Is your employer brand TechJam ready?
Employer branding is a buzz word right now, everyone is talking about it. However, there doesn’t seem to be one standard definition, leaving marketing and HR professionals in the dark about how to master the external perception of their organization.
With MassTLC’s Boston TechJam taking place on June 14th, we at kununu wanted to take the opportunity to share how exhibitors and attendees alike can ensure they are up to date on the latest thinking on employer branding and begin to implement some best practices. Here are some things to think about as your company prepares for the party of the summer and beyond:
- Define your employer brand– The first step may seem easy, but it can be challenging. Think about what you want your organization to represent to potential future employees. Start by brainstorming a list of adjectives before building them into an employer brand mission statement. Do you want your company to be thought of as hip, creative, technologically sophisticated, socially conscious, health-promoting, or dynamic? What defines the corporate image you’re seeking to cultivate? And then once you’ve given it thought and know for sure what you want to project as an employer brand, integrate it into everything you do. Because a brand isn’t a logo or tagline. A brand is a pattern that companies create, and people perceive. What do you want the takeaway to be for those wandering Tech Jam and what do you want attendees to remember in the future?
- Ask your employees what they think about your brand – Now that you have an idea of the brand you’d like to build, you need to see how it aligns with your employees’ perceptions. So ask! Set up confidential focus groups about company culture or design a survey to assess your employees’ perceptions. Look for areas of strength as well as places where brand perceptions have room to grow. Are those individuals that are going to be representing you align with the brand you’ve created? Do they agree with the message?
- Find out what the people want from your company, in general– This goes even further than the perception of your employer brand. Look for concrete strategies to improve your standing as a good employer among your team members in actual practice. Leadership and advancement opportunities, flexible schedules, continuing education, and wellness events are often cited as benefits that improve employee satisfaction. Utilize Tech Jam as an opportunity to showcase what you do for your team and see what reactions and responses you receive – this can be a great benchmark to prioritize changes that may need to be made in the future.
- Be transparent– Promoting top-down transparency regarding mission and strategy can make even your most junior employees feel empowered. The goal is to build trust among your employees, allowing them to see that you value an open work culture. This makes employees feel connected to the mission of the organization, motivating them to become brand advocates. It’s also important to embrace transparency when sharing the company with potential candidates and customers. This brings trust and understanding to the forefront and shows anyone looking at applying to your organization that you put your workforce first.
- Make it easy for employees to become advocates– If your company has satisfied employees and a generally healthy internal culture, there are probably some team members who are already able and motivated to advocate for your company as an employer but they’re just looking for the best ways to do so. Your next move should be to give them concrete ways to be the positive employer brand advocates they’re ready to be. Beyond career fairs and other events, we hope your biggest advocates will be attending TechJam! Think about making a street team or an events team that knows anything and everything about your brand.
- Encourage employees to share their experiences – The Internet can be scary for organizations used to controlling their public relations messaging. Rather than trying to stifle employees’ voices, try the opposite approach: encouraging them to widely share their experiences with your company. Assuming you’ve done the hard work of building a positive company culture, this can be an excellent way to get the word out about your fantastic organization. Ask them to write reviews of your organization and interact with their social networks about your brand. Their authentic voices will be more powerful than the most carefully crafted marketing message coming from your PR team.
While this is a lot to think about, it doesn’t need to be done overnight. Take each step one at a time and ultimately, you’ll end up with a stronger employer brand. Interested in learning more? Come talk to kununu in the Bold section at booth 13 during TechJam. You can also leave a review about your experience at your organization –we’ll even give you a $5 gift card for your time.
