Corporate branding should not be confused with employer branding. Certainly, aspects like familiarity with a brand and the general awareness surrounding it, play a part in attracting job candidates. But employer branding focuses more specifically on a business’ workplace reputation.

Employee Opinions

Of course, current and past employees’ experiences working for a company are a significant component of employer branding. This is why so many organizations take note of the anonymous reviews posted to websites like Glassdoor.com.

For example, if multiple reviews state that time off requests are often refused, savvy job candidates will either move on or bring this up in the interview process. Rather than combatting these criticisms, employers would do well to take concrete action and make structural changes that actually address the issue. Just as employers want to hear how job candidates helped to enhance the business at their previous workplaces, applicants also want to know how employers have positively addressed staff feedback.

Company Culture

This is a topic that is gaining greater and greater moment among today’s job seekers as well as recruiters and hiring managers. In a tight job market, employers should be able to talk about company culture in a way that matters to potential employees.

That is, if the company has a mission and values statement that includes a list of generalized sentiments like “teamwork” or “respect,” share real life examples with job candidates of how company employees have been positively impacted by these values.

Also, if your company has a custom of offering employees meals like a “bagel breakfasts” or “free snacks in the employee break room,” tread lightly on this during the interview. Complimentary bags of pretzels are not going to distinguish an employer from its competitors, nor will they be a deciding factor for candidates who receive a job offer.

Moreover, these low-cost investments in employee moral can be seen as a superficial investment in staff. The same can hold true when hiring managers use acknowledgement of employee birthdays as a selling point during the interview process.

Instead, talk about how the company acknowledges work anniversaries and cite a few long-time as well as newer employees who have recently had an anniversary with the company.

More importantly, talk about company culture through the lens of employee development and career paths. If the organization has a training program or covers tuition costs so that employees can advance their skill sets, focus on that. Additionally, hiring managers and recruiters would also do well to tell potential new hires about how the business hires from within.

This can speak volumes about company culture. It tells job candidates that they could have a successful and long-term future with an organization that is vested in their career.

Plus, it can also help assure candidates that they will likely be working for a supervisor who has experience in and extensive knowledge of their role and of the company business.

Branding the Hiring Process

While the current issue of sourcing interested and qualified job candidates is typically attributed to workers’ desire for better pay and more benefits, the hiring process is another roadblock for employers.

When the hiring process drags on for weeks or months, the message potential employers are sending candidates is that the organization struggles to make decisions that will impact their business performance. That’s a red flag for job seekers.

Another issue with a belabored hiring process is that there is little communication between the hiring manager and job candidates that will keep them informed of next steps and timelines regarding decision-making. Keeping candidates in the loop will help keep them engaged and also speaks to how well the organization normally communicates with its employees.

The number of interviews that candidates participate in should also be commensurate to the position for which they’ve applied. That is, it’s understandable that C-Suite positions would involve a rigorous interview process. But far fewer interviews should be expected for applicants for front line hospitality positions and junior- to mid-level management roles.

The same holds true for job descriptions. It makes sense that executive positions would have lengthy job descriptions. Job postings for entry and mid-level jobs should be much shorter. A good rule of thumb is to keep these job descriptions to the same length as the candidates’ resumes are expected to be.

From an employer branding perspective, excessive job descriptions for these types of jobs tell applicants that the employer is likely to be equally as demanding and that can be a turn-off.

Read our 4 tips to help attract more job applicants.