What’s your recruitment brand?

If you’re like many companies these days, you may be in hiring mode and on the lookout for the top talent in your industry or at least thinking about growth opportunities on the horizon.  With the war on talent heating up, it’s crucial to be on your game when it comes to promoting your corporate brand to the key audiences – clients, colleagues, employees and potential employees.

We’ve talked about the importance of culture, which is, in a nut shell, your shared corporate values.  Your recruitment brand is how those values, attitudes and behaviors get communicated to those seeking employment with your company or organization.  It’s an expression of your culture and captures the essence of what it’s like to work for your company.

Your recruitment brand is in everything you say and do (or what you don’t say or do) that has an effect on a potential employee.  It’s your reputation as an employer and the image your company portrays.Think of it in terms of a brand image of a company you admire or aspire to be.  Maybe it’s Coca-Cola, Google, Apple, Nike or another successful corporation, or even your competition.   Now think of how those companies communicate their brand to prospective employees.  What do you think they do to make themselves the envy of others when it comes to hiring? Why do these companies tend to have low turnover and heavy competition for their openings?

Here are a few questions to consider in order to evaluate whether you’re creating a positive or negative experience with respect to your recruitment brand:

• What is a candidate’s initial introduction to your company or job listing?
• Does your HR team or job posting provide a good overview of the open position(s) and a simple application process?
• Does your website or career page provide a good snapshot of your company and its culture?
• How does your internal HR team or outsourced recruiting firm respond to all of the inquiries you receive, if you respond at all?
• What sort of impression does your HR team leave with candidates whether they are initially contacted or when they are rejected?
• How well orchestrated was the coordination between hiring managers and candidates for interviews, follow-up, etc.?
• Do you communicate in a timely fashion?
• What kind of greeting did the candidate receive at reception when they arrived for an interview?

It’s also important to note that the experience continues after your candidate accepts a position with your company.  Their initial experience with you in the days following an offer is also a reflection of your recruitment brand. Make a good first impression since it is widely suggested that there is a direct correlation between an employee’s first day on the job and the longevity of their career with a company.

• Do you give new hires a sufficient timeline to start their new position?
• Have you planned for what they will experience is the first hour, day and week on the job
• Was their computer, working space and/or other tools for the job set-up upon arrival?
• What types of activities were coordinated to welcome your new employee to the team?

Companies who do not pay close attention to their recruitment brand or invest the proper time and resources in developing one will not have the ability to compete for the best candidates, or at the very least, the right fit of applicants.

One of the best ways to get a feel for your recruitment brand is to ask your staff about their hiring experience, what attracted them to the company and what it’s really like to work in the organization. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions and embrace the criticism, so you can foster a more welcoming corporate culture and improve your recruitment brand when and where it needs it. One of the biggest investments you’ll make is your people. So, hiring and keeping the right ones is critical. A consistently stellar recruitment brand will ensure you are sought after and able to attract the cream of the crop when the timing is right.