What is Employer Reputation Management?

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How do you make your business the one everyone wants to work for? If you're asking this question, it could be time to review your brand reputation. This article will give you 5 top tips on how to manage your employer brand reputation. 

As an employer you want to attract the most talented, ambitious candidates – those who want to succeed by delivering the type of stand-out-work that gets your business noticed, helps retain customers and elevates your business above the competition.

But how do you make your business the one everyone wants to work for?

This is where brand reputation management (BRM) comes to play…

Brand reputation is your reputation as an employer, it might be centred around amazing opportunities for training, development and personal growth, financial rewards, global travel, yours being a friendly fun place to work, or that you simply have the best biscuit tin in the business.

In fact, there has been a progressive shift towards employee value proposition (EVP) in recent years, with a change in focus from employer to employee centred benefits. And,  according to Vibe UK, this means you should apply the law of attraction to your EVP to attract and retain the right people.

With an employee centric system, one that promotes holistic wellbeing (which includes physical, financial, mental and financial incentives), alongside personal growth opportunities and radical flexibility data illustrates an improvement in employee performance and loyalty.   This is a win, win, for those employers willing to shake things up to attract a forward thinking workforce.

So, is brand reputation not the same as reputation?

In short no.  Whilst the two most definitely interlink, your reputation is what others think about you where-as brand reputation is how you present yourself, what you say about your business, how employees present themselves (think LinkedIn) and visually, how you represent the company (consistency when using logos, fonts, brand colours etc..)

Think about it this way.  As an individual preparing to apply for a new job you’ll be aware that potential employers will look at your social media profiles, check in with previous employers, and potentially Google your name.

The same is true for job candidates, the best applicants will do their due diligence, Googling your company, reviewing your website, checking Glassdoor and LinkedIn whilst also following and monitoring your social media platforms.

The great thing about brand reputation is that you have complete control over how you are represented.  And control of your brand is not dependent on a big budget, in fact it’s an easy to solve and cost-effective way to ensure your brand reputation is protected and managed exactly how you want it to be.  And, if you are looking to compete with the most progressive companies to attract a loyal workforce, it’s an easy way to highlight how and why yours is great company to work for.

So, where to begin?

Below we’ve outlined our top five go-to tips for staying on top of brand reputation management:

Values and culture

Proactively utilise your mission, vision and values in all your communication platforms and messages to highlight the positive aspects of your company’s culture.  The best candidates will be looking for a positive workplace culture with an emphasis on personal development and opportunities for career progression where there is a clearly outlined priority for a healthy work-life balance.  Utilise platforms like LinkedIn to highlight employee benefits, workplace practices and how these benefit your workforce.

Transparency and fairness

Structured pay grades, and transparency when it comes to opportunities for promotion and personal development help ensure yours is a trustworthy company.  This extends way beyond brand reputation management to attract the best candidates, but also promotes your brand as trustworthy and fair in the eyes of your client base.

Don’t let negative reviews stand unanswered

If you have any negative reviews online from employees or customers, it’s essential you proactively address the issues raised in a fair clear way that reinforces your company’s positive values.  Allocate this responsibility to a team member who is level-headed, who won’t respond in a defensive way but will address concerns and problem solve where possible.  Leaving negative reviews unanswered suggests you don’t care, or are unsure how to respond.

Celebrate success

Aside from providing content for social media platforms and the news section on your website, celebrating success also showcases the value you place on achievement in the workplace and individual development.  Extend the celebrations outside of work place achievement (e.g the completion of a marathon) and you also provide yourself with an opportunity to demonstrate the value you place on work-life balance.

Shout about it

It can be easy to shy away from social media platforms when you’re busy, and there is a reluctance from many small business owners to get too heavily involved in platforms like LinkedIn for fear of looking self-righteous.  But with a balanced approach these social platforms provide a valuable, very targeted space to highlight your values and reinforce your brand reputation in a controlled, managed way.

With a little forward planning you can develop a content plan to re-post articles that cover the topics your business is passionate about, alongside new business wins, flagship projects, new starter announcements and social stories to reinforce your brand culture and values.

The above is a quick-fire introduction into brand reputation management.  Ultimately to attract the best talent you want to ensure you’re showcasing the positive reasons yours is a great company to work for.

And the best bit is, this really doesn’t cost much.  It simply requires a little thinking time to consider the positive aspects of your business, and to talk about and highlight these to attract a work force with the same shared values.

If you’d like to explore in more detail how this might work for your particular business, or if you have any questions please feel free to speak to our team who will be more than happy to assist.

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