Introduction
Companies are always looking to recruit, uncover, and retain the most qualified talent out there. These individuals will work to accomplish the companies’ goals, fit into their cultures, and possess the drive for success. However, the problem is that not just one company is looking to do this; thus, there is competition. With a company’s image more visible nowadays, either via a jobseeker’s Google search or reviews on sites such as Indeed, presenting a compelling employer proposition is critical. With a limited number of exceptional people in the job market, one must attract the talent out there and maintain the individuals one already has.
This is where the employer branding strategy applies as it sets one on a journey to locating potentials that fit with the organization’s ambitions. Employer branding strategy refers to an approach that aims to translate an organization’s values, personality, and approaches to the audience. It is how one is viewed by the current employees in the company and individuals one hopes to recruit one day. Not every branding strategy is created in the same manner, and coming up with one that works effectively needs clear thinking, acceptance from team members, and refinement over time. To better understand the concept, it is essential to look at companies doing well in the job market and those not. This paper reviews four companies’ websites and career pages while studying their branding strategies and recommending how they could improve.
Discussion
Employer Branding Strategy
Creating an appealing brand and connecting with web-savvy job candidates is essential, plus it can lead to many benefits. Some benefits include better employer attractiveness to capable people interested in working in the industry and a drop in the cost of hiring new individuals and retaining them in the long haul. The existing employees are also more motivated since they are more connected and in sync with the brand values (Mouton & Bussin, 2019). Effective strategies can make a difference in an ideal candidate’s decision to work in one organization over another. Auditing the perception of a brand, as well as determining and using one’s primary marketing channels, are some of the best practices that give one the chance to influence individuals effectively.
The approach requires an employer to be transparent and consistent in promoting the abovementioned aspects to the existing team and those that one intends to recruit. Additionally, the approach helps to illustrate how a brand develops and strengthens over time. Prior to developing an employer branding approach, one must clearly understand how individuals view the company. This helps identify the adjustments or modifications that need to be done and entails auditing a brand’s perception (Mouton & Bussin, 2019). A detailed audit of one’s current brand perception, both via the existing workforce’s eyes and external audiences, lets one learn if the current messaging and image projects the attractiveness as well as values one targets. Especially in companies with global teams, it is easy for one’s values to be mistranslated or require refinements to connect with local audiences.
There are a lot of places that need examining, including employment review sites, social media, employee feedback, and Google alerts. Many candidates will thoroughly study the employment review sites before deciding on the next employer (Mouton & Bussin, 2019). Through such sites, one can know what people are saying about the company’s culture and processes, ratings, negative reviews, and whether they are an attractive brand. Investing in social media platforms and tools can aid in tracking the mentions of an organization over social media, so one gains a more understanding of how individuals view a brand. All this is done to accomplish particular goals, such as positively distinguishing oneself from competitors and demonstrating why individuals choose to work with them.
Regarding employee feedback, conducting internal surveys helps identify the problems that might impact a company’s ability to attract and retain talent. Regarding Google alerts, like on social media, it is essential to monitor the brand’s image on Google and determine whether it is in sync with the brand’s objectives. Generally, by carrying out an audit on the existing brand’s perception on various channels, one clarifies whether they are presenting a consistent, inspiring, and compelling message to both the existing workforce as well as potential recruits.
Apart from auditing a brand’s perception, determining and using the main marketing channels is a practice that gives one the ability to influence individuals. A company needs to identify how it will reach potential recruits or best engage with existing employees. As part of establishing the audience persona, one needs a clearer insight into what channels will connect with the candidate one is seeking (Chawla, 2019). However, it is vital to have the channels as part of the employer branding programs, plus that consistency is sustained across every platform one chooses to use. By electing to use the most effective channels, via a careers page on a website, taking branding to social media, or paid media campaigns, one is in a better position to target audiences more successfully. An employer needs to ask their employees how they initially came to know the brand.
Review of the Top Companies
For this paper, the companies that are being reviewed include Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Verizon, and Lear Corporations. Among the four companies, the website of Lear Corporations, on the one hand, is very compelling and stands out as exemplary. Prospective recruits study how a brand presents itself, especially online through a website. Looking at the company’s website, it is clear that many would appreciate how information is presented on the careers page. One can study the culture of the company as it is available on the website. The culture informs a recruit whether the work environment would be ideal for them or not (Roxo, 2020). A workplace that ignores diversity is not highly attractive to top talent in the job market.
Lear has prioritized diversity as it insists that the brand’s faces represent every spectrum of diversity. Such information is encouraging and allows recruits from anywhere to feel comfortable about applying to work at the company (Roxo, 2020). Additionally, the brand encourages visitors to connect with them through social media accounts on platforms such as LinkedIn, a leading recruiting site. General Motors’ website shows that it needs improvements. Despite its efforts to connect with potential recruits through social media platforms such as LinkedIn, the brand has failed to highlight the importance of diversity. This puts discomfort on the prospective candidates as they feel that the company would not provide a good environment for everyone (Chawla, 2019). Diversity encourages growth, and top talent in the job market looks to work in places to be challenged and grow.
How the Companies Have Incorporated Social Media into Their Branding
All these companies are aware that to reach great masses or audiences in today’s world, one needs to invest in social media interaction and engagement. Looking at their websites on their careers pages, it is notable that there are logos of various social media platforms that, when clicked, immediately link a user to the companies’ social media accounts. This way, potential recruits can interact and engage with the employers as they learn about their cultures (Chawla, 2019). The companies also allow one to be part of their online team by providing feedback through mail service. The company responds upon being requested for any information and keeps on updating the user with information on the latest job opportunities in the company.
Best Practices Used by the Companies
To recruit top talent in the job market, a company needs to choose various methods to help them attract job seekers. Best practices can include incorporating information about diversity in one’s job descriptions. Diversity is important, and job seekers want to feel comfortable working in a company that respects every individual. Companies, especially Lear Corporations, have used various ways to promote diversity and attract individuals from misrepresented groups. Another good practice is social media which is something that all companies use. Interacting with candidates online on social media platforms helps them understand the culture and how things are done.
The Companies’ External Recruitment Methods
Recruiters can utilize external recruitment techniques to discover candidates for their customers. There are various sourcing approaches in recruitment for finding prospective candidates, including social media, websites, as well as referrals that these companies have used. Companies must use social media recruiting to discover candidates outside the existing employee group (Arasanmi & Krishna, 2019). In case a job seeker does not have work experience with the company’s kind of clients, the companies have shown a willingness to establish trust with them, as suggested by (Dessler & Chhinzer, 2020). Consistently interacting on social media or being active has enabled companies to form relationships with candidates.
Another tool the brands have utilized is the use of website. A company must include job opportunities on its recruiting website, especially on the careers pages (Chawla, 2019). The more one promotes a position, the larger the candidate pool. Increasing the number of interested candidates aids one in discovering a good match for the client. A compelling website ensures that one gets a referral which is another excellent way of finding candidates. One can find referred candidates via their network, and thus, it is essential to show the client list and candidates that one appreciates referrals just as the companies do.
Examination of Techniques for Hiring a Diverse Workforce
Diversity, as well as inclusion, drives business profits and revenue. Organizations that encourage diversity have more fiscal returns than others, as Arasanmi and Krishna (2019) suggested. Those in the top quartile for gender diversity are also fifteen percent more likely to perform better fiscally than others. Executives understand that diversity and inclusion pay off as most of them rate them as critical issues (Arasanmi & Krishna, 2019). Below are ways that a brand such as Lear Corporation has successfully recruited a more diverse workforce.
Putting diversity and inclusion at an organization’s core is one of the ways of recruiting a diverse workforce. By making the two parts of the brand’s fundamental values and manifesto, Lear Corporations has allowed individuals in the candidate pool to consider working for the organization. However, it is not good enough to pay lip service. It is crucial to ensure that everyone embraces diversity, starting with the board members, and the company knows this. The message has been included in the company narrative, the website, social media, job descriptions, and internal and external communication. A brand needs to ensure that the recruitment agents also comprehend the company’s commitment to diversity, and Lear management is aware of this.
Another way Lear Corporations has used to recruit a diverse workforce is by understanding the candidate pool using people analytics. A brand that needs to improve on this aspect needs to use people analytics to understand the individuals working for it. This does not mean just obtaining information but using it to acquire actionable insights, drive business decisions, and analyze one’s workforce information to comprehend how diverse the business is. This has given the company a chance to evaluate the loopholes and design long-term approaches to deal with the same. In case someone of a diverse skill or background leaves, Lear Corporations has shown a willingness to create relationships that help them recruit other individuals relatively quickly to take over their position.
Another way Lear Corporations has used recruiting a diverse workforce is by considering introducing diversity targets. Once an assessment of people’s information is done, and the management is made aware of the diverse landscape in the business, it sets targets. Setting targets is an affirmative action that is sometimes disapproved of. Some critics state that candidates are awarded roles since they are from minority groups and not because of their qualifications. However, researchers from the London School of Economics discovered that it is not true (Arasanmi & Krishna, 2019). Having a set number of positions just for a particular group encourages individuals to apply.
Another way Lear Corporations has succeeded in recruiting a diverse workforce is by keeping diversity in mind in their work descriptions. A company needs to think thoroughly about the skills they are targeting and articulate them properly. An employer has to be cautious not to utilize language that immediately alienates a specific collection of individuals. For instance, utilizing excessive business jargon irritates youth from poor backgrounds. With the help of software programs, Lear can identify stereotypically-gendered phrases and terms. As much as the message is important, presenting it to others is more important.
Lastly, Lear Corporation has automated its recruitment procedure to help get a diverse workforce. An employer can utilize software applications to eliminate identifying data from curriculum vitae, for instance, race, age, gender, or religion. As per (Arasanmi & Krishna, 2019), research on ethnicity discovered that male Muslims are seventy-six percent less likely to be hired than white Christian males. The study also revealed that female Muslims are up to sixty-five percent less likely to be employed (Arasanmi & Krishna, 2019). Programs can assist in choosing candidates with the ideal skills and attributes for the job without checking their backgrounds, gender, or ethnicity. Understanding what gender someone might be before checking their qualifications paves the way for discrimination.
Conclusion
The paper is clear on what an employer branding strategy is and its impact on a company. For instance, one learns that employers use an approach to translate their organizational values and personality to the outside world, especially potential recruits. It is a detailed document that provides the public with what an organization can offer as a workplace environment—the strategy details how current employees of the firm, as well as prospective recruits, view the firm. In the paper, there are four companies mentioned that have been studied. However, General Motors and Lear Corporations stood out for different reasons. On the one hand, the former failed to attract a diverse workforce. One needs to do certain things to recruit diverse recruits, especially on the websites. For instance, as mentioned earlier, putting diversity and inclusion as an organization’s core is vital.
A brand can pay lip service, but it may fail to be enough. It is critical to ensure that it is accepted and welcomed by all people, beginning with board members. The paper has mentioned that the information can be included in the company’s social media pages, job descriptions, and website. General Motors has failed to be as clear on the topic as Lear Corporations and others. Lear is clear on its stand on the issue and even has made it a priority. The firm insists that the brand’s faces stand for every diversity spectrum. Such a message is encouraging and enables recruits from different backgrounds to be comfortable and optimistic about working at the firm. The paper has also revealed that social media is a proper external recruitment technique. The two companies mentioned above use it to discover candidates outside the companies. An employer is encouraged to build trust by consistently interacting on social media.
A positive brand image allows companies to attract top talent, which means they are at an advantage in the market. A company with superb talent will triumph over others which can be seen through revenue and profits. Such an image needs a lot of work, and establishing that one is diverse and welcomes all kinds of people is a great way to achieve that. Firms have been cautioned against setting targets in allocating certain positions for a specific group of people as it shows they are not qualified. However, others have also refuted this by claiming that it is suitable for organizations to have individuals, especially minority groups, have a set number of positions. People from different backgrounds undergo different issues from childhood to adulthood, and despite being in the same position as others, it was rather difficult for them. Thus, it is essential to consider all this and grant them a fair chance.
References
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Arasanmi, C. N., & Krishna, A. (2019). Employer branding: Perceived organizational support and employee retention–the mediating role of organizational commitment. Industrial and Commercial Training. Web.
Chawla, P. (2019). Impact of employer branding on employee engagement in business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in India: Mediating effect of person-organization fit. Industrial and Commercial Training. Web.
Mouton, H., & Bussin, M. (2019). Effectiveness of employer branding on staff retention and compensation expectations. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 22(1), 1-8. Web.
Roxo, F. (2020). Transmedia Storytelling as a potential employer branding strategy: Participatory culture and recruitment. U. Porto Journal of Engineering, 6(1), 66-77. Web.