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Tips To Elevate Employer Branding & Reputation

One way to drive a lot of applicants to your open positions is to ensure your jobs are getting in front of the right candidate pools by pushing opportunities out to talent communities and social media platforms via your recruiting software. As long as you are hitting targeted sources and your audience is referring these jobs to their networks, you will start accumulating applications from people who see your jobs, think they’re the right fit, and apply. How can strong employer branding help?

No doubt, many of these passive candidates filtering into your applicant tracking system deserve your full attention. In addition, however, you also want to attract candidates who actively seek out your company for opportunities. These active candidates are not just stumbling upon your job descriptions — they are searching for opportunities at your organization.

Employer branding denotes the company’s reputation both as an organization and as an employer.

What is Employer Branding and Why Should You Bother?

Good employer branding takes your organization’s company culture, values and story, and makes it part of your overall brand. Similar to a consumer brand such as an automobile or a beauty product, your company needs to brand itself to become more attractive to its target audience. In this case, your target audience is not made up of consumers but of potential job seekers. Is your recruiting software equipped to handle this?

A whitepaper by TMP Worldwide showed more than half of all HR departments cite employer branding as one of their top three objectives. With the proliferation of social media, the Internet, and social recruiting, it has become essential to stand out in the employment marketplace. Does your recruiting software and ATS help you to highlight your employer branding?

Having a clear employer brand identity will help your company’s recruitment efforts. By branding your company as a great place to work, you will attract the right candidates for your open positions. Is your recruiting software helping you send a consistent message to all channels?

Additionally, by using your employer branding efforts to tell your company story and impart your company culture, it becomes more likely the candidates applying for your positions are the same people who will fit into your culture with ease. And we all know employees who fit into the company culture are more likely to stick around, which helps avoid costly employee turnover.

3 Tips for Using Your Applicant Tracking System for Employer Branding

So how do you use your applicant tracking system to establish a brand identity and attract the right candidates? Here are some ways you can use your ATS for better branding and smarter recruitment:

1. Keep Your Brand Consistent

One sure way your applicant tracking system can help when it comes to branding is by keeping your brand consistent. Once you have settled on your brand identity, consistency becomes vitally important. Other than a recognizable logo, you need to determine and articulate the culture of your organization in a way that all company messaging is kept on point. Your company tagline, corporate mission, workplace videos, and business practices that show how you interact with your various stakeholders should all reflect your overall employer branding.

For instance, if your brand is all about being socially connected, you will want to respond quickly to candidate applications and make yourself available to answer questions. You want your brand to stick in the minds of talented candidates, and the only way to achieve this is through consistency and repetition. Do you have the necessary recruiting software capability to accomplish this?

Clearly, you also need to ensure your company career site is branded the same as the rest of your company properties. Using an applicant tracking system that allows for career site customization is a great way to improve your recruitment branding efforts. Your career site now becomes an integral part of your overall recruitment strategy and employment brand.

2. Tell Your Company Story

Every company has a story and the work of your recruitment brand is to tell yours. Use your company career page to explain the mission statement and values of your company.

Make it easy for candidates to find out as much as possible about your company culture so they can envision a future at your organization. You know your company story is compelling, so share it as part of your employment brand.

3. Use Social Media and Multimedia

In the search for great candidates do not be afraid to get a little social. Utilize social media and multimedia to tell the story of your company and improve your employment brand.

Using a next-gen applicant tracking system like Simplicant, you can easily push open jobs to the social networks your top talent frequents. But you will also need to put in some effort to build up your social media presence and ensure it is consistent with your employer branding. This means staying on message, using relevant logos, and connecting personally while spreading your jobs.

Multimedia is also a great tool for improving your recruitment brand. Use videos and visual images to tell the story of your company culture. Do not be afraid to seek testimonials from current employees and use the power of online video to show candidates what life is really like at your organization. Candidates will be more likely to apply for open jobs if your brand helps them envision their future at the company.

Establishing a great employer brand does not happen overnight. Thanks to smarter applicant tracking from Simplicant, however, it is easier than ever to establish and maintain an employer brand the best candidates will love.

What are some ways you use your applicant tracking system for smart employer branding? Share in the comments!

Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash