employees to engage with your brand.
2.Customer is King? Nay, Candidate is King!
Prioritize candidate experience while following your recruitment process. Think of your complete recruitment process. Now think of the few instances candidates may come across your company brand. You must have a voice in those places to grab the candidate’s attention.
Whether it be a Job Description in Job Portals, or reviews online, your profiles, posts and comments, everything should reflect your brand and leave a positive impact on the candidate.
A good candidate-centric hiring process will guide the candidate and showcase your brand in a way that leaves a positive impression and motivates them to join & recommend.
3.Nurture Creativity. Get Rid of Roadblocks
Promote creativity and uplift your HR Team. Positivity attracts! Make your hiring process creative and attractive by automating mundane tasks. Adopt HR tech like HRMS and E-assessment to take away the difficult and mundane parts of hiring. With the free time that HR Tools provide, you may revamp your hiring process to attract more candidates. Enhance your hiring strategy with Jigya, providing digital marketing expertise to boost your recruitment branding.
4.Career Development and Employee Well Being
Focusing on career development and employee well-being is the best way to succeed. Employee satisfaction leads to employee advocacy. Satisfied employees usually show their gratitude through social media and other informational channels. They play a pivotal role in building strong brand awareness and trust, more effective than traditional marketing.
5.Catch Phrasing
Have a catch phrase, whether official or in-house. Motivational one-liners and phrases that build employee morale while following your goals are one of the ways you can show what you stand for. A catch phrase can be used like a logo and bring a diverse group of employees into one umbrella. Initiatives such as these are easy to implement and leave long lasting impact on a company’s path.
6.Flexibility
Remote work attracts employees. Now, we are not suggesting you to close shops. What we mean to say is adapt and be open to flexibility. While trends and cultures evolve, those who adapt quickly can seize new opportunities, while those who don’t risk falling behind and missing out. Just as companies have a large pool of candidates for vacancies, top candidates have multiple companies offering them better opportunities. Recruiters must keep this in mind when assessing their strategies.
Orpine delivers innovative HR tools to streamline your recruitment and enhance candidate experience. For business development solutions, check out Orpine Inc, global leaders in IT Consulting.
For the Marketing Team
The way you seem over the internet, is who you are. And who knows this better than the marketing team. The subtleties and psychology of art can only be understood by a skilled marketer. For your marketing team, we have some tips and pointers they could follow to start your brand journey.
1.Revamp Your Way of Hiring
Shared responsibility! Ask your marketing team to get involved in the hiring process. You may find solutions to problems you did not know existed through a fresh eye. The marketing team should be asked about the best ways to spice up the hiring process and how to make your brand obvious during every step of the way.
2.Survey All the Way
Add surveys wherever you can. Survey your employees, survey the management, survey candidates. A survey will help you and your marketing team get a better idea about your organization. This way they can build a brand that will suit best for your needs. A well-informed marketing team will also have enough data to come up with novel ideas that might just be a gamechanger for you in the recruitment industry! All with the power of surveys.
3.Share Employee Testimonials
Share authentic stories from current employees to offer a glimpse into the experience of working at your organization. Positive testimonials and success stories featured on social media, like your LinkedIn company page, can enhance credibility and attract individuals with similar values.
Consider collaborating with your marketing team to create a careers page on your website where employees can regularly share their experiences with your employer brand. Additionally, encourage staff to act as brand advocates on their own social media profiles (while adhering to clear brand guidelines) to broaden your reach to top talent and bolster your recruitment efforts.
4.Showcase Your Work Environment
Emphasize the advantages of your work environment, including flexible work arrangements, opportunities for growth, a collaborative atmosphere, and a supportive management team. When employees feel comfortable and appreciated in their workplace, they are more likely to remain with the company.
New benefits can quickly become the norm, so it’s important to remind your team of what makes your company special. Share company news and your unique story, compare your offerings with those of competitors, and celebrate individual achievements to help employees feel recognized and valued.
5.Manage Your Reputation by branding Recruitment
Each stage of an employer branding strategy requires evaluating and enhancing your reputation.
Engage with employees to understand their frustrations, review company feedback, and monitor social media discussions about your organization to enhance your image. By establishing yourself as an excellent workplace, you’ll not only improve your reputation but also positively impact on your bottom line by reducing turnover and shortening the time needed to recruit new employees.
- Look at your reviews
- be seen on the internet
- make the best use of social media
- Identifying content and resource gaps
These are just a few of the many steps you can take to manage your reputation.
6.Employee Advocacy Solutions
Use employee advocacy programs. Come up with unique ideas and a pipeline that would make it easy and fun for your employees to post about their company on social media. Employee Advocacy Solutions can not only increase the company morale, but it will also act as a team building and strengthen the bonds that employees share with one another.
Recruitment Branding is more than just proactive hiring, it demands a shift in the way you think about hiring.
The management and leadership team must be dedicated to guiding their vision throughout the hiring process, ensuring transparency, accuracy, and trust. A good recruitment process stands for the candidates. Consider candidate-centric thinking, for people who are not yet present with you, but will be, in the future.
We hope you find value in this article and take the first steps to get your Brand on Recruitment. We at Jigya have been providing unique and practical solutions to our clients for the past 25 years. We believe in growing together and innovating together. To build everlasting partnerships, contact us. An Orpine Group Company.
