Why Great Employer Branding is Only for the Brave

If you want to develop world-class employer branding based on authenticity and truth you will need to be brave. It's not easy, but put these principles into practice and you will get there...

Lean into your company’s adversity or gaps.
Forget about sounding perfect. If you want to be at the leading edge of employer brand development, make a move toward authenticity. You can be aspirational without ignoring that not everyone belongs as an employee at your organisation. The irony is, often the more you talk about reasons not to join, the more people want to prove they're capable of overcoming the hurdles you've laid out.

Lay out the “Give and Get” for talented applicants.

Be sure your EVP has true “Give and Get” shine. Don’t just talk about what you do for your employees. Educate job candidates on what’s expected of them. Speak in their language and be forthright. If there is a benefit or strength you want to showcase, justify the value of it with the effort or capability required to receive it.

"Give and Get” employer branding happens when you speak authentically about what it’s like to work at your company — including the tough stuff, like putting in long hours to serve your clients or bringing your A-game to every assignment without fail. But it should also highlight what an employee gets in return for doing those things.

Why would you show your brand in such a transparent light? Quite honestly, it’s refreshing. It also repels candidates who wouldn’t be a good fit, even if they have the right skills. At the same time, it attracts the best applicants who are most likely to thrive and willing to tackle the challenges in order to get the benefits that come from belonging to your organisation.

Revisit your EVP regularly.

As mentioned before, your EVP needs to be updated routinely. For instance, many companies haven’t refreshed their EVPs since the pandemic began. Nearly three years! That’s a mistake. Review your EVP at least annually to ensure it’s still a reflection of your employee experience. Check out our Employer Brand Maturity Curve to work out where your brand is at the moment and what you need to do to keep it relevant.

If it’s not, update it as needed and take the opportunity to build the change or transition into your storytelling. Candidates and employees alike want to see how organisations have listened, learned, and changed as a result of how the world has changed so much in recent months.

And remember, fortune favours the brave.

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