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International employer brand strategist Brett Minchington MBA has recently returned from his European speaking tour and shares his views on channels candidates should access to research a company's employer brand before applying. Brett also provides guidance for company's on creating an employee ambassador program to drive unsolicited applications and grow talent pools.
Researching the employment offering
Today's candidates have access to numerous online and offline communication channels to research the employment experience on offer at a company they are interested in joining. Companies need to ensure the communication of their employer value propositions through offline and online channels cuts through the clutter of increasingly fragmented media and messages. They can no longer rely on traditional media such as press advertising to influence candidates in applying to work for them.
So where should a candidate focus their efforts to gain an insight into their future employment experience?
Due to the proliferation of media channels pushing out job vacancies and promoting the employment experience, candidates are in a much more fortunate position in their job search efforts than previous generations.
Minchington encourages candidates to research via the diversity of online and offline communication channels to gain a deeper insight into the employment experience they can expect at the company before they apply. Companies should embrace candidates who do their research as it pays to recruit new employees who are more likely to be productive team members rather than employing staff who find out they would rather be somewhere else.
Below is a list of some of the channels candidates can access to gain an informed view of what the company has to offer and how it differs from their competitors offering:
Online channels
- Career website
- Job boards
- SMS job alerts
- Company presence on social networking sites
- Webcasts
- Podcasts
- Job e-newsletters
- Employee testimonials
- Company videos on YouTube
- Google company key word searches e.g. "XYZ company and discrimination"
Offline channels
- Press advertising
- Career fairs
- Billboard poster
- Best Employer ranking
- On-campus marketing
- Community events
- Company events e.g. AGM
- Mystery calls to reception
- Talk with alumni
Let your employees do the talking
On a recent tour of the new Google offices in Zurich, Switzerland I was reminded of the value employees' play in delivering the employer brand promise. These company ambassadors are a powerful front line tool to communicate to potential hires what they can expect from joining the company and an endorsement to current employees that they have made the right choice. It also results in stakeholders speaking positively about the organisation.
Like millions of others around the world I had seen the photos of inside the
new Google offices in Zurich and wondered the impact such an environment has on employees. Whilst their work environment may not be attractive to everyone, it's important for companies to understand the needs of their employees and meet these needs to the best of their ability and resources. Every employee in the offices I toured took the time to stop and say hello or smiled in a manner to project "Welcome to Google -- I love working here!" Google does this perfectly!
Minchington suggests the following steps to start building your employee ambassador program
- Define your company's values.
- Research with current employees their perception of the employment experience. Assess any gaps and take action.
- Conduct research to determine client and customer satisfaction level
- Define the employer brand promise and demonstrate what it looks like to deliver the promise.
- Conduct training with leaders to deliver the brand promise (often they are the most visible and exposed!).
- Appoint brand champions throughout the business (from all levels) and encourage these champions to form networks inside the company.
- Provide training to ambassadors in presenting skills and working with the media.
- Reward behaviours that deliver the employer brand promise.
- Provide ambassadors with the correct tools to promote the company â€" this may include company brochures, vouchers, gifts, presentations on USB sticks, postcards or DVD's.
- Monitor measure and report on results.
About the author
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Brett Minchington (MBA), Managing Director, Collective Learning Australia and Co-founding Partner, Employer Brand Institute
brett@collectivearningaustralia.com
Brett Minchington is an International Employer Brand strategist, author and presenter who has delivered keynote addresses and masterclass events to executives in 14 countries and his work in employer branding has been published globally. Brett's book "Your Employer Brand attract-engage-retain" is the International employer brand book of choice and has been sold in over 25 countries.
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