The importance of current and future talent from a business perspective is much more mission-critical these days. That is why organisations are so focused towards retaining the right kind of talent. As a result, industry has shifted from a short-term recruitment mentality towards a long-term employer branding. Organisations are likely to earn a competitive advantage by investing in employer branding and focussing towards developing their brands while aligning with their long-term business requirements. This article discusses some useful tips which will help you to build your employer branding strategies.
- Understand your business requirement. Your employer branding activities may fail if you don’t understand your long-term business requirements. Hence you must identify what kind of competencies, aligned to your values, your organisation needs to deliver on your mission & vision.
- Identify your main target groups. Identify the weight between your current and future talent based on your business requirements and the critical competencies. Assess how much to spend on attracting new talent as compared to retaining and developing the existing talent. To do this, clearly identify your primary and secondary target groups you need to reach out to.
- Have a clear understanding of the target groups in your organisation Once you identify external primary and secondary as well as internal target groups, take some time to understand them well. Use existing research and surveys to fully comprehend what these groups find attractive, and what values they resonate towards. You must also know how your defined target groups perceive your organisation and understand what stage of the decision-making process they are at. Effective communication stems from a though understanding of target audience.
- Enhance the employer value proposition. The basis for all external and internal communication with talent should be an employer value proposition. Enhancing the employer value proposition is ensuring that it entails communication themes and attributes which are credible, sustainable, attraction and that which facilitates differentiation in the long term.
- Choose the right KPIs and set objectives. Once you figure out your primary and secondary target groups and optimise the employer value proposition, you need to figure out means of measuring their impact and set objectives accordingly. If you select the right KPIs, such as an organisation’s brand association or attractiveness, you will be able to set your annual goals. When you meet these goals, you can be assured that your organisation’s brand is moving in a direction which is in alignment with your business requirements.
- Optimise your selection of communication channels. Once you figure which stage of the decision making stage your defined target groups are in, you can determine where your primary focus should lie towards driving awareness, desire, or consideration. This information will help you to optimise the selection of communication channels which will lead to the best possible ROI for your business.
- Create an annual plan. The components of an annual employer branding plan in place, — the business needs, the target group’s definition and insights, the EVP, the communication mix, the objectives, the main strategies, and the KPIs. The only remaining component is the activities plan — which lists the tasks and activities to implement and when.
- Develop communication ideas.Based on the EVP and the selected communication channels, organisations now need to develop communication ideas that will have the greatest possible impact on the target groups and set the company apart from the competition. Of course, these communication ideas and concepts should be tested with the target groups before being fully executed.
- Execute and follow-up.With the plan and communications strategy in place, execute and continuously follow up. By using the right KPIs and regularly updating them against the objectives, employers will be able to correct and optimise when needed, and ultimately to deliver on the company’s business needs.