A Focus on Consumer Brands may be Losing Candidates, Employees and Money
By Devon Kerns
Remember the good old days when companies just had to worry about the brand they presented to consumers? Today, it is more important than ever that these same companies develop, manage, and market their brands as an employer if they hope to attract and retain the best talent.
Employer branding, which was barely on any organization’s radar a decade ago, is now one of the top issues in the C-Suite, as companies struggle to find and keep high-level workers in a tightening labor market. Employer branding is particularly important when it comes to attracting, retaining, and motivating Millennials, who already represent the largest portion of the workforce.
Employers want to staff their organization with A-level players to maximize the productivity, effectiveness, and potential of operations and sales. The cost of having a team made up of predominantly B and C-level workers can be high in terms of lost revenue, low productivity, and high turnover. What more and more companies are discovering is that employer branding is playing an increasingly vital role in attracting and keeping those A-players.
Research from LinkedIn shows that companies with positive employment branding get twice as many quality applicants compared to those without. This is undoubtedly why nearly 50% of organizations recently polled by Deloitte plan to increase spending on employer branding.
Engagement with an employer’s brand begins with the job search. One study found that 62% of job seekers research companies on social media before applying. Not surprisingly, companies with bad brands have a more difficult time getting those candidates in the door.
One survey found that 50% of job seekers will not even consider working for a company with a bad reputation, even if the job came with a salary bump. In a survey by Glassdoor, 69% of respondents said they would turn down an offer from a company with a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed.
Companies lose more than just candidates when they have a weak brand; they lose money. They have to spend 10% more on recruiting to overcome their bad reputation, according to research by the Harvard Business Review.
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