Is the customer always right? Not anymore. We’re living in a new era whereby customers come second and employees come first. So, are employees always right? Not at all — but they should be listened to and heard in order to get the best out of them.
We've written a lot on employer branding which is essentially the bridge between your brand and the jobseeker market. On the other hand, an employer brand identity should be seen as the bridge between a company and its employees. If you don’t understand what your existing or prospective employees value, you’re going to find recruitment a lonely and isolated place pretty quickly. You won’t know your true company identity and you won’t know what your culture is — you will only know what you think it is. The fact is that everyone’s individual values make up a company culture and identity. No matter what you say or sell yours as, this accumulation of values will be the honest one.
Attracting and retaining talent requires a new level of honesty. This honesty comes in the form of listening to your employees and using this to inform clear employer brand values and an employer brand identity that reflects them. We’re seeing more and more companies using their brand values as interview and hiring criteria because being honest about who they are and what they value allows candidates to self-select as to whether or not the fit is right from the beginning. Remember, it’s a two-way street — not only do you have to decide if a candidate is right for you, but they have to decide if you’re right for them.
A company that uses its employer brand identity honestly is able to compete for talent against large multinationals on factors that are meaningful to candidates — and this doesn’t include salary anymore. These companies attract like-minded people, those who believe in their passion and purpose.
Today’s talent market has full transparency into a company’s real culture and identity. Online review sites such as Glassdoor and job portals such as IrishJobs.ie enable current and past employees to share their voice and experience anytime, anywhere. If you decide not to listen to them, they can and will be heard by thousands of potential applicants. If you fail to recognise what your true culture and identity are, then employee expectations will not be met and they will probably leave and tell their friends and family.
In fact, ‘company culture’ was voted as a company’s greatest staff retention tool in our 2020 Business Outlook Survey, which surveyed professionals at all levels, industries and job functions. ‘Flexible working conditions’ and ‘career opportunities’ followed closely. Interestingly, these top three tools for staff retention all fall under the umbrella of employer branding.
It’s important for employers to recognise that their employees steer the ship now and that candidates who apply are navigating it online on the back of your perceived honesty, expectations and support. According to the 2018 Fortune 500 Top 100 Employer Brand report, 66% of candidates share negative experiences across a number of online platforms and that nearly 90% of professionals say a positive interview experience can change their mind about a role or company.
Therefore, a good employer brand and employer brand strategy educates and informs all candidates of what they can expect as a new employee. However, a strong employer brand identity attracts the candidates you really want, which is the real goal. When we meet new clients for the first time, we often hear them say that they struggle to compete for talent against the large multinationals. But they do because we listen to their goals, their vision and we learn about their business, their culture and what their current employee's value. Through this employer brand identity (whether they knew they had one or not), we find really talented people that simply resonate with it. It’s unique to every business and something the large multinationals of this world simply can’t compete with.
It’s also important to remember that businesses change and so do identities. RECRUITERS has changed a lot since 2006 and we’ve had to listen and apply feedback in order to rediscover what our employee value proposition and employer brand identity was, most recently in 2018. We all need to do so regularly in order to ensure that we stay relevant in the market and also to ensure that when new starters join, their expectations are lived up to. This is why our consultants stay at RECRUITERS and why our clients get to enjoy working with the same consultant year after year.
As one of our clients put it:
The longevity of your [RECRUITERS] team is a testament of our success. I have been dealing with the same account manager for four years, she knows our business better than some of my own staff. I can rely on her and trust her to find the talent I need without having to explain myself multiple times over to multiple teams and agencies.
Teddy Murphy, CEO, Miagen
This is a testament to the importance of putting your employees first. If you take care and listen to your employees, they will take care of your clients. Talk to your employees today. Identify your employer brand identity and be honest. In doing so, you can compete with any business in the world in what is a further narrowing talent market in 2020.
Do you want your company to stand out in the market as an incredible place to work? Are you struggling to fill roles despite all of your best recruitment and employer branding efforts? We understand our clients and promise to source, select and deliver talent that exceeds their skills and cultural requirements so that they can exceed their team goals and objectives. Find our more about our hiring solutions and get your recruitment drive started today!
Andrew Sheehan is the marketing manager at RECRUITERS
Photo by Artur Kraft on Unsplash
