MassTLC’s Talent Community gathered at General Assembly to continue The Future of Talent series. The conversation focused on “employer branding,” with a discussion of the best practices a company employs to convey its business, brand, and corporate culture in an effective, positive, and powerful manner.
The panel included:
- Juliana Casale, ReferralMob
- Jason Jones, LogMeIn
- Sarah Wilkins, Dun & BradStreet
- Gareth Burrowes, Tech Connection
- Moderated by Shannon O’Halloran Keating, General Assembly
One of the first steps to creating an employer branding effort is to define what employer branding means to your company. This will help you create a more effective plan to meet goals, from working on inclusion efforts or sharing more about the internal employee culture. The panel also recommended developing an interviewing experience that efficiently evaluates the candidate and shares the reasons why your company is a great place to work.
The panel suggested creating alignment between the internal experience of being a staff member, the external experience of being a candidate and interviewing, and the experience of being a partner looking in. This is something any size company can implement to develop cohesion in the brand. Additional best practices include sharing thought leadership with your community via local media partners, fostering a sense of enthusiasm and community internally so that people in the community hear that energy, and encouraging people to share their stories.
Another tip from the panel: create an interviewing process, and think about every step from first touch to last. There’s no better way to ensure that candidates have a positive impression of your company than to focus on the experience of interviewing and coach both hiring managers and interviewers to think about that experience, regardless of the outcome.
The panel was asked for a company, other than their own, that is doing a good job with Employer Branding
- Wistia is Juliana’s favorite for their excellent work in showcasing their internal culture and for mixing up the content in a fresh and fun way
- Cisco is Jason’s for their efforts in sharing employee stories widely via social media
- Sarah recommends Sam Adams–their advertising shows their employees first and always has
- Gareth suggests HubSpot for their wide range of content and personalization
Finally, the panel was asked for top perks that encourage employees to stay:
Jason: 1) basketball court 2) efforts to get to know each other and call people by their names 3) liking the people you work with
Sarah: 1) no annual reviews, priority setting every quarter instead
Juliana: 1) allowing dogs 2) open vacation policy 3) investing in hiring great people and building the company thoughtfully.
Gareth: 1) beautiful office space 2) good food & snacks 3) healthcare
Shannon: 1) better maternity plan than others – go above & beyond where you can
Mike (MassTLC): 1) learn something new every day from some of the smartest people out there in the industry, 2) employees are passionate about what they do and work hard, 3) seltzer or maybe the flexibility
