By
MICHELLE MC COY
Dubbed ‘the war for talent’, it’s the next big problem for the Celtic Phoenix and the growing Irish economy: Where do we find the right people, the ones who are enthusiastic, innovative and loyal?
“It’s a buyers’ market and an incredibly competitive one”
We have Silicon Docks in Dublin to thank for that; the new breed of American tech multinational brought a mindset change that emphasises the importance of individual talent to the overall success of the business.
Irish people are some of the most internationally transient, so encouraging graduates to stay at home or persuading skilled workers to come back after gaining valuable expertise overseas is not an easy task. Now traditional recruiting methods are beginning to switch tack to advanced sourcing tools and stronger employer branding.
Here are five ways you can strengthen your employer branding and enhance your approach to people management:
1. Embrace social media
People will search and study your culture and your overall company vision across many different sites.
Networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Glassdoor, and your website, give applicants an idea of what it might be like to work with your company, so it’s imperative to have consistent messaging across all these media.
Embracing these tools and confidently leveraging new media to advertise the company is an easy way to boost employer branding.
2. Get visual
While word of mouth is useful, imagery and videos are extremely valuable for social engagement.
It’s easy to share interesting events and photos of your employees to give a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view and show the real personality of your brand.
Clear infographics of your product or service and short soundbites from your customers and employees allow you to share, spread and stand out against competitors.
3. Promote your employees’ stories
It can be argued that employer brand is built on the brand of individual employees.
By using your employees’ engaging stories, you can build an employer brand around the people who work for you, attracting the sort of job candidates who could see themselves creating similar stories.
By allowing your staff to detail their experience in the workplace, it’s an effective way to showcase the corporate image.
4. Make employees feel special
In the words of the prominent people leader Sir Richard Branson, “train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to”.
There are myriad ways to praise employees, but encouraging professional growth shows that you believe in their ability to do well and thrive in new situations.
These people will act as promoters, attracting passive candidates from their social networks. Developing an employee referral program is the best way to capitalise on this positive sentiment.
5. Build a culture
Finally, you need to focus your attention on nurturing your company culture. Building your employer culture on the expertise and experience of current employees and projects will allow you to honestly portray your mission to candidates, attracting applicants who share the same values that you want to promote within your company.
MICHELLE MC COY
Michelle is the Director of Digital Strategy, and she helps clients cut through the online noise with smart, integrated campaign strategies. She’s known as the PR360 Studio ‘feeder’ so be prepared to have a cup of strong coffee and a slice of cake when you meet her!
