While your business has felt at least some of the hiring ups and downs surrounding the pandemic, things have recently shifted. Suddenly, it feels like you’re struggling to retain talent – existing and new hires.
Employee turnover is a reality, especially in the current job seeker-centric, post-pandemic landscape. 1.3 million Australians changed jobs during the year ending February 2022 and flexibility and autonomy have taken greater priority now that workers have reassessed their work–life balance during lockdowns. Already, employers are at a disadvantage. But without the right employer branding, businesses may experience even more severe turnover.
Beyond just ‘Great Resignation’-inspired turnover, retention-related issues may relate directly back to misaligned or inauthentic employer branding – if employees aren’t experiencing what you’re promoting, you could experience a pronounced dip in job post traffic, qualified candidate applications and retention.
Creating—and maintaining—a positive employer brand
For many organisations experiencing significant retention challenges, exploring potential employer branding gaps is a good place to start.
Employer branding centres on employee experience – that employee feedback and reviews are the most accurate representation of an employer brand. This, then, tends to drive the search process: 88% of people say company reputation is important when considering a new opportunity and 44% would not trust an employer with a negative online reputation. It’s clear employer branding matters – especially now.
Achieving an excellent employer brand takes deliberate, decisive, consistent action and commitment. Organisations must:
#1. LISTEN
Tuning into current sentiment with an eye on not just hearing it but truly understanding what employees have to say and why. From here, you’ll have a better perspective on your employer brand and what’s standing between you and an ‘excellent’ reputation. Once you’ve zeroed in on overarching internal sentiment you’ll also be better equipped to spot perceived gaps between your employer promise and employee experience.
#2. REACH
With a better-aligned employer story, the next step is to promote your brand to job seekers. By encouraging talent to learn more about your culture and values, you’ll build a stronger reputation and increase candidate consideration.
#3. INFLUENCE
Likewise, by bridging the gap between your employer story and employee experience, you’ll create a more positive, proactive, and enticing environment for individuals. That will, likely, enhance employee feedback and public-facing reviews – the first place many job seekers turn when considering career next steps.
Granted, employer branding tends to be somewhat fluid. Market conditions may change, leadership shifts, companies merge and other major forces have the potential to disrupt even the most consistent employee messaging.
These organisations and others like them continued to listen to employees’ right-now needs, shifting perks, benefits and even pay. This, then, organically created added reach – internal and external messaging surrounding these added benefits designed to keep employees and their families safe and secure.
What comes next: Turning insights into action
Employees feel they were promised a specific culture – a culture of innovation, for example, flexibility, creativity, community, or career growth – and that’s inconsistent with their experiences. By understanding this, you can work to improve your employee experience so it better aligns – and, with that, curb turnover among new hires and, overall, boost retention. This can have a significant bottom-line impact: the average recruitment cost has gone from $10k per employee to $23k..
The turnover ripple effect
That’s just one consideration. Losing an employee can have a significant impact on team morale, training discrepancies, and customer relationships. This, then, can drive increased dissatisfaction, employee reviews and future turnover.
It’s not just recent employees exiting. If companies fail to adjust and evolve employer branding, you may see an increase in longer-term hires exiting the company. For these employees, the current environment no longer mirrors what drew them to the company in the first place. In some cases, it’s a natural evolution. In other cases, this departure is so significant – and so counter to an employee’s wants, needs, and goals – that they opt to leave.
And of course, it can also lead to negative word of mouth and reviews on your employer branding pages, damaging your efforts to attract new talent.
Identify and bridge the employer branding gaps
Spend time talking to new hires and longer-term talent and encourage open, honest communication and feedback – and be prepared to listen. If and when gaps exist between those outward promises and the existing environment, aim to patch them – or, at the very least, to align your employer messaging to be better synched with the authentic employee experience.
Those organisations that deliver on their employer branding promises are well-positioned to curb turnover and create long-term value for both employees and the business as a whole – companies that invest in employer branding may reduce turnover by up to 28%.
From there, look for opportunities to better connect employees to your business. Seventy-five percent of people say they consider a brand’s mission before applying for a job and when it comes to job satisfaction, many people find company culture is more important than salary. Finding ways to drum up that sense of pride can go a long way in terms of retention and employee satisfaction.
Give employees a way to feel like they’re contributing to the greater good while finding purpose and meaning in their day-to-day. Pride directly impacts employer branding – not only are employees proud to share their experiences but when promoted via social media, company platforms, and PR initiatives it helps project the positive, proactive organisation you are – an organisation top talent wants to seek out.
Next steps: Assessing your employer branding wins and real-time hurdles
In an increasingly competitive, job seeker-first market, reputation matters. Today, it’s essential organisations focus on their employer brand and, specifically, promoting a dynamic, authentic story that resonates with both prospective and current employees. From there, it’s critical companies invite job seekers in via social media previews, employee reviews and continued messaging surrounding their employer promises.
Reputation Matters
94% of job seekers in Australia believe that a company’s workplace reputation is to some degree significant in deciding to apply to work there.
Source: Indeed Lucid Data survey, 2019
With compelling, authentic employer branding that syncs with your employee experience, you’ll see a decrease in recruiting costs and time-to-hire as well as talent and employee engagement and retention. Likewise, you’ll be cultivating a community of not just successful employees but influential internal advocates – people who are more likely to recommend candidates, post positive reviews, and commit to their role and to the business for the long term. This is an ideal outcome that boosts recruitment, loyalty, and retention.
