Every organization, regardless of its size or form, has two sides: the employer or employer’s brand side; and the employee or employee’s brand position.

The latter is internal, primarily focusing on individuals and their perceptions of the company they work for. 

In addition, a great employee brand elevates your firm from the inside, with the ultimate objective of making it appealing on the outside through the eyes of your current employees.

In this post, we’re digging deeper into employee branding; we will be covering the following:

• What is employee branding?
• Why is employee branding important?
• What is the difference between employee branding and employer branding?
• 7 tips on building an employee branding strategy
• 4 great employee branding examples that spark inspiration

Table of Contents

What is Employee Branding?

Why is Employee Branding Important?

What is the Difference Between Employee Branding and Employer Branding?

7 Tips on Building an Employee Branding Strategy

4 Great Employee Branding Examples that Spark Inspiration

What is Employee Branding?

Employee branding describes an employer’s reputation within its workforce or how workers regard their employer. 

It can make the organization more appealing to job seekers and allow you to keep existing employees who share the company’s culture and values.

What’s more, employee branding is considered a marketing approach that helps workers to create favorable attitudes toward their firm, allowing them to be more effective brand ambassadors. 

The aim is to have every employee thrilled about working for the company and instill a sense of pride. 

Why is Employee Branding Important?

Employee branding is important because it sends a unified message about your organization and its culture.

We are all aware that the world has changed dramatically in recent years, in which over 5 million people have quit their employment to establish their own enterprises. 

Furthermore, employee branding is vital because it attracts the best people to your company. 

People in today’s environment want more than just a salary; they want to work for organizations that share their beliefs and core values.

According to LinkedIn statistics, job hunters are becoming more selective, reading almost twice as many job postings before applying to them in 2021 than in 2019.

Employee branding is also crucial since it guarantees that your staff are satisfied, engaged, and loyal to your company. 

Also, keeping workers happy can reduce internal risks to data security caused by angry staff.

When you concentrate on presenting a consistent brand image to consumers and workers, both groups will understand and be motivated by what you stand for.

Additionally, incorporating employee branding comes with various benefits; let’s check them right below:

Benefit #1: The company attracts better talent

According to statistics, 94% of job seekers prefer to apply for a position at a firm with strong employee branding in the business sector.

In addition to employee referral programs, a recruiter’s favorite employee referral programs are often powered by constructed employee branding, where current workers feel connected with the company’s objectives.

Employee talent acquisition, or job poaching, is every employer’s worst fear. 

So, firms now confront personnel acquisition and retention challenges as rivals raise pay packages to attract the market’s top talent.

Benefit #2: Improved employee retention ratio

Good employee branding enables you to recruit competent candidates. 

In general, you want to maintain your most significant assets so that you won’t replace them anytime soon.

On the other hand, establishing a relationship with potential workers before and throughout the recruiting process (as well as the onboarding process) encourages those future employees to be highly engaged with the organization.

And, as we all know, happier employees equal greater productivity, improved corporate morale, and lower employee turnover.

Benefit #3: Improved employee productivity

It’s not always about finding qualified potential employees. 

Better employee branding involves providing a great working environment, career growth, personal development, and other benefits to your current personnel, which increases productivity.

What is the Difference Between Employee Branding and Employer Branding?

When it comes to definitions and aims, employee branding and employer branding overlap. 

They do, however, offer some significant differences that are worth observing and grasping.

Similarities between employee branding and employer branding

• Influence how prospective employees see your company
• Assist you in attracting superior people to improve corporate outcomes and minimize turnover
• Persuade clients (and future customers) to be more trustworthy and enthusiastic about working with your business

Differences between employee branding and employer branding

• Your human resources personnel and corporate leaders dictate the direction of your employer’s brand and brand reputation in terms of purpose and values
• Employer branding emphasizes work culture, company perks, and opportunities for advancement
• Employee branding focuses on the communications and experiences workers have with the company and their job
• Employee experience guides employee branding, highlighting what it’s like to work for the company, how enthusiastic employees are about the organization, and if these team members are naturally brand advocates

7 Tips on Building a Successful Employee Branding Strategy

Today, a company’s reputation and branding efforts are more critical than ever. 

According to surveys, 86% of individuals wouldn’t apply for or continue to work for a firm with a bad image.

So, whether you’re planning and monitoring your employee brand or not, it’s more important than you realize.

Tip #1: Understand your employer’s brand

To convey corporate values more effectively, the first tip and first stage in any employee branding plan are to understand employer branding and link it with employee branding.

The best employee branding is based on the premise that the people who work for the company feel linked to it and share what they are experiencing within it.

You can’t expect your workers to convey to the world that your business believes in well-being if they’re often required to work extra hours or deal with disrespectful management.

Whatever the brand claims, it must be consistent with how the brand functions inside.

A solid reputation as a great workplace is the foundation for a successful employee brand.

Tip #2: Create a sense of belonging

Creating a sense of belonging and solidarity will enhance employee branding and employee engagement. 

Getting leadership on board is an excellent way to accelerate workplace diversity, equality, and inclusion. 

Company culture often emanates from the top.

Therefore, if managers preach and prioritize creating a safe and inviting environment for all workers and then model this conduct for their employees, team members are more likely to follow suit.

Leaders should try to assist all workers in addition to serving as an advocate for marginalized groups. 

Also, diverse team members may not want to be treated differently or separated from the rest of the team. 

According to McKinsey’s diversity study, organizations with a more diversified gender, culture, and ethnicity outperform employers that don’t embrace diversity.

According to the study, organizations in the top quartile for gender diversity outperform those in the fourth quartile by 21%.

There was a 33% chance of outperformance on EBIT margin for ethnic and cultural diversity.

Also, managers and executives who reach out and welcome workers, learn about team members, and establish warm connections make employees feel protected and appreciated, and foster a feeling of belonging.

Plus, providing a brand training program to educate staff about distinctions like neurodiversity helps raise awareness of the value of inclusiveness. 

Employers and workers should get training that is suited to their individual needs. 

Leaders should communicate the purpose of the training to workers so that they understand the objectives and are motivated to participate.

Another great way to boost the sense of belonging in the workplace is to provide swag items.

Branded items help enhance team-building and create a better feeling of identity. 

So, welcoming new employees with swag bundles can be a great way to promote positive employee culture and company values right from the start.

Tip #3: Provide a great candidate experience

How often do your HR and recruitment staff analyze the applicant experience during interviews and staff onboarding? Do they even inquire about the experience?

Maybe your company consistently does this, but generally, this crucial step has been lagging.

To create a successful employee branding strategy, you must first understand the right talent mentality and employee experience, which have a significant influence.

What’s more, employees should feel empowered and allowed to express their positive and negative opinions about the brand. 

So, always create and implement workplace programs to increase employee happiness, improve retention rates, and get employees excited about working for your organization.

This makes it simpler to attract outstanding applicants and pique the interest of outsiders to your culture. 

In addition, workers will be more motivated and become trusted company brand champions.

Tip #4: Educate your employees about your brand

When qualified job candidates walk through your doors, you don’t just toss them on the front lines.

Before they can represent your company, they must first learn who the brand is, what it stands for, its values, and how to convey all of this via frontline interaction.

A strategic brand comprises several aspects, including the purpose, vision, values, positioning, character, tone of voice, language, message, and narrative.

Tip #5: Harness the power of social media

Employee advocacy, or social media in the workplace, is a potent tactic that boosts the efficacy of employee branding.

Encourage workers to interact, create, and communicate about their work?and the firm?once your workplace culture and mission statement are well put together. 

It not only makes employees feel trusted and enthusiastic, but it may also benefit their coworkers.

What’s more, these social posts attract the best talent and motivate workers’ networks to apply for new opportunities. 

Using social media channels at work may also impact marketing and sales.

People want to work with and for companies that care about their employees and provide a positive work environment.

So consider a few hundred or thousand workers discussing their jobs, the firm, and its culture as it brings your employee brand in front of many people.

Tip #6: Leverage surveys

You can take surveys, employee feedback sessions, one-on-one discussions, and so on with current and potential prospects to determine how well they grasp the company’s ambitions, purpose, and values. 

Additionally, try to search social media and read the comments and reviews from various websites, as this is an essential aspect of employee branding strategies.

Tip #7: Invest in employee communication

You should have an internal communications strategy to provide your staff with the necessary information.

Keep in mind the distinction between “engage” and “reach” since your present internal messages are most likely reaching your staff (or at least their inboxes). 

However, scanning an email or retaining the significance of an important message is not the same thing. 

A company-wide email about a new policy or statement is tedious and time-consuming. But, most significantly, it is often ineffectual.

Plus, external marketing is segmented to reach the appropriate client with the correct message at the right time, so internal communications should follow suit. 

Your message may have a distinct effect on each function or department in your firm, and the material or delivery should reflect this.

This is particularly true for bigger groups, so consider what information is vital to a specific employee or group, how that employee or group would best receive and connect with the message, and how to disseminate it for optimal engagement and retention.

So, asking your staff how they like to interact and receive information is a wonderful place to start.

4 Great Employee Branding Examples that Spark Inspiration

A lot of businesses have upped their branding game and taken it to the next level. 

Let’s check four examples right below to inspire you.

Example #1: Zappos

Former Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh recognized the importance of brand culture. 

He realized that if he could develop a brand that was happy on the inside, it could create a spectacular brand experience on the outside.

Every employee is immersed in the brand for four weeks, emphasizing the brand vision, the ten fundamental brand principles, and, most importantly, their customer service.

Each employee knows what the brand is about, why it exists, and, most crucially, how to deliver the brand message.

This is highly visible in the Zappos stories video below, where employees are highlighting their workplace life:

Thanks to its staff branding approach, Zappos has developed a brand with which its consumers feel a personal connection.

Example #2: Salesforce

Salesforce is at the forefront of workplace branding. 

Salesforce leverages LinkedIn, which has over 3.5 million followers, as a career center, providing job openings and insights into the lives of Salesforce employees.

The company is known for its open environment and easygoing ambiance.

You can check what the employees are saying about their workplace:

This is undoubtedly the most incredible display of the business’s branding strategy.

This positive sense of employee satisfaction and fulfillment pervades Salesforce employees not just via LinkedIn and promoting the corporate image but at every turn, from customer support conversations to highly engaging social media platforms.

Example #3: Adobe

Aside from creating a positive culture, another great employee branding strategy is to engage workers in a social-sharing program.

Adobe has over 900 employee advocates that assist in spreading the word about the firm, its products, testimonials, and what it’s like to work for the company.

What type of influence do these workers have? 

More than 3 million new connections are viewing content shared and developed by Adobe employees.

If you follow their branded hashtag #AdobeLife on social media, you will witness a flood of information from workers sharing various things about their job and culture.

This highly affects word of mouth, which is vital for building a positive employer brand.

It’s exciting to observe since it helps to strengthen the internal community and gets outsiders and potential candidates raving about the brand.

Example #4: Google

The search engine powerhouse has developed a strong staff brand, which is visible on its About page. 

It contains information on Google’s goals, principles, and commitment to users and employee stories displaying great employer features.

This immediately establishes a positive tone for the benefits Google delivers to its staff and the world. 

Google’s employee branding campaign takes a step further on its jobs website, emphasizing everything from its diversity and inclusion initiatives to its recruiting process and recruiting efforts.

What’s more, by using specialized landing pages and openness, Google can set the tone for its strong employee brand and recruit the ideal candidates using specialized landing pages, career pages, and transparency.

Now Over to You

Now that our piece has ended, we hope our tips and examples will inspire you to keep things more authentic and enhance engagement in your workplace.

If you have any further questions or are looking for some cool employee-branded gifts, feel free to message us anytime. 

We love hearing from you!