Employer Branding For Dummies

Richard Mosley, Universum's Global Head of Strategy, is widely recognized as a leading global authority on the subject of employer branding. He regularly chairs or delivers keynote presentations at many of the world's leading employer brand events.Lars Schmidt, Founder of Amplify Talent and Cofounder of HR Open Source, is a leading strategy consultant, speaker, and writer in the fields of employer branding and recruiting.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: Getting Started with Employer Branding 5Chapter 1: Building a Strong Employer Brand 7What Is Employer Branding? 8Recognizing the benefits of employer branding 8Stepping through the employer branding process/cycle 9Laying the Foundation for Your Employer Brand 11Aligning with business goals and objectives 11Fitting in with your other brands 12Rallying the troops (and leaders) 12Taking an Honest Look at Your Employer Brand 13Putting the Pieces in Place 14Defining the give and get of the employment deal 15Establishing employer brand guidelines 16Giving your target talent a reason to tune in 17Spreading the Word through Various Channels 19Staying True to the Promise of Your Employer Brand 20Monitoring Your Employer Branding Success 21Chapter 2: Preparing for the Journey 23Finding Your Fit within the Overall Company Strategy 24Aligning with the corporate brand 25Aligning with the customer brand 27Supporting the business strategy 29Getting the right talent onboard 29Aligning with human resources 34Building Your Business Case for Employer Branding 34Considering cost-cutting benefits 35Checking out possible performance benefits 36Making Friends and Influencing People 38Getting senior leadership onboard 38Convincing marketing and communications to go along with the idea 39Getting HR comfortable with the language and thinking of brand management 40Chapter 3: Conducting an Employer Brand Health Check 41Taking a Look in the Mirror 42Finding out what you already know 42Conducting employee surveys and focus groups 43Taking a Look from the Outside In 47Gauging employer brand awareness, consideration, and preference 47Identifying your key talent competitors 49Evaluating the strength of your organization’s employer brand image 50Evaluating the factors that shape your organization’s brand image 53Weighing Your Competition 54Benchmarking your competitors’ media presence 55Mapping your competitors’ brand positioning 56Spotting generic plays and opportunities to be different 57Part 2: Developing an Effective Employer Brand Strategy 61Chapter 4: Defining Your Employer Value Proposition 63Setting Your Sights on the Goal: A Sample Employer Value Proposition 64Brainstorming to Generate Ideas and Content 66Gathering the right people 67Drawing insights from your data 67Conducting a productive employer value proposition development workshop 69Balancing Competing Perspectives 73Clarifying the give and get of the employment deal 73Weighing current strengths and future aspirations 74Balancing global and local considerations 75Differentiating Your Organization from the Competition 76Choosing Your Core Positioning 77Writing Your Employer Value Proposition 78Sense Checking and Stress Testing 79Identifying tangible claims and proof points 79Field-testing your draft employer value proposition 80Chapter 5: Building Your Employer Brand Framework 83Aligning Your Employer Branding with Your Corporate and Customer Branding 84Working with a monolithic brand 84Navigating within a house of brands 86Optimizing the parent-subsidiary house of brands framework 87Creating a Visual Brand Identity with Impact 88Developing Overarching Recruitment Campaigns 90Setting campaign objectives 90Writing a creative creative brief 91Choosing the right creatives to work with 92Testing Creative Solutions 95Checking whether a creative solution works across different target groups 95Choosing the best creative solutions 97Chapter 6: Generating Engaging Content 101Grasping the Need to Go Beyond Recruitment Advertising 102Mastering the Principles of Content Marketing 103Balancing immediate engagement with long-term brand building 104Local engagement hooks 105Exploring Different Ways to Pitch Your Story 105Showcasing existing talent: Employee profiles and stories 106Be bold: Cutting through the corporate speak 110Delivering facts, figures, and infographics 112Making the most of video 113Gaming your system 114Promoting Employee-Generated Content 114Facilitating employee-generated content with the right technology 116Developing policies to prevent misbehavior and mishaps 116Managing Your Content 117Assembling a content marketing and management team 117Conducting a content audit 118Tagging and categorizing content to facilitate indexing and raise its search engine ranking 119Building a content marketing editorial calendar 119Chapter 7: Rolling Out Your Employer Brand Strategy 121Winning Internal Hearts and Minds 121Briefing Managers before Engaging Employees 123Briefing Key Management Stakeholders 124Engaging leadership 124Pitching your plan to the HR/talent community 125Ensuring alignment with corporate communications and marketing 126Briefing Your Recruitment Teams 127Developing your employer brand toolkit 127Creating content playbooks 128Providing guidance on localization 129Getting team managers onboard 130Engaging Employees 132Think: Taking a rational, measured approach 134Feel: Nurturing emotional engagement 135Do: Inspiring employee commitment and behavior change 136Maintaining consistency and continuity 137Part 3: Reaching Out through the Right Channels 139Chapter 8: Constructing Your Recruitment Marketing Plan 141Sizing Up Your Audience 142Segmenting your audience 142Prioritizing your audience segments 143Creating talent personas 144Evaluating Target Talent Media Preferences 146Mapping out your media options 146Reaching people on the move (mobile) 147Connecting with active and passive job seekers 148Setting Out Your Plan 149Balancing inbound and outbound marketing activities 150Putting a recruitment marketing system in place 151Chapter 9: Creating a Winning Career Site 153Making a Great First Impression 154Checking off landing page essentials 154Integrating with your social properties 155Optimizing for mobile 157Staying a step ahead of the Joneses 157Delivering the Goods: Content 158Aligning your website with your employer value proposition 159Tailoring content to target groups 159Writing effective job descriptions 160Making it easy to apply 162Personalizing your response letters 163Creating Job Microsites 164Chapter 10: Developing Your Talent Network 165Leveraging the Networking Power of Current and Former Employees 166Understanding why referrals make great hires 166Setting up an employee referral program 167Building an alumni talent network 171Boosting Your Rejected Candidate Referral Rate 173Creating Your Own Talent Communities 174Chapter 11: Engaging Talent through Social Media 177Getting Your Head in the Game 178Where to show up: Choosing social channels 178How to engage potential candidates 178Laying the Groundwork 180Choosing a social dashboard 180Budgeting for ads and sponsored content 181Making time for social media 181Recruiting on LinkedIn 182Building your Company and Career pages 182Posting regular status updates 183Measuring and optimizing engagement 183Having employees update their profiles 184Giving Job Seekers a Backstage Pass with Glassdoor 184Making a Splash on Facebook 187Creating a Facebook Page 187Hosting Facebook Groups 189Broadcasting via Facebook Live 189Attracting Top Talent on Twitter 190Picking up strategies by observing others 190Using hashtags to source candidates 190Engaging prospects 191Getting your employees involved 192Gauging your Twitter impact 192Adapting to a New Model: Snapchat 192Leveraging Video 193Exploring ways to use video in recruitment marketing 194Recognizing the importance of YouTube 194Exploring Chat Platforms and Regional Channels 195Building a Social Media Calendar 196Chapter 12: Making the Most of Recruitment Advertising 199Raising Your Employer Brand Profile in Search Engine Results 200Using search engine optimization to improve your site’s search engine ranking 201Gaining traction with search engine marketing 202Sizing Up Paid Media Channels 203Evaluating your potential media mix 204Programmatic media buying 206Getting the Best out of Job Boards 207Adding a Personal Touch with Direct Engagement 208Personalizing your message 208Cutting through the spam 209Chapter 13: Making a Splash on Campus 211Marketing to College Students 212Understanding the student/graduate mind-set 212Attending to key touch points 213Evaluating regional differences 215Converting interns 215Designing an attractive graduate program 216Balancing targeting with diversity 217Choosing Schools Wisely 218Supporting College Career and Job Placement Services 219Reaching Out to Less Prominent Institutions 220Part 4: Delivering on Your Employer Brand Promises 223Chapter 14: Shaping a Positive Brand Experience 225Applying Customer Experience Thinking to HR Processes 226Thinking differently about HR 226Reviewing your current employment experience 227Engaging in Touch-Point Planning 230Conducting a touch-point review 230Touch-point action planning 232Designing signature experiences 233Chapter 15: Making a Positive Impression on Candidates 237Building Candidate-Friendly Application and Selection Processes 238Designing a professional and courteous application and selection funnel 238Tailoring your application, screening, and selection process to your EVP 242Ensuring a Positive Brand Experience through Induction and Orientation 243Focusing on the fundamentals 244Preboarding new hires 246Providing a warm welcome 247Designing an extensive orientation process 248Chapter 16: Engaging and Retaining Your Talent 249Conducting Engagement Survey Action Planning 249Considering the conventional approach to engagement action planning 250Leading with your EVP 251Leading from the top 254Ongoing Engagement and Retention Processes 255Conducting team briefings 255Engaging in key people-management conversations 256Identifying and responding to retention risks 257Establishing an early-warning system 258Maintaining Attraction and Engagement in the Midst of Organizational Change 260Navigating a reorganization 260Smoothing the transition during an acquisition 261Rebranding a merger of equals 261Part 5: Measuring the Success of Your Employer Branding Strategy 263Chapter 17: Gauging Your Immediate Impact on Audience Engagement and Hiring 265Linking Recruitment Marketing Activities to Objectives 266Measuring the Effectiveness of Recruitment Advertising 267Advertising costs 267Audience exposure 268Engagement 268Source of application and source of hire 268Analyzing the effectiveness of recruitment advertising 269Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Campaigns 269Social media costs 270Audience exposure 270Engagement 270Source of application, source of hire, and source of influence 271Using the results of your analysis to enhance your recruitment marketing 272Measuring the Effectiveness of Career Site Content 272Career site costs 273Audience exposure 273Engagement 274Source of application and source of hire 274Improving career site effectiveness through analysis 275Measuring Referral Effectiveness 275Referral costs 275Audience exposure 276Engagement 276Source of application and source of hire 276Improving referral effectiveness through analysis 277Analyzing Your Overall Recruitment Marketing Strategy Success 277Calculating cost-per-hire 278Measuring success in terms of quality applicants and hires 279Comparing your results to external benchmarks 280Chapter 18: Monitoring and Maintaining Long-Term Impact on Employer Brand Value 281Tracking Employer Brand Awareness and Reputation 282Measuring improvements in brand awareness, consideration, and preference 282Examining conversion ratios 285Conducting employer brand image surveys 285Drawing conclusions from external brand tracking 287Tracking the Internal Impact of Your Employer Brand Strategy 289Evaluating employee engagement 289Tracking your employer brand experience 290Evaluating the candidate experience 292Assessing the onboarding experience 294Evaluating employer branding’s impact on employee performance 294Analyzing Your Employer Brand Index 296Keeping Pace with Talent Market Trends 297Part 6: The Part of Tens 301Chapter 19: Ten Success Factors to Embrace 303Getting Your Leadership Team’s Buy-In 303Bridging the Gap between HR and Marketing 304Sizing Up Your Company’s Talent Needs 305Defining a Clear and Compelling Employer Value Proposition 305Building Flexibility into the Framework 306Getting Current Employees Onboard First 306Making the Most of Social Media 307Keeping an Eye on Your Competition 307Getting into the Right Shape for Talent 308Investing in Metrics 308Chapter 20: Ten Common Mistakes to Avoid 311Treating Employer Branding as a Project 311Failing to Focus 312Promising the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars 312Playing It Too Safe: Corporate Bland or Industry Generic 313Getting Obsessed with the Tagline 314Over-Policing Your Local Teams 314Underestimating the Resources Required to Create Quality Content 315Forgetting to Connect Communication with Experience 315Turning Off Your Brand Investment When the Going Gets Tough 316Failing to Learn from Experience 317Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Minimize Cost and Maximize Impact 319Building More Talent Than You Buy 320Maximizing Referrals 320Hiring Above-Average Talent for an Average Wage 320Targeting Efforts to Attract Fewer, But Higher-Quality Candidates 321Focusing Your Creative Spend 321Shifting from Paid to Owned and Earned Media 322Localizing Content Creation 322Encouraging Employee-Generated Content 323Creating Your Own Talent Pools 323Learning from Failure and Building on Success 324Index 325