Avoid these mistakes in employer branding

Every employer has a brand, whether it is painstakingly nurtured or allowed to develop on its own, in the wild, without a strategy. The best companies shape their brand by effectively communicating and showcasing a solid message.

Employer branding is about defining your organization, what it offers and what makes it unique. A good employer brand fuels a successful recruitment strategy. Here are some common employer branding mistakes.

1. Lack of strategy:

Employers need a clear direction for communicating the organization’s unique workplace identity. Without it, there’s an inconsistent message, which makes it challenging to attract top talent that aligns with culture and purpose.

2. Inauthenticity:

This creates a discrepancy between the company’s portrayed brand reputation and the actual workplace experience. It also erodes credibility, leading to increased levels of employer turnover.

3. Lack of consistency: Job candidates want to know what a company truly stands for regarding the organization’s purpose and values. When the employer brand strays from those things, it undermines establishing a strong and recognizable identity.

4. Excluding employee feedback:

Without incorporating employee feedback as part of strategy, it’s hard to know what drives workplace culture. It speaks to authenticity.

5. Neglecting online brand reputation:

Job candidates look to online reviews and social media to form opinions. Allowing negative perceptions to fester can significantly impact the employer brand you carefully crafted.

6. Bland job descriptions: Generic and uninspiring job descriptions fail to capture the attention of potential candidates. Good ones convey the organization’s unique culture.

7. Limited employee involvement:

Employees are talent ambassadors. Excluding them means missing out on genuine and relatable narratives that can positively influence external perceptions.

8. Underestimating employee advocacy:

Failing to harness their influence means missing an opportunity to amplify your company’s positive image.

9. Limiting the talent pool:

This represents an obstacle to hiring and recruiting. Unintentionally limiting your talent pool narrows the opportunities to attract and engage a diverse range of qualified candidates.

10. Lack of employer recognition awards:

Accolades are powerful endorsements of a company’s positive workplace practices. In a competitive landscape, they highlight the company as an employer of choice.

11. Shortsightedness:

Recruitment and retention are a long game. Strong employer branding requires dynamic strategizing over extended periods, not random, one- time campaigns.

12. Not delivering on promises:

When a company fails to fulfill its commitments to employees regarding work culture, benefits, or growth opportunities, it diminishes the employer brand and the employee experience.

13. Lack of investment:

Without a compelling and competitive image in the job market, organizations may struggle to differentiate themselves from competitors, attract top talent, and retain their existing workforce.

14. Not measuring success:

Failing to gauge the impact of employer branding efforts can lead to missed opportunities for improvement and hinder the ability to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Here are three key steps to build an authentic employer brand:

Listen to employees: Measure what drives your organization’s workplace culture. Use a third- party survey that is confidential and research- backed. Actively listening to employees puts a value on their input.

Act on feedback: Analyze employee feedback to identify key themes and then act on that data. Responding to employee feedback demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement and prioritizes the employee experience.

Showcase your culture: Promote culture strengths found in employee survey feedback. Show job candidates and stakeholders a transparent and compelling view of what makes your workplace culture unique.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia- based employee survey firm. Energage is The Denver

Post’s survey partner for Topworkplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to denverpost. com/ nominate.