A talent leader’s job is never done—even when there’s a lull in hiring. In fact, such periods are the perfect time to double down on one of the most important aspects of modern talent acquisition: employer branding and candidate messaging.
Recently, I discussed this topic at length with three other TA experts for one of SmartRecruiters’ TA Today webinars. TA Today is a five-part series that brings together talent acquisition experts who share their ideas on how to emerge from the current economic downturn—stronger and better equipped than ever. Below, you’ll find a recording of the session, as well as key insights to keep in mind after viewing it.
Session 5: Now’s the time to protect your employer brand and candidates
Panelists
- William Tincup, President of RecruitingDaily
- Modiara Kamps, Head of EMEA Consumer Tech Employer Branding at Amazon
- Sondra Dryer, Global Head of Employer Brand & Experience at Alexander Mann Solutions
- Crystal Miller Lay, CEO and Founder at Branded Strategies
What we’re seeing
- Now is not the time to stay quiet, to stop sharing content or to pause all activity – it will make it all the harder to bounce back
- Companies doing this right, such as Bacardi and Gap, show how they are taking care of their employees and the community through a difficult time
- Companies can still build employer brand by showing how your employees have adapted, sharing content authentic and relevant to the business, and staying in touch with talent pools
What you can do right now
- Share authentic and transparent content:
- Use employee generated content and how employees are managing this period of time
- Share what’s happening within the business: how you’re taking care of your employees, your culture now, how you’ve shifted production, or helped the community. Look at how your company is bringing people together or how your company can bring candidates together with your employees
- Focus on employee experience: how are you supporting your employees through difficult periods? This will have a lasting impact on your employer brand
- Tone: show empathy, care, being open and transparent in what you do while also being dedicated to solve and to contribute
- Provide valuable content that’s authentic to your audience. For example, if you’re a financial institution, share content about how to manage your finances during a crisis; help displaced workers with resume workshops,
- Continue to nurture your talent pool – be transparent about hiring freezes, take job postings down, send them communications about where the business stands; align yourself with potential candidates
- Check-in with furloughed employees often, keep lines of communication open
- Read PEW’s State of Social Report to understand where your audience is consuming content. Post content appropriate for the channel.
- How to get started with employer branding:
- Start internally: do an audit, send out surveys, figure out values, and differentiate it
- Pick data points that matter to your business
- Offer acceptance rate, quality of hire (based on performance review), turn down rate, training success rate,
- Build up excitement internally first
Check out the other TA Today webinars
- Future-proof your TA strategy
- The time is now: Re-skilling and up-skilling
- The time is now: Leaner operations, higher ROI
- The time is now: Internal mobility
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