What’s the good word about your company among current and prospective talent?
Another word for that word is your reputation, aka your employer brand. And when it comes to talent recruitment and retention, it can be a deal breaker.
- Three quarters of all job seekers in a recent LinkedIn survey said they considered an employer’s brand before applying for a position.
- Research by Glassdoor takes things a step further, showing that 69 percent of candidates would not take a job at a company with a negative reputation, even if they were currently unemployed.
Building a Team of Brand Ambassadors
Cultivating a strong team of brand ambassadors – including influencers connected to desired talent – can be a highly effective strategy to help ensure people are speaking positively about you as a business and an employer. The best place to start? At home. With high-performing current employees, whose word is typically more credible than that of senior managers or any marketing materials you may produce and distribute.
Make no mistake about it: your marketing collateral, both on and offline, is still important. But a robust employee referral program should also be part of your plan. In fact, employee referrals have the highest application-to-hire conversion rate, according to additional LinkedIn research.
- Employees who love their jobs become organic promoters of your brand, representing it outside of work as well as on the job. When they share their positive experiences, the result is a ripple effect that feels genuine to their listeners. And when someone hears about a job opening from a trusted source, they’re more likely to consider it seriously. As noted in Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising report, 83 percent of respondents trust the recommendations of friends and family.
As you finalize your recruitment strategy for 2024 and beyond, make starting or improving upon your employee referral program a priority. Initial steps include:
- Giving people the resources they need: Put together an effective culture around employee referrals. Provide the time, tools and technology to make it happen. Be sure to include a tracking method so you keep a pulse on how things are going.
- Setting expectations and guidelines: Be sure your employees understand how your program works, what your goals are, and what’s in it for them. The best programs include appropriate incentives and rewards for team members who make successful referrals.
Among the benefits your company can achieve via an employee referral program are:
- Better quality hires: Because a current staff member is essentially vouching for a candidate’s skills and fit, this leads to the probability of a better, more successful and long-term hiring match.
- Cost savings: Through employee referrals, you lessen or eliminate such expenses as multiple job advertisements and extensive pre-screening. Even onboarding tends to be swifter, since new hires already have a familiar face at work.
For additional insight on building your employer brand through referrals and related tactics, consider a partnership with Haley Marketing. Contact us today to learn more.
