As the job market becomes stronger, it isn’t only candidates that are competing. Employers have also been put into the position of competing for the best candidates, but it isn’t always easy to sell an employer brand to potential hires.
HR managers and professionals must implement a strategy that successfully promotes their employer brand In order to find the candidates who will make their company thrive. An employer brand’s purpose is to help sell your organization to candidates, but creating a successful one begins with your hiring managers understanding it themselves. Here are three steps that will help you sell your brand to the best talent around:
Step 1: Know your own brand.
Many hiring managers become so wrapped up in their day-to-day tasks that they forget about their company’s overall values and mission, but a key factor is successfully selling a brand is truly believing it. Reacquaint yourself with your company’s website and social media channels. Take a quick search through Google News and read through the recent headlines about your company. This will allow you to better address any concerns or questions that job applicants will have about your company.
It’s also important to know your own hiring process—really know it. Have you ever taken a look at how simple or difficult it might be to submit an application through your website? What is your average turnaround time for scheduling interviews? In competitive fields, these factors matter. Complete a full evaluation of your hiring process to find out where your pain points are in order to improve the candidate’s experience.
Step 2: Take the time to train.
All too often, hiring managers are thrown into the ring without any preparation on how to conduct an interview. Start by training hiring managers on key differentiators from industry competitors. Make sure they know the company values and all of the benefits offered to new hires. Train them to focus on more than vacation days and compensation. Ongoing training, flexible schedules, and work environment are just as important as salary to catch the most qualified candidates. Hiring managers need to be able to convey your organization’s commitment to its employees and the integrity of its products and services.
Step 3: Build a positive brand experience.
One of the easiest ways to sell your brand is through the hiring process itself, and if you’ve successfully evaluated your hiring process, you have most likely noticed multiple areas ripe for improvement. Ensuring that every applicant has a positive hiring experience is the best way to ensure that candidates who are a great fit for the company but are passed over, will return and apply for positions in the future. Here are a few things you can do to improve their experience:
- Make filling out an application simple. Ensure that your application software is up to date and fully functioning.
- At the beginning or end of the application, provide an email address for applicants to contact for more information on the position.
- Let candidates know if they have been chosen to move forward with an interview or if they have been rejected.
- If a candidate has been interviewed, give them a realistic timeline on the rest of the hiring process. If they do not get the job, let them know in a timely manner.
- When a hiring manager finds an applicant that is a great fit but doesn’t make the cut, let the candidate know that they should apply again in the future. Consider putting their resume at the top of the list for future openings.
Selling an employer brand and keeping it consistent can be a challenge for even the most experienced hiring managers. Make your hiring process even more simple by simplifying your background check process with Invite the Applicant, which allows you to be open with candidates about their background check status.