Having a strong employer brand is a huge advantage, not primarily because you get more applicants to your positions but because you get the right applicants. Here’s how we see it.
In the previous post, we shared some of the basics of Employer Branding. This is something we actively work with, and I’d like to go a bit deeper into how we think. It is extremely important that this comes from the right place — it has to come from the heart when you build your brand.
As an employer, you can stand for many different things, and in that way attract different types of employees. One company may be playful, another may be high tech, and some choose both (I’m sure you can think of countless examples). It’s not unusual that others, at least locally around our headquarters, want to attribute some kind of high-tech label to us, but that’s not what we primarily are. What we, in our own eyes, primarily are is a company with integrity.
This is something that comes from within — it’s not a strategy, it’s not a way to make money, it’s what we want to be and what we as a company, and as individuals, strive for. Just as with a company’s core values, I believe it’s the same with an employer brand. If your Employer Brand differs from what you actually are, then it won’t work. If someone joins your company believing you are hard-working, cutting-edge and constantly moving forward to new horizons, and then it turns out you are old, tired, and half-asleep once they start — that employee will leave for a company that can deliver what you promised.
In the same way, if someone wants to work at a high-tech company and comes to us, things will get a bit complicated, because technology is not what defines our corporate culture. We won’t have the latest gadgets, but we will always stand by what we believe in. This brings us to the key point mentioned in the introduction: your employer brand filters out just as many applications as it generates — if it’s an honest and accurate picture of your company.
Magnus Bråth
Consultant & Adviser
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.