Here’s How Top Employers are Revamping Their Employer Branding

With the current unemployment rate under 4 percent, your organization’s recruiting tactics may seem a little stale.

According to a recent study titled “How High Performing Organizations Compete for Talent”, 53% of the 234 U.S. organizations surveyed plan to make major changes to their talent-acquisition strategy/Employer Branding in the next two years. The study, conducted by Kronos and Human Capital Institute, also reveals the ways high-performing organizations are revamping their hiring strategies.

“All organizations need to take a look at their talent acquisition and make it a priority, a business case,” says Chris Mullen, human capital management strategic advisor at Kronos. “Companies are being forced to put [new strategies] into practice.”

Among those changes are hiring candidates based on learning aptitude rather than solely skills and capitalizing on the value of their existing workforce.

“Don’t develop employees for the job they have but for the job they want,” he says, adding that jobs ads are also being revised to promote training opportunities that help advance careers and boost income. “You get the most out of employees when you develop them long-term.”

Likewise, many survey participants say their organizations have raised salaries. Since 2017, 73 percent say they increased starting pay for salaried positions, while 50 percent did the same for hourly jobs.

Still, their new hiring strategies go far beyond salary:

• Tap multiple sources for talent. Upgrade employee referral programs or career sites; access specialized job boards or alumni networks; offer temp to hire or part time to full time agreements, or since not every job requires a college degree, Mullen says, companies are sponsoring high school events that brand their company and promote job opportunities.
• Offer flexible work arrangements to hourly workers. Mullen says housekeepers at one particular hotel chain with flexible schedules.
• Hire more independent contractors or former employees. Consider all the work freelancers can do during just one hiring cycling, says Mullen.
• Customize communications. Hiring manager should text personalized messages to job applicants, says Mullen.
• Focus on employer branding and recruitment marketing. Roughly half are investing in technology for talent acquisition while others are enriching the candidate experience, partially by creating more authentic and personal interactions.

The challenge for HR is finding the time to implement these activities, says Mullen, adding that HR needs to explore creative ways to “unburden” itself.

“It’s super challenging now to recruit,” says Mullen. “Companies need to differentiate themselves somehow. What other experiences can you give candidates to get them in your pipeline?”