Are You THE Place to Work?

Cindy’s company was our cleaning service at the office. They were impeccable. The attention to detail made our offices feel brand new every day. It’s amazing how a clean, tidy and neat working environment can contribute to productivity. Years ago, I had the occasion to visit Cindy at her office. With the attention and care they gave to our office, I was expecting their offices to be equally clean and tidy. I was wrong. “I’m sorry, we spend so much time cleaning other offices, we don’t have time for our own.” That was how Cindy explained the condition of their offices as I arrived. “I guess we need to hire a cleaning company,” she chuckled.

As marketing experts, we spend a great deal of time helping out clients maximize their brand identity in the marketplace. We teach the purpose of branding is to be known before you are needed. Like Cindy, is our work so outwardly focused that we fail to recognize the importance of our own company brand identity in the market? What does our work with clients, when considering the importance of branding, have to do with recruiting, hiring and retaining?

Turns out, A LOT!

LinkedIn research reveals that a strong employer brand reduces turnover by 28% and cost-per-hire is reduced by 50%. Following our own advice about the power of branding can help us achieve our staffing goals:

Organizations with positive brands can get up to twice as many applications as companies with negative brands.

When top candidates WANT to work for an organization, recruiting costs can drop by 43%.

When organizations fail to invest in their brand, it can cost them an average of $5,000 per employee.

50% of workers said they wouldn’t work for an organization with a bad reputation, even with an enormous increase in compensation.

A strong employer brand starts by reviewing the purpose and mission of the company. Do you have an external-facing messaging strategy to share your purpose? An employee value proposition is the unique set of benefits employees receive in return for the skills, capabilities and experiences they bring to your organization. This can also be a core component of your brand. Do outsiders know how good it is to work for you? Do outsiders, or those beyond your client list, know what your company is all about?

Author and pastor, Dr. Sheldon Nix says, “Your brand is what people think of you when they think of you.” What does the outside world think of your company? What do potential employees think of you? That’s your brand.

It might be worth investing some brainstorming time with your team to determine the strength of your company’s brand or the need to enhance it.

A strong brand can help you in many ways, and we are the experts on branding and marketing, but are we practicing what we teach?

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.