5. Define your employer brand to attract people who fit
‘Define your employer brand to attract people who fit’ is the fifth chapter of Understand, the first book of The Hiring Playbooks, 5 ebooks that will turn all your hires into wins. Created by the Homerun team.
This chapter will help you define your brand and teach you what is important to the people you want to hire.
In case you’re wondering, your employer brand is how you appear
to potential hires. It shapes how they feel about your company as a
place to work and is the most important (non-financial) factor people
consider when applying at a company. So let’s make sure you’ve got an
appealing one!
Three steps to defining your employer brand:
1. Lay out a foundation
Your company’s vision, values, and culture should be the core of your
employer brand. These factors differentiate your company, and by
establishing them as the foundation of your employer brand, you will
make a durable that stands out from the crowd.
Start by noting the most relevant takeaways from your company’s
vision, values, and company culture and adding them to your employer
brand document. You’ll use these to craft messaging that clearly
positions your company as a desirable employer. This is especially
valuable in helping you to successfully hire the best fit for each job, as
strong positioning and messaging will attract people who are drawn to
what your company represents, not just the salary that you offer.
2. Identify your best people
A strong employer brand is based on a company’s best employees, so
it’s time to identify who your most valuable players are. You’ve probably
already got a good idea who that is, but you need to follow up your
intuition by finding out what what makes them tick. What are their goals
and ambitions?And how do they feel about the company? Once you
highlight the specific attributes that these top performers possess, you
can start building a narrative to appeal to people outside your company
who are equally amazing — or perhaps even better…
How you go about identifying your best people, both those already
working with you and future employees, will vary depending on your
company, but here are a few general ideas:
Check your bias
You are biased. You might not realize it but you are biased in pretty
much everything you do. That’s okay — we all are — just make sure that
you account for your bias by assembling a diverse group of staff to
help identify the best people at your company.
Ask your team
Who do they like working with? Who keeps them motivated? Who is
always there to help? Who do they admire?
Examine company results & daily practice
Whose actions have done the most to help the company reach its
goals? Whose daily behaviours, interactions, and deliverables are the
most in line with the company’s mission, values, and culture?
Use a wide timeframe
Growth doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t rely on annual reviews, but
measure employees’ output based on long-term objectives, progress
and potential.
Get a room
Once you’ve identified who the people that light up your office are, it’s
time to talk to them!
3. Ask the right questions
To learn what is most important to the people you want to hire, talk with
the stand-out employees you chose in Step 2. To get the info you need,
you can choose to hold an informal meeting, chat with a focus group, or
create an employee survey.
Ask them:
• What attracted them to the company?
• Why do they like working there?
• What are their favourite perks and benefits?
• What do they love about the company culture?
• How did they find your company/jobs?
• What matters most to them when assessing a potential
employer?
These insights will help you know what perks to highlight on your career
page, what benefits to share in your job posts, and what parts of your
company culture to focus on in interviews.
What do I do next?
Make a summary of the notes you’ve taken for each step; include key
takeaways, goals, employee answers, and next steps. These will help
you in Hiring Playbook #2, Create, when we’ll show you how to create a career site that strengthens your employer brand.
In the meantime, keep all the notes and data you’ll assembled
somewhere close to hand. You can — and should — use these whenever
you’re sharing a new job, updating your career site, or assessing new
recruitment software. That way you can make sure that your ongoing
decisions not only align with, but also strengthen, your employer brand.
But for now, why not head straight over to Hiring Playbook #2 Create and stay in the hiring zone. Otherwise have a cup of tea, or send us
an email with any questions you might have about anything in this
playbook. Say hi at hello@homerun.co.
All Images by Studio Spass.
