Employer Branding - Should You Treat Employees Like Customers?

[Infographic] Employer Branding – Should You Treat Employees Like Customers?

Now that the Great Recession has come to an end, we find ourselves in the midst of a tough hiring market.

It’s taking a record amount of time for companies to hire, and the number of HR managers reporting difficulty filling positions has risen steadily from 50% in 2013 to 68% now. These changes have hiring managers, HR and business owners scrambling for ways to attract more quality applicants and convert them to hires.

One way to achieve this is through better employer branding – essentially treating your employees and potential employees more like customers.

Can employer branding really help? Here’s a few numbers that should help convince you.

Companies with good employer brand reputations get twice as many applications as those with poor reputations. In one survey, 50% of potential applicants said they would not work for a company with a bad employer reputation – even when offered more money. And employer branding does have a direct impact on the bottom line – companies with bad reputations end up paying 10% more per employee. This adds up – if you had 10 employees making $50,000 per year, the extra cost of a bad reputation would be the same cost of an 11th employee!

Here’s the other thing to keep in mind with employer branding. You really can’t get out of it. Even if you decide that you don’t want to have anything to do with an employer brand, your employees, potential employees and people who have been through your hiring process will be busy building one for you via social media. These days, 62% of potential applicants research possible employers on social media before applying. It’s a good idea for companies to have a voice in this.

The infographic from Betterteam below has more interesting stats about employer branding, along with tips from employer branding experts on what you can do:

Ok, we hope that gave you the stats you need on employer branding, and some advice to help you have more success hiring. Interested in learning more? Check out this great article on building an engaging employer brand.