Hey Humi community! This month we’re all about discussing employer branding.
We recently reached out to you on our Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to see what questions you have for HR about the topic, and we’ve returned with your answers. Read on to learn more about what employer branding is and how you can (and should) improve yours.
1. Why is employer branding important?
Let’s start with what employer branding is. It’s shaping your company’s reputation as a place to work among current and potential employees, and key stakeholders. It involves your values and mission statement, and how you communicate that externally through visual and written communications.
To put it simply, a company’s reputation has everything to do with their ability to attract customers and increase revenue. By prioritizing employer branding, you are bound to:
- Attract and retain great employees;
- Enhance employee engagement;
- Reduce recruitment costs;
- Improve corporate culture; and
- Turn your customers into brand advocates
2. Where and how do I help increase company branding?
This is a great question because it’s easy for companies to get lost in building their website around their product or service specifically, when there’s so much to share about the people who have a hand in making it all happen!
If you haven’t already, be sure to share your mission statement and values, and why you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place. What problem were you trying to solve when you started? What’s the journey been like? What do you want your customers to know about your people?
A great place to start is by creating a page for each team in your business. Who are your designers, your customer experience team, your marketers? Put a face to the power behind it all so people get to see the real, human side of you, giving potential talent a taste of what their job would look like at your company. For inspiration, check out our Engineering page where we highlight why Humi is a great place for talented software developers to learn and advance in their career.
3. How do I evaluate my employer’s brand?
Sometimes, it can be hard to know where to make improvements without asking your audience directly!
External employer branding surveys can give you better insight into what you’re doing right and where you can vamp it up. For more information, Built In has a great resource on how to create an effective survey that drives lasting results.
We also recommend conducting internal surveys as well to, as mentioned previously, ensure there is no gap between how your audience perceives you and how your employees experience your culture internally. At Humi, we send out weekly surveys through Peakon about employee experience within their own teams and the overall culture of the company. The frequency ensures everyone is feeling good and taken care of, and we can continue making Humi a great place to work for all Humigos.
4. How do we improve company culture and values?
If you and your team celebrate your corporate culture and feel it isn’t being well-received by potential talent and other key stakeholders, more often than not it’s because your employer branding is lacking. Take note of the tips listed above, but also be sure to take care of your people, embrace transparency, and be human.
It also might be worth it to revisit your recruitment practices. Do you treat every candidate respectfully, regardless of how far they make it in the hiring process, for example?
To learn more about how you can ensure the public’s perception of you is aligned with your values and corporate culture, check out our recent blog – “Does your brand identity match your brand image? Here’s how to mend the gap.”
5. I feel pressured by the public to take a stance on certain political and social issues, but I don’t think we’re doing enough internally yet. What is the right thing to do?
The short answer is, it depends.
Are you showing real support or are your actions performative? Does your public stance align with your company’s values? Are you doing the work internally?
It’s pivotal your company decides whether it makes sense for you to participate in certain social or political conversations. Giving your two cents because you feel like you have to is not only wrong, but it could result in your company being called out for woke-washing and damage your reputation.
Check out our recent blog for more information on whether your company should take a political or social stance. And click to learn how you can start to do the work internally to ensure everyone on your team feels safe, included, and supported.
