Thank you to the thousands of employers who joined us for our first ever live Glassdoor Employer Branding Summit. If you couldn’t be there in person, don’t worry! I’ve got you covered – here are my top takeaways about employer branding from the day’s event.
To give you a preview of the live event – we had paparazzi in full effect with our very own green carpet and music blasting as you walked in. Guests mingled as they helped themselves to coffee and a morning snack and then quickly grabbed a seat and we were live streaming by 8:55am PT.
So in case you tuned in and out to each session, here are my top takeaways from each!
Robert Hohman from Glassdoor – Welcome Intro
Glassdoor’s very own CEO Robert Hohman took the stage to kick things off and intro us into the big bright world that is employer branding today. According to CEB Research, employers suffer a 50% deficit from a bad brand. And branding is not just for the rich and famous. If you aren’t a recognised brand name, you need to focus on your brand even more. We haven’t met a company yet that doesn’t have a unique value – the key is to find out what that is and tell that story!
Lars Schmidt from Amplify Talent – Keynote Presentation
Has anyone else anticipated the “ubering” and “tinderising” of recruiting? According to SHRM sources – 50% of the labour market will be Gen Y by next year. This is a social generation. And social media is NOT a strategy; it’s a tool. Smart organisations are using social to give looks inside their organisations and building communities of engaged audiences. Social media levels the playing field – you don’t have to have to have a huge budget to be social. Oftentimes, in recruitment, we tend to be too rigid and not forward thinking. Just remember that talent draws talent and continuous training is always encouraged.
Josh Bersin from Bersin by Deloitte – Simply Irresistible: Are You?
Did you know that only 8% of employers have an active programme to help them deal with all the noise we are exposed to daily? This is why you’ll see work/life balance as a common theme – people are overwhelmed! People don’t leave due to bad managers anymore; they leave if a job isn’t designed well. Studies show that employees on smaller teams have more fun and are more engaged. So be clear and transparent about goals and don’t under-staff jobs! 60% of those employed are now raising families. Life is complicated enough without work being complicated, too.
Pro Tip: Recognition goes a long way! Good brands also factor in diversity and provide employees with clear paths for growth.
Bryan Chaney from IBM – 3 Secrets to Employer Brand Storytelling
Bryan kicked off his session with some 5-hour energy and literally had people standing up in their seats! Coming in hot, his session was about how to figure out what you want to say when you craft your employer brand and what you don’t. In today’s recruitment market, information is out there whether you want it to be or not. The key is to know what your audience identifies with and realise that you are going have to think like them as you develop and refine your employer brand story. A good place to start is to look at your career site to see where the traffic is coming from. See where candidates are getting their information and use those specific channels to tell your story. Then figure out how to drive people to that information, and not just your career page! A multi-channel strategy is critical to your success.
Jennifer Tharp from AT&T – Content Is King, Distribution is Queen: Content Marketing for Recruitment
Your audience is anywhere that they see a job description. When looking at AT&T’s candidate traffic, Glassdoor’s traffic was more than double all other social properties combined. The same content isn’t going to matter to every person coming to research your company. Context is how you put it all together.
What do you do with the new way candidates consume information? Distribution! One example is a campaign that AT&T did around veteran spouses. Now when you Google “military jobs,” AT&T jobs will come up before jobs at the actual navy. Getting a message out there that doesn’t exist will draw more people into your brand. Target your message to the right audience. Employer branding is not just fluff. Apply a business strategy behind it to make sure that your work pays off. Distribution affects the overall strategy.
Pro Tip: Resist the urge to just link to the “About Us” section of your website. Add things that put real context to the jobs and opportunities that you are creating. Then automate with hashtags and other items – there are easy ways to do this without someone having to do this constantly. AT&T has one person auditing content …. “One”! Align the right content with the right audience – it’s the recipe for success!
Will Staney from Glassdoor – Announced the 2014 Talent Warriors Winnners!
We sifted through 500 nominations and whittled the list down to the top 10 recruiters of the year, or “Talent Warriors” as we like to call them. Check out the winners here!
Arie Ball & Anthony Scarpino from Sodexo – If Seuss Was Alive in Two Thousand and Five
The Seuss was not created by “I” because I cannot tell a lie. The same applies to your brand! Sodexo has a poet on their team, and they get together to help have conversations between hiring managers and candidates. Make your employer brand story fun and engaging and different to stand out from the pack! It’s not what content works best; it’s how you present it! This showed through and through during their presentation at the summit.
Jen Powell from Deloitte – Infinite Possibilities, Limited Budget: Optimising Your Branding Resources
With so many suggestions, how do you know what to say yes to? Like any consumer company studying why consumers are buying products, Deloitte studied what candidates like when applying to work for them. Of 3,000 candidate responses, they came up with 30 persona categories to target with their brand. Firstly from the survey, they learned that candidates are happy to share what they think! This validated some strategies that Deloitte already knew were affective, and also uncovered a few surprises. One key theme found was that employees really are your brand. What employees are saying about you is what candidates will think of you, so building brand ambassadors is critical to your success. One of the biggest surprises from the survey, was that when asking where candidates went to research companies, they answered that they were NOT going to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. Instead, it’s key as you develop your employer brand to know what sources candidates are researching when they decide to apply to your business.
Stacy Zapar from Zappos – Getting Your Brand Out of the Box (2:00-2:30pm PT)
People want to peek inside the company to see if they relate to the people and if they really want to work there. You want to shine the light on what’s already there. One way to do this is to pick a hashtag and encourage employees to share their story. They will see other employees do it and share organically! Check out our #100HappyDaysAtWork campaign as this could be a great place to start.
Shannon Smedsted from CEB – Using Video to Share Your Company’s Story and Attract Talent
Craft “the fit” into your story. While at Geico, their employer brand video was the 4th most viewed on YouTube. It’s a great and affordable way to get your message out there. Choose talent wisely for your videos and listen to feedback. Getting feedback from recruiters on what candidates say will help you tailor and drive your company’s message home. Lastly, have fun! That culture will come through on your video.
Alison Hadden from Glassdoor – Well My Employer Brand Sucks. Now What?
Jeff Bezos, the CEO at Amazon says that: “Your brand is what people say about you when you aren’t in the room.” Candidates experience buyer’s remorse when the company message is determined by the stakeholders or HR department at a company and not the employees. If you’re doing a good job of differentiating yourself with your employer brand, it will show up in your applicant quality and accepted offers. Be sure you are measuring in these two areas to ensure ongoing success!
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