What does a proactive employer brand look like?

According to the Harvard Business Review, only 12% of employees trust what leaders say about the organisations they represent. 

It’s time to quit talking and let your employer brand speak for itself.

A proactive employer brand provides an opportunity for you to showcase the value you provide to your people. You can use a strong employer brand to include your people as part of what drives your organisation forward, including your ongoing talent strategy. 

What is the DNA of a proactive employer brand? How can you curate your image and shape your employer brand as a positive representation of what makes your organisation a great place to work?

Keep these things in mind. 

Positive employee experience

Research shows that 46% of job seekers consider work culture as an important factor when looking for a new role. Your employer brand relies on you delivering a culture that connects. 

For talent, your organisation is more than just a workplace. It’s also an experience. A positive culture is a fundamental first step to providing your team with a great employee experience that keeps them feeling passionate and valued at work. 

When you commit to improving your work culture and the environment you provide, you can begin to achieve major strides for your talent engagement, retention and attraction strategy. A great employer brand looks like a team of people who have a reason to choose and stay with your organisation. 

Strong employee engagement

According to Gallup, 85% of employees are unengaged or actively disengaged at work. If you can drive stronger employee engagement, you can enhance your employer brand. 

Employees want to feel valued for the work they do, and they want to be recognised for their achievements. People want to pursue opportunities that allow them to learn and grow, all while playing a meaningful role in supporting organisational goals and pursuing a purpose. 

By working to engage your people, you can improve productivity and team morale. This can help you keep great people on board while attracting top talent. A proactive employer brand looks like a community environment where valued, motivated employees are invited to share their perspectives.

Meaningful work 

In 2022, McKinsey found that 70% of employees not only want a sense of purpose at work but define their personal purpose by the work they do. People want to do work that matters. Purpose-driven opportunities matter now more than ever.

Increasingly, employees need to know that they are part of something bigger than themselves. No longer are people content to simply get the job done. Your team is searching for the opportunity to make a difference and support goals and causes they care about.  

When you centre purpose as the heart of your talent strategy, you can keep sight of what drives your organisation and its people forward. An effective employer brand looks like demonstrating what makes the work your team does so important, within your organisation and beyond. 

Continuous improvement

A positive employer brand is critical when it comes to retaining great people and attracting new talent. Investing in your employer brand can reduce turnover by 28% and make 84% of job seekers take notice.

Your employer brand exists whether you manage it or not. There are significant benefits to investing time and energy into understanding your employee experience, articulating your value proposition and using these insights to continuously improve the way you articulate your brand narrative and showcase your brand.

A proactive employer brand looks like an organisation that cares about the experience of its people, understands and can clearly articulate its employee value proposition and leverages these things across a range of content and touchpoints, internally and externally.

Need more help?

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the prospect of understanding and reinventing your employer brand, don’t panic! Contact Heart Talent today, and find out more about how we can help.