Griffis Residential

Christie Incorvati

Employment Brand Authority

Winning Talent through a Stronger Story

Talent acquisition has evolved over the past decade. This encompasses attracting talent as well as engaging and retaining people who will make a company successful.

This can be more challenging for smaller organizations to attract and engage with talent when they do not have the name recognition, budget or extensive benefits that larger organizations offer. Most candidates are not searching for the little guys; they search for the big names that they recognize.

I have always said, “If I can get someone on the phone, I can sell the company brand and talk about all the amazing things they do.” However, we need to get candidates excited enough to apply for the job in the first place. Small organizations can still compete for talent by telling a story with a strong employment brand.

Making the Employee Value Proposition Clear

An employment brand should represent how current employees, candidates and the public perceive a company as a place to work. It’s an opportunity to share the organization’s culture, values, leadership, employee experience and opportunities for growth. The employment brand should be clear and honest.

Identifying the value proposition is important to building an employment brand. You need to explain “why should someone choose to work here?” Smaller companies can display strengths in leadership accessibility, exposure to different roles and responsibilities, flexible work arrangements and the ability to have a big impact. These need to be clearly communicated through various outlets, including the careers page, social media, and onboarding materials, as well as during interviews.

“In talent acquisition, we can measure the success of employment branding efforts through application volume, quality of applicants, employee referrals, offer acceptance rates, retention and candidate feedback.”

Cross-functional partnerships with groups like marketing and IT can help bring your story to life. Starting small with more LinkedIn content and employee testimonials on the company’s career page can still make a significant impact.

Turning Employee Experience into Brand Advocacy

Current employees are a great resource for building a brand for a smaller company. They can share a first-hand experience of what it is like to work for a company. They can highlight their experiences working for the company or in a specific role, about the culture and leadership, benefits, and growth opportunities.

Things like testimonials, videos, social media posts, comments, referrals and participation at recruiting events can play a big role. Building a robust referral program can attract top talent. Additionally, employees hired through employee referral programs tend to stay longer, as they often understand the company’s culture before they start.

Providing an overall positive candidate experience is a crucial part of employment branding. Every touchpoint with a candidate is an opportunity to provide an experience and share our brand and answer the question, “Why should someone work here?” This should start prior to a candidate applying through rejection or hiring and onboarding.

Things like clear, realistic and inclusive job descriptions, setting expectations around timelines, and having recruiters and hiring managers attend interviews promptly and prepared. I think one of the most important aspects of a positive candidate experience is communication. Consistent communication helps build trust, helps candidates understand the company’s culture and values, sets expectations and provides important updates and information. Employment branding is created through constant and consistent messaging and experiences, not just one LinkedIn post.

Measuring the Impact of Employment Branding

In talent acquisition, we can measure the success of employment branding efforts through application volume, quality of applicants, employee referrals, offer acceptance rates, retention and candidate feedback.

A small company does not need a large budget to create a strong employment brand. Treating people well throughout their employment journey and being able to clearly and effectively tell the story behind the “why” can help a small company build a brand people recognize, and more importantly, trust and value. This can make them just as Christie Incorvati competitive in attracting and hiring top talent.