Your Company’s Reputation from An Employee’s Perspective.

incipioworkstg on May 20, 2020

Lori Fain

Your Company’s Reputation From an Employee’s Perspective.

When I think of social media in relation to recruiting, it takes me straight to employer branding. Employer branding is simply the process of creating, growing, and maintaining a company’s reputation and popularity from a potential employee’s perspective. It’s a crucial way for an organization to prove its worth to candidates.

What is the number one reason employer branding is so important? It’s the business identity of your company. It’s what makes your company a great employer and one that stands out to candidates. It also helps your team attract and improve your candidate pool for current and future opportunities. Having a reputable employer brand is a must for an organization’s strategy by helping companies recruit and retain great talent, reduce hiring costs, and improve overall employee productivity.

Tell the World You Are a Great Employer

A great employer brand is one that offers a clear message about the organization and what it stands for. It shows the company is committed to consistent communication with stakeholders, raising awareness of what the organization offers.

The following steps are a great place to start when creating your employer brand. These tips should set you up to boost your employer brand and attract talented hires who are a great fit!

Message – Create an authentic message and tone of voice for your brand so candidates know exactly what to expect. Make sure the brand voice is consistent at every touchpoint by aligning the messaging on your career website with video content, the application process, assessment platforms, and one-on-one conversations with your talent management team.

Culture – Recruitment plays an influential role in nurturing culture and ensuring you’re finding great talent. Consider what type of culture you are aiming to create. Employer brand reflects your culture rather than something that can be prescribed. Building a positive culture within your organization is at the core of a strong employer brand.

Brand Perception – Employees will unquestionably use platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Glassdoor and Indeed to share their work experiences with an organization. These platforms are a source of valuable feedback to address elements of your employee value proposition. Of course, not all employees are happy all of the time so watch out for pain points that may deter top talent from applying. It is crucial that a company monitor its employee brand on an ongoing basis.

Technology – Technology is a positive asset to employer branding and provides better communication channels improving the candidate experience. Technology can streamline candidate engagement, job search, applications, assessment and selection processes, as well as interview scheduling and feedback. Thanks to technology, talent management teams can provide an exceptional candidate experience that reinforces the employer brand.

Candidates are Customers – Jobseekers want to know about a company’s expectations, work style and interview process and that information is easily accessible during their job search. They may also leave reviews about their personal candidate experience. For that reason, it is essential to provide a positive, timely, consistent, fair and engaging candidate experience.

Storytelling – Once you have initiated contact with your talent pool, keep potential candidates engaged through regular communication. Storytelling might include landing pages that show videos relevant to positions within the organization or sharing stories from current employees about their own experiences.

Storytelling is an opportunity to make your brand personal, to tell the story of real people rather than faceless associates. By using engaging human narratives, you will attract the type of candidates who see themselves creating similar stories. That increases the probability great talent will enter the top of the recruitment funnel.

Layers & Depth – There are plenty of tactics beyond the written word you can use to actively promote your employer brand. Providing an appealing vision that inspires people can often be best accomplished visually – through photography, imagery or video. Many companies are utilizing social media channels like Facebook and Instagram to connect with their target talent populations.

Depth also means making communication a conversation rather than a one-way street. Consider tools like Chatbots for helping candidates get answers to their questions or hosting online career fairs.

Own your space – Make sure you are where your target talent is. Whether it be LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, make your impact in the right places. This tactic is especially valuable if you are trying to hire in an area that is outside your usual sphere – think of a company moving into new geographical markets.

Connect employer and corporate brand – A positive candidate experience adds value to both employer and consumer brands. Conversely, there are risks: jobseekers may stop purchasing or purchase less from a brand because of a negative candidate experience.

Get The Right People for Your Business- And Keep Them!

incipioworkstg on April 21, 2020

Lori Fain-Incipio Workforce Solutions

Why Retention Matters

Recruitment should go hand in hand with retention. In fact, I would argue you can’t have recruitment without retention. Companies should be both “recruit ready” and “retention ready.”

Here’s what I mean. The days of a large pool of candidates waiting to be hired are gone. That’s just not the case anymore – particularly in skilled positions where employees are required to have certain licenses or certifications. This requires you to think about what potential hires see when they do their homework about your company. It’s similar to online shopping. Before or during the hiring process a candidate will certainly check the reviews of your company and negative comments always carry the most weight.

As part of the recruiting process, you should answer several questions. What do your professional development programs look like? How are your employees treated? Are your employees being coached, mentored and prepared for advancement? Companies with effective retention programs are the most successful in recruitment.

How We Can Help

At Incipio, when we assist a company with recruitment we work on spending time upfront with clients. We walk through all aspects of the position, the organization, and the market. We go in and see where the work is going to take place. We meet the people who the candidate will be working with. We examine what both short and long-term success looks like to make sure the position is a good fit for both the organization and the candidate. Some of these conversations can be uncomfortable but they are crucial because the strategy sessions ensure recruiting efforts produce positive results as quickly as possible.

Bulking Up Your Business, Focusing on Your Team

incipioworkstg on March 17, 2020

Professional development is all about developing a team. Whether it’s professional or personal, development helps employees grow to better the organization while at the same time helping to better themselves.

The most successful companies, and the most confident leaders, recognize the value of training, coaching and development. When a conversation with an employee takes place in the appropriate tone and manner, professional development is seen by the employee as a perk – not a punishment. Communication is crucial to ensure the message is shared in the correct way so the employee realizes coaching could provide an upward career trajectory. It’s sharing with associates the company is willing to invest time and money in their growth.

You may want to begin the program with your top performers – your “up and comers.” People you see who take initiative but often are silent performers not seeking recognition. Perhaps you have an employee who is ready to be promoted but has never managed people. Now is the time to be proactive to guarantee success. When developing people or changing behavior there is always a learning curve. But if you’re following the plan and budget you have created, you’ll be prepared.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS

A development program could take the form of on-the-job training. It might provide educational opportunities outside the organization. It could include mentoring or job shadowing where a more seasoned employee takes part of the day to pass on knowledge and experience. You don’t need to do it all the time. Perhaps the plan says an employee spends a half day every two weeks shadowing someone across every functional area so they come to understand how each department works. This way employees learn and absorb new skills but are still productive in their current roles. It’s up to leaders to choose what is most effective for workers by asking what they want to learn and then determining and what works best for the organization in terms of time and budget.

Professional development should also include strategic recruitment. As you identify high performers and people you want to grow and engage you may discover gaping holes in your succession plan. Examining your bench strength and identifying early on where you have holes should help you decide if you can coach to promote internally, or if you need to hire from the outside. If you uncover a department that is stagnant or not growing despite development efforts, it might be time to bring someone in from the outside with fresh ideas and new motivational strategies.

They Have to Choose You Too – The Truth Behind Employee Retention

incipioworkstg on February 6, 2020

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about employee retention? Salary, recognition, opportunity, maybe even flexibility; We all think of different things that represent the idea that no employee or organization is the same. One of the most important things that can be done to ensure you are keeping your valuable assets (your employees) is to make sure you are treating them as individuals rather than just a collective group. Show them your appreciation by valuing them as people and providing opportunities for growth and development in whatever aspect needed in order to be successful.

The first place to start with employee retention is the interview. What is the point of working to keep employees if you haven’t ensured they are the right fit for the position? This means asking behavior-based questions that will better gauge their performance; past performance is the best predictor of future performance. Once you have established behavioral fit, you then will want to explore their work environment fit. It is important to determine what type of work environment they excel in working in and gauge how it aligns with your current company culture. As qualified as they may appear, it’s crucial that you get a feel for how they will fit within your company, culture, and your current team.

First Impressions Mean Everything

Culture. It is something every business should have and work hard to establish and then maintain. What you have to remember is that as an interviewer or someone hiring for a position is you are not the only one doing the choosing. How your company is reflected in their first impression, as that potential applicant comes in for the interview, sets the stage for whether or not they choose to be a part of your team. So recognition, feeling valued, and opportunity for development are things that you should be selling to applicants so you can obtain them as employees.

After you hire them you want to make sure you keep them! You have to provide an environment where they feel comfortable and respected. When new hires are not welcomed and made to be comfortable, they are less likely to stay with your organization. This goes for everyone on your team, especially those in leadership positions. Leaders within a company are looked up to and many employees seek their validation and respect. Making sure there is an equal level of respect and communication amongst all members of a team is key to ensuring your employees feel like they are truly a part of that team and of the company’s culture.

Invest In Their Personal and Professional Growth

One of the most important and beneficial things you can do for your employees and for the overall good of a company is to allow opportunities for growth and development. This has been a key factor in what has kept me with past employers because it shows that my personal and professional growth are cared about and that my success is important. There is always room for development and being given the chance to find better and more effective ways to do your job only makes the job that much more valued by the employee.

It’s impossible to read your employees’ minds, but they all want one common thing, and that is to feel valued and that their opinion and place in the company matters. Giving employees the opportunity to be the best at what they’re doing can be extremely rewarding, so don’t be afraid to invest in their growth, it will pay off in the end!