Employer branding can improve recruitment and retention by showing people what to expect from working at your company. It can build credibility and even protect your organization in times of change. 

Knowing exactly how to build your employer brand is much more difficult. A little guidance can go a long way. If your organization is prepared to bring on an employer branding agency, here’s what you should look for.

As another season of open enrollment comes to an end, it’s a good opportunity to reevaluate the impact of your internal communications strategy. When discussions begin and end with open enrollment, information about complex benefits may be shared too early or too late, and employees struggle to see the value.

Internal communications teams do a lot of heavy lifting to support their organizations, acting as messengers with incomplete information and little time to control quality or frequency. As a result, many companies see their employees tune out. 

As passionate as we are about employment branding to improve retention and recruiting, it’s easy to forget not everyone sees the work as an absolute and obvious slam-dunk. What comes as second nature to your organization’s marketing, HR and internal communications departments might seem alien to some, especially those at or near the top of the org chart.

More than ever, being an employer of choice is necessary to attract and retain talent. It can also attract consumers by demonstrating integrity and reinforcing shared values. But it’s not as simple as just aspiring to have a reputation of excellence when budget, time, and dated perceptions stand in the way.

In a world where brands spend millions to get a small chunk of time on the world’s largest media stage, we are used to the same archaic formula: puppies, celebrities, puppies and celebrities or the occasional out-of-the-box bouncing QR code. That has been the successful formula for Big Game advertising since its inception. Change the ingredients to that formula, and good luck cracking the USA TODAY Top 25. No matter the brand and no matter the product, that formula is the ticket to the most eyeballs.

Employee engagement is having a moment. While it’s common to find the term used interchangeably with job satisfaction, they’re not synonymous—they’re more like two halves of the same coin. Understanding the distinction will set better expectations, and focus your employee engagement strategy.

Recruitment marketing and employment branding are terms often used interchangeably, but they are different disciplines and should be treated that way. When orchestrating a talent communications strategy, these two instruments blend to create unforgettable harmonies. But they rarely play the same part. Each is capable of carrying the tune, and in this article we’ll explore their differences, their similarities and what you should expect from an employment brand agency working alongside you.

While employment branding plays a critical role in attracting new talent to your workforce, it can also have an incredible impact on employee engagement. Branding not only aligns employees with your vision, mission, and values, but it also contributes to a culture your employees can be proud to promote and share with others.