Our society, and with it the world of work, has entered the post-pandemic new normal. In this new landscape, the labor market has faced numerous challenges, including the phenomena Americans have named the Great Resignation and quiet quitting.
Many companies have decided, or are expected to decide, to respond by implementing or improving their employer branding activities.
As the name suggests, this process involves creating a brand for companies as employers, making them attractive to potential employees. In this article, we will analyze the main pillars of this aspect of corporate life.
The central role of reputation
Although people say that you should not judge a book by its cover, this mindset does not apply to the labor market. In a world where social media play a fundamental role in everyone’s life, companies must take the utmost care of their image. This is one of the main factors in the decision-making process for people seeking a new job. Companies with a poor reputation tend to be ruled out for two reasons: the possibility that this image will transfer to employees themselves, and fear of the environment they would encounter if they joined the team.
Corporate culture and new generations: changes for 2023
Corporate culture has always been central to creating effective companies and working environments. Culture lays the foundations for a company’s vision, objectives, and values. In recent years, partly because of pressure from new generations of workers, companies have become increasingly open to areas such as inclusion and solidarity.
Millennials and Gen Z tend to favor companies with broad diversity, inclusion, and an interest in helping the community in which they operate. They therefore prefer companies that recognize their imperfections and try to improve, as well as those committed to improving the society around them.
Social media: an increasingly important employer branding tool
According to data collected by Universum, more than 80% of people use digital platforms to look for a job, and corporate presence on these platforms is consequently growing exponentially. Around 35% of senior management at the companies analyzed said they believe social media are the most effective channel for recruiting, while twice as many companies say they will increase their online presence by 2025.
One of the social platforms most widely used by companies is LinkedIn, a strictly professional platform connecting different participants in the international world of work. This application provides a setting in which employees, companies, and events are presented to a specific audience.
For companies, evidence shows that the best way to reach the desired audience is to provide content that is new but, above all, real. Despite the appeal of glossy magazine-style photographs or aesthetically pleasing videos, LinkedIn users seem to respond better to more authentic content.
Stories told by employees, accounts of the good and bad aspects of the workplace, or videos showing everyday work make a company feel tangible and less artificial to potential new employees. In this way, employees feel involved in corporate life, not just as parts of a larger mechanism but as people whose voices are heard, increasing engagement.
It is also well known that the words of current or former employees are far more persuasive than purely commercial activities carried out by companies. This observation brings us to the next point: the employee experience.
Employee experience and employee value proposition: keep it positive, keep it real
Employee experience refers to an employee’s experience, assessment, and perception of their company. A positive perception of the company among employees brings numerous benefits, such as higher engagement rates, excellent individual and corporate performance, and lower turnover.
One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to create a good employee value proposition. This is the relationship established between a company and an employee; more specifically, between the expectations and objectives set by the company and the rewards employees receive for positive results. This relationship must always be balanced and, particularly now when employees tend to feel discouraged or undervalued, tailored to the individual. The personal touch added to rewards is what distinguishes good companies from excellent ones.
Excellent companies take a people-first approach. In other words, they put employees at the center of their decisions, seeing them as people rather than simply cogs in a machine. By doing so, companies build a positive image and establish a good relationship with workers, prioritizing their needs and wishes.
People’s view of work following the pandemic is significant. Most employees want a balance between work and private life, tend to focus more on their physical and mental health, and seek a sense of purpose. These are characteristics of both today’s and tomorrow’s workers, considering that Millennials and Gen Z, who share the values described above, will make up around 75% of the workforce by 2025.
