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:
ð
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
#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: