A strong, compelling employment brand can help your business stand out from the competition and attract top talent in today’s competitive job market with near record-low unemployment. In fact, 30% of applicants from career sites are quality hires, the highest percentage across all applicant sources. This is largely because applicants who apply via career sites are among the most engaged, as they’ve taken the time to research your employment brand and what your team has to offer – instead simply clicking “apply” on a job board.
Not only can a strong employment brand help capture the attention of quality candidates, but it can also help you attract customers, increasing your overall profitability. Here’s how.
Hire Customer Service-Oriented Employees
When you think about your employment brand, what story are you telling prospective applicants about joining your team? f you don’t have a strong story, chances are you’re missing out on star candidates, who instead choose to work for competitors with more compelling stories to tell.
A key way to help potential applicants better understand your employment brand story is to define – and adhere to – core values, or fundamental beliefs of your business. Establish core values that the talent you’re seeking can identify with – and that can help you attract candidates who will best serve your customers. Highlight core values in job descriptions and on your career site.
In your core values, outline such criteria as being a team player and offering exemplary customer service. In doing so, you’ll be more likely to fill your talent pipeline with candidates who are dedicated to helping your customers. And with a team of customer-oriented employees in place, you’ll be more likely to attract new customers and build long-term relationships with customers you already have.
In addition to building out defined core values, to attract top talent, your employment brand should include a dedicated career path, continuous job openings, a comprehensive list of benefits and employee testimonials.
Show Customers Your Dedication to Hiring Right
More than 65% of consumers conduct online research before stepping into a store or making a purchase decision. This means most of your prospects are likely visiting your website before deciding whether or not to become customers. And along with taking a look through your products and services, prospective customers will have your career site and employment brand at the tips of their fingers.
Ultimately, your employment brand will give customers a glimpse into what kind of customer service they’ll receive from your team. A strong career site and employment brand validate that your business is dedicated to hiring the best team, providing effective training to all employees and creating a satisfying customer experience.
While not all customers need to interact with employees, for many businesses, interactions between customers and employees can make or break overall business success. For example, if you run a car dealership, customers typically make a purchase decision before setting foot in your dealership and your employees are the only thing standing between customers and the final purchase. If they don’t receive stellar service from your employees, they’ll take their business elsewhere. Or, if you run a home health care business and a prospective customer is looking for a caregiver to take care of his or her family member, they’ll want to feel confident in knowing your business is dedicated to hiring quality, compassionate employees.
In both instances outlined here, your employment brand can help you stand out from other businesses, attract customers, and encourage both customer loyalty and referrals. On the other hand, if you don’t have a strong employment brand and career site, you’ll risk losing customers to competitors with a well-established employment brand.
Beyond to attracting customers, a strong employment brand can help you continuously hire quality candidates and, as a result, improve productivity, customer service and profitability. For more information on how to build and maintain a compelling employment brand, download our Employment Brand Playbook.
