A company’s employer brand encompasses how it’s perceived by current and prospective employees. While strong employer branding attracts top talent, missteps can deter candidates. Your employer brand consists of how people perceive your organization as a workplace based on values, culture, benefits, and more. With the costs of high turnover and benefits of engaged employees, optimizing your employer brand is smart talent strategy.
However, lazy or disingenuous employer branding backfires in a world where Glassdoor and social media expose your actual culture. By avoiding common missteps, you can align external branding with real internal experience for an authentic employer brand.
Let me employer branding pitfalls and how to course correct with the help of professional branding services.
Overpromising Perks and Benefits
Highlighting lavish perks you don’t actually offer breeds cynicism and distrust. For example, don’t boast about gourmet cafeterias and unlimited vacation if that’s not the everyday reality. Instead, focus on meaningful perks that align with your culture, like:
- Comprehensive health insurance
- Remote work flexibility
- Professional development budget
- Unique office amenities relevant to your team
Set realistic expectations while still demonstrating you invest in employee experience.
Ignoring Importance of Mission and Values
Don’t gloss over your organization’s mission and cultural values. Today’s workforce craves alignment between personal principles and company purpose. Go in-depth on:
- Founding principles or inspiration for your business
- Specific ways you are driving impact
- Code of ethics that shapes decisions
- Values like transparency, diversity, sustainability you live
This gives people compelling reasons to join beyond salary and benefits.
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Being Vague About Work Expectations
It might be tempting to stay vague around responsibilities and required qualifications to widen the candidate pool. However, setting clear expectations attracts better fits. Precisely convey:
- Key roles and responsibilities
- Must-have qualifications and expertise
- Technologies and systems used
- What success looks like in the role
- Cultural fit factors like work styles that thrive
Well-matched candidates self-select in while realizing the role isn’t for them before applying.
Focusing Solely on Positive Experience
Sharing solely the upbeat, positive aspects of roles and culture causes skepticism. Candidates know every workplace has its frustrations. Demonstrate authenticity by acknowledging challenges like:
- Learning curves assimilating to new roles
- Sacrifices like tight deadlines or urgent deliverables
- Internal growing pains as processes improve
- Decision tradeoffs due to budgets or resources
This builds trust that you’ll be transparent as an employer.
Stale, Corporate Messaging
Using stale, overused PR speak and business jargon causes employer branding to blend together. Instead, take a fresh approach:
- Incorporate real employee perspectives and stories
- Use authentic tone and language
- Highlight unique differentiators only true to your culture
- Convey brand personality through design and content presentation
- Focus on what makes your culture special
This differentiation makes your employer brand stand out.
Inconsistency Across Channels
Your employer brand messaging should align across all platforms where candidates engage:
- Careers webpage content
- Job postings
- Employee testimonials
- Recruiter outreach
- Social media presence
- Online reviews
Inconsistency breeds confusion. Maintain a unified voice that meshes external branding with actual experience.
Not Prioritizing the Mobile Experience
With over 70% of job seekers using mobile to search and apply, an unoptimized mobile careers site severely hampers your brand. Ensure a seamless experience through:
- A responsive site adapting to any device
- Easy reading and navigation on small screens
- Clickable buttons and content
- Clear calls-to-action
- Fast load speeds on cellular networks
A mobile-first design prevents candidate drop-off.
Failing to Track and Update Over Time
Like any marketing initiative, you must measure employer brand performance through:
- Candidate satisfaction surveys
- Net Promoter Scores
- Glassdoor ratings
- Applicant conversion rates
- New hire retention metrics
Refresh employer branding regularly based on insights. An outdated brand quickly becomes irrelevant.
The Role of Employer Branding Experts
For in-depth guidance crafting or revitalizing your employer brand, specialized agencies like web design company provide:
- Research into your current brand perceptions and needs
- Brand strategy aligned with business goals
- Authentic, differentiated messaging and content
- Eye-catching designs and content across touchpoints
- Analytics and optimization of brand resonance
An outside perspective sets your employer brand up for success.
By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can take a strategic approach to employer branding that attracts and retains top talent. Be honest, stay current, optimize for mobile, and track effectiveness over time. Most importantly, align external branding with the actual lived employee experience. This consistency results in an authentic employer brand that resonates.
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