Amandeep Kaur
- Jun 30, 2021
- 5 min read

THE MOST MODERN & MOST EXHAUSTIVE EMPLOYER BRANDING CHECKLIST

7 STEPS To Building The Most Modern Employer Branding Program And Solutions Aimed At Solving The Talent Attraction and Candidate Engagement Challenge in 2021

THE PROBLEM

Step 1: Identify the branding problem you are trying to solve for your company, candidates?

ð Lack of brand awareness – people don’t know about our company

ð Low brand consideration – people know about us but don’t consider us as a top place to work

ð Evoke brand desire – people are scrambling to apply to my company (typically experienced by Google, Facebook, Apple etc.)

ð Poor word of mouth – negative sentiments on social media, PR

ð Negative reviews on Glassdoor

ð Experienced brand trauma – scams, layoffs, shutdowns, cyber attacks etc.

ð Candidates accept our offers but don’t join us

ð Confused messaging: no one knows what we do?

ð Exciting product, company however too much competition from talent sharks

ð Niche sector, how to build interest for emerging technologies

ð Lack of talent supply for a new skill like ai, edge ai, data sciences

ð Any other:

Explain your problem in detail:

THE TALENT PROFILE

Step 2: Define the persona of your target talent audience:

Age: Diversity:

Generational focus: ð Multi ð Gen Alpha ð Gen Z ð Gen Y ð Gen X ð Boomers

Location: Skill, industry:

Tech stack: Certifications:

Behaviors: Motivators:

Key Talent Insights:

· example data scientists look for solving large-scale problems through data or talent searches for us on quora and not job boards

Which social media or online forum is most popular with your audience type?

1. ____________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________

Which other tech, networking or knowledge forums, events will they be found on? Think both offline or online

1. ____________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________

THE RESEARCH

Step 3: Research your competition, do an online brand audit

Conduct an EVP survey, identify what are your brand differentiators

List down your most progressive people policies, compare your rewards package with industry benchmarks,

Do a local business market analysis, map talent trends for your region

Do an industry analysis if need be, identify other industries from where talent can be sourced

Lookout for macro trends like corona, recession, boom, start-up etc.

THE EVP (Employer Value Proposition)

Answer ‘why’ should someone JOIN, PERFORM, STAY at your company?

1. ____________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________

Write down what you offer that no one else does?

1. ____________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________

THE METRICS

Step 4: Nail your objectives, what do you intend to achieve from this exercise?

Choose your success metrics

Choose the one where your employer brand is hurting the most

Objective

Metrics

ð Increase brand awareness

Hits on the website, social impressions, video views

ð Drive traffic to the career website

Interaction with the careersite, number of direct applicants

ð Generate qualified leads

Quality of people, candidates that enter the interview process, Source of hires, Time to hire

ð Showcase company culture

Likes, shares, comments, follows

ð Build a connection with talent

Engagement with content, increase in followers, connections,

ð Build a community or tribe

Engagement with content, quality of followers, connections, discussions on the group, influencers

ð Establish your company as a thought leader

Thought leadership Articles, whitepapers, opinion pieces, downloads, comments or discussions it sparks

ð Build employee advocacy

Number of employees involved, cumulative reach, engagement with their connections,

ð Improve Glassdoor ratings and reviews:

CEO rating, recommend to a friend, more authentic pros less cons, stars for career development, diversity etc

ð Any other:

THE CAMPAIGN

Step 5: Create a campaign with these insights and the end result you want this campaign to achieve

identify the type of content that will appeal to your talent group?

Central thought:

Campaign tagline or EVP:

Type of campaign: online, offline, through the line, print, social, mobile etc. __________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Type of content: ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Type of experience or engagement: ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

THE BRAND COLLATERAL

Step 6: Once your EVP is ready, write a blurb create a boiler plate. Create a master poster and a master design and replicate it everywhere.

Use the following checklist:

ð EVP tagline

ð EVP blurb

ð EVP symbol or hook (example infinity symbol to represent possibilities)

ð EVP designs, look and feel (example doodles or graphic or specific photo types)

ð Copylines, engaging content

ð EVP posters

ð EVP brochures

ð Careersite

ð Social media posts, pictures

ð Videos

ð Redo Job descriptions

ð Career graphs

ð Candidate Mailers

ð Offer letters

ð Recruitment marketing

ð Events branding

ð Booths

ð Merchandise

ð Internal communications

ð Anything else

THE TOOLS, TACTICS, CHANNELS, MEDIUMS

Step 7: Decide your activities and create a content + events calendar. And follow through

Recruiters, interviewer: ð briefings ð toolkits ð messaging sheet

Employee Social Profiles: ð LinkedIn bio ð social media policy do’s and don’ts

Branded Giveaways: ð yes ð no ð candidate kits ð new joiner ð award kits ð corona care kits ð campus kits ð others

Offer Letters: ð branded ð message form CEO ð transparency on ESOPS, deductions ð evp messaging ð career development ð opportunity letter ð total rewards ð wellness package ð Crisis care (corona or pandemic package) ð others

Careersite: ð redo messaging ð redesign look and feel ð launch a new platform ð new web experience ð interactive site ð gamified site ð new ai recruitment software ð others

Dynamic pages: ð specialized skill ð gigs ð diversity ð special recruitment drive ð remote work ð flexibility ð CSR, Corporate Social Justice ð others

Diversity branding: Focus: ð women ð pride ð disability ð ethnicity/race ð veterans ð minorities ð others

Highlight: ð cognitive inclusion ð Social Justice ð belongingness ð equity programs ð others

Diversity forums: ð Avatar ð Rise ð Jobsforher ð others

Certifications: ð internal tool ð ibm ð unacademy ð others

Jobgrams: #_______ Job families: _______________________

Careergraphs: #_______ Functions: _______________________

Culture Blogs: #_______ Topics: _______________________

People policy Blogs: #_______ Topics: _______________________

Tech Blogs: #_______ Topics: _______________________

VIDEOS: #____ Themes: _______________________

Live streams: #____ Themes: _______________________

Video channel: ð youtube ð tiktok ð IGTV ð others

Events: #_______ Areas: _______________________

Webinars: #_______ Topics: _______________________

Tech Forums: ð Github ðTechcrunch ðmashable ð Stackoverflow ð others:

Sponsorships: #_________ Level: Platinum #, Gold # , Silver #

Hackathons: # _______ Skills: __________ Forums:___________

Contests: #_________ Type:____________ Gifts: ______________

Referral programs: #employee _________ #candidate________ #vendors ________ #customers_______ #others

Referral prizes: Dynamic Referral Programs: ð gamified ð voucher

Recruitment advertising: #Google ads ________ #facebook ads _______

#job boards ads _________ #glassdoor ads _________ #Indeedads

#Linkedin ads___________

Targeted Ads: ð remarketing ð ai based targeting ð others

Applicant ATS segmentation: ð tagging ð targeting ð re-targeting

Social Media Channels:

ð Glassdoor ð LinkedIn ð Twitter ð Facebook

ð Instagram ð Pinterest ð Tiktok ð Jobsforher

ð Pride forums ðothers:

Social posts: #_______ Type: _______________________

People stories: #_______ Areas:_______________________

Spotify playlists: #__________ #leaders______ Topics: _________

Podcasts: #__________ #leaders______ Topics: _________

Podcast channels: ð apple ð google ð stitcher ð tunein

Use of Messaging Apps: ð Whatsapp ð Facebook Messenger ð Telegram ð Instagram ð Twitter Chats ð others

Use of bots: ð chatbot ð video bot ð others

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

How will we use our existing employees to champion the social strategy?

ð Just share their pictures, events in office etc

ð Feature them as testimonials in blogs or people videos

ð Use their personal networks to grow our brand

ð Anchor all brand communications through your people’s networks

ð Any other innovative idea:

Employee Generated Content: ð Newjoiners ð Leavers ð Hashtag campaigns ð Celebrations ð Recognitions ð Certifications ð others:

CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE

What new experiences will you create to delight your candidates and ensure they join your company on the promised date?

ð easy search and apply options

ð best interview experience – questions, tests, process, video recruiting

ð continuous communication

ð closing the loop (communicate hire no hire decision)

ð give feedback to unselected candidates

ð Unique offer letters – social media offers, parents sharing the offer etc.

ð preboarding forums

ð on boarding ideas – welcome kits, hashtags, social media pop-ups, welcome messages by recruiters, etc.

ð others:

THE MOST MODERN & MOST EXHAUSTIVE EMPLOYER BRANDING CHECKLIST

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