First impressions matter: the impact of a strong employment brand

19 Mar, 2019

In a candidate’s market, your employment brand must set you apart.  Ted Coss defines the term and who’s doing it well.

One of the buzz words in our business is employment branding, which is used to describe an organization’s reputation as an employer and its employee value proposition.  The employment brand is related to the company’s overarching appeal to customers, but focuses on what differentiates it as a workplace.

Research by LinkedIn has proven that more than 75 percent of job seekers do research on company’s reputation and brand before deciding whether or not to apply. Companies with a bad reputation not only struggle to attract candidates, but also to keep employees.

WilsonHCG, a talent management firm, examined the employment branding efforts of the companies on the Fortune 500 list and came up with rankings.

Firms were evaluated on six measures: the quality of their career websites, how they present themselves on job boards, the content and volume of employee reviews, whether they receive workplace honors/awards, the quality of their recruitment marketing materials, and their corporate social responsibility efforts. Based on those criteria, the researchers assigned each firm a weighted score of between 1 and 100 points (with 100 being perfect).

Johnson & Johnson received the highest score (82 points). Intel ranked second and was followed by IBM, Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, General Motors, J.P. Morgan Chase, Dow Chemical, Cummins, and ADP.

I checked out J&J’s career website to see what the best of the best looks like.  What I found was impressive; a combination of high-quality videos, relevant information and career stories that, together, painted the picture of a vibrant and inclusive place to work.

Intel’s site allows the job seeker to identify their area of expertise (i.e. IT or marketing) and drill down to review relevant job descriptions and career profiles, and easily apply for roles.

Our candidates tell us that how companies show up online, in terms of what they say about themselves, and, more importantly, what others say about them, makes a big difference in their level of interest in an organization. In addition, employment brand correlates to profitability as well. WilsonHCG’s top 10 Fortune 500 employer brands earn a combined 157 percent more in revenue than the bottom 10.

When is the last time you assessed your employment brand?  Start by asking your recent hires for their feedback, and interview your more tenured employees to pinpoint factors that make them want to stay.  Plan to refresh your employment brand on a regular basis.  As your company evolves, the work environment changes, giving you new opportunities to tell your story to today’s job seekers.