What is an employer brand? And how do I go about building one?

In our last blog we broke down what an employer brand is. In short, it’s your reputation. And these days your reputation as an employer is as important as that of your consumer brand.

But what goes into crafting a truly compelling employer brand? And how can you go about building one that resonates with both colleagues and potential candidates?

Here at BrandPointZero, we specialise in building authentic, compelling and accessible brands for ambitious organisations like Cornerstone OnDemand, AXA Partners and iQ Student Accommodation.

Before we dive into the tactical steps of building it, let’s first understand its foundational elements.

Core principles
The first step is to review your organisation’s core beliefs and principles. This might come in the form of your vision, mission and values – or other strategic framework that sets out why you exist, your big-picture goals and how you intend to achieve these. Having a clear sense of these ensures your employer brand feels connected and authentic to your organisation’s culture.

Employer Brand 5Ps
Then we focus on five critical elements (what we call the 5Ps) to bring your employer brand to life. These key components work together to ensure it’s both cohesive and compelling.

  • Proposition (Your Employer Value Proposition)
    The EVP is your promise to your employees – the value you offer in return for their skills, experience, and time (the ‘give and the get’). A well-crafted EVP reflects not only what your organisation offers but also the shared experiences and benefits your employees can expect. This is the heart of your employer brand, and it must be distinctive and aligned with your company’s culture and core principles. Take a look at the EVP we developed for Cornerstone OnDemand.
  • Proofs (of your EVP)
    Proofs are the concrete examples and stories that validate your EVP. They include testimonials, colleague success stories, benefits, and any evidence that backs up your value proposition.
  • Position
    What makes your organisation unique in comparison to your competitors? Understanding your position relative to your competitors involves identifying what sets you apart in the market and how you offer something distinct to prospective employees. The key here is differentiation: how can you stand out to the talent you’re targeting?
  • Persona
    Your employer brand has a personality. The persona defines the body language, attitude, and tone of voice you use to communicate with your audiences. Is your brand approachable and fun or laser-focused and straight-talking? Understanding your brand’s persona will shape how you present yourself across all channels, from job ads to social media to internal communications.
  • Platform
    The platform is the campaigable creative idea that you’ll use to communicate your employer brand. Yes, it encompasses your visual identity, but really it’s about something you say and do repeatedly and become famous for. It’s an idea that speaks to your proposition, position and persona, and that you can return to again and again.

Building out your employer brand

But where should all this stuff come from? And how do we go about conjuring it all up?

We always begin by considering who we’re talking to. By doing this, we can create an employer brand that’s relevant, accessible, and inclusive. The goal is for potential talent to look at your brand and think, “You understand me. And your business is a place where I belong.”

It can be helpful to begin this process by asking two questions:

  1. Do I understand the diverse range of cultural identities within my organisation and candidate employee audiences?
    It’s essential to consider the different backgrounds, experiences, and expectations of people both within and outside your organisation. In particular, what they currently think and feel about your business as an employer.
  2. Do I understand the collective memory of each group regarding their experience of employment?
    This involves delving into the shared stories, references, and expectations that your audiences may have regarding the workplace. It’s about knowing how they perceive work, what they value in an employer, and what experiences have shaped their approach to their careers.

Armed with these answers, you’ll have developed a clear understanding of how your audiences think, feel and behave around employment in your sector. Think you’ve got all that? Nice one – you’ve just built cultural literacy for your audience! Now you’re ready to create relevant and compelling brand experiences for them, that deliver on the promise of your EVP.

From attraction to onboarding and retention, every phase is an opportunity to reinforce your employer brand across different touchpoints throughout the employee lifecycle.

  • Attraction: Job ads, career pages/website and social content that speak directly to your target audience’s needs and desires.
  • Onboarding: Design an onboarding experience that reflects your brand values and sets new joiners up for success. This is where you start building your internal culture.
  • Retention: The communications and experiences we serve the people inside our business need to be as beautiful and carefully crafted as those outside. So continuously reinforce these through employee development, recognition programmes, and other initiatives that align with your EVP.

An inside-out approach

A successful employer brand doesn’t start and end with external communication, it must resonate and capture the imagination of your people. After all, they’re your most powerful advocates. There are many different ways to build awareness, pride and enthusiasm from the get-go.

  • Launch events: A fun and engaging event can bring your employer brand to life for your employees, bringing them together and help them feel part of the journey.
  • Resources and guidelines: Practical but essential to providing colleagues with a guide to your brand, what it means, how it works, and how they can embody it in their day-to-day.
  • Creating advocates: Empower your most engaged colleagues to act as ambassadors to champion your employer brand both inside and outside the organisation.

Above all, make it easy and fun for everyone to get involved!

Building an employer brand is not a one-time effort, it’s an ongoing process. To keep it fresh and aligned with your audience’s evolving needs, it’s important to continually nurture your brand, monitor engagement levels, seek feedback from employees, and adapt your messaging and strategies to stay current and impactful.

At BrandPointZero, we make great employers famous by building powerful brands that pack cultural clout. If you need a little help taking your employer brand to the next level, then get in touch. We’d love to share our thoughts with you.