If you’re a small to medium-sized business (SMB), there’s no reason you can’t build a great employer brand without a big budget. Highlight your unique strengths in the following ways to attract the best people to your organisation.
“Employer branding” is an often-used term but what does it actually mean? While a consumer brand builds reputation and recognition for your products and services, employer branding builds your reputation as an employer to attract the best candidates and future employees.
Large organisations spend millions of dollars on their employer brand, hiring teams of HR professionals to create and share content about their culture. They also highlight information about their perks and programs through their channels, including social media, video, blogs and third-party sites such as Indeed Company Pages that combine employer reviews and ratings with organisational storytelling.
But here’s the truth: even if you don’t have the budget for a dedicated employer brand specialist, the tools and techniques these professionals use are available to you, regardless of the size of your organisation! No one has a monopoly on compelling storytelling to educate prospective talent and build positive associations.
If you’re a small or medium-sized business (SMB), highlight the unique qualities and strengths only you can bring to the table.
What does this mean in practice? Let’s find out.
Showcase your culture
For some people, big firms are just too big. One of the most attractive things about working for an SMB is the direct impact an individual can have upon the organisation.
At smaller firms you can directly set the tone for the workday and have the power to work closely together with others and get things done. You create the culture in a way that feels real and immediate, and in a world where people are constantly bombarded by slick marketing campaigns, this is a powerful advantage. You can’t buy this kind of authenticity.
But it’s not helping your employer brand if nobody knows about it—so share it!
Use authentic storytelling and showcase your people. Feature real employees on your company’s careers website and social pages instead of stock images. Encourage your people to leave reviews on Glassdoor, Facebook, and your organisation’s other pages. If the content is authentic, your voice will shine through and help you attract people who are a great culture fit.
Big firms may have deeper pockets for luxury perks, but SMBs have the lead when it comes to getting really local, personal or even downright quirky when it comes to culture.
You can transform your location into a dynamic place that reflects your values and attitudes. Maybe you let employees bring their dogs into the office. Maybe you are committed to protecting the environment and have a culture of biking to work and encouraging active living. Maybe you even allow employees to work from anywhere in the world they want for a month.
What works for you? There are many ways to showcase your culture that needn’t break the bank—so do it!
Showcase your people
Another benefit of working for an SMB is that people get to wear different hats. Roles don’t tend to be so specialised, so employees have opportunities to learn new skills.
Maybe some of your people were hired to keep the books, but there are opportunities you can give them in customer service, sales, social media—or other interesting areas!
For candidates looking to explore and gain experience in different career areas, this can be a very attractive offering. So weave these kinds of stories into your employer brand. Feature examples of employee growth and development through:
- your organisation’s website and careers site
- social media channels
- blog (let employees talk about how the opportunities they had to learn new things)
- videos and pictures.
Just make sure you get the story out there!
Showcase your personal ties to the community
Today, lots of people want more than just a salary; they want to know that their work has a larger social purpose.
But you don’t have to support major overseas development projects to “give back.” SMBs can do this too by staying connected to their local communities.
No one knows your neighbours better than you do, so make sure your efforts resonate with the values and tastes of the community you serve. You can do lots of things to build the philanthropic side of your employer brand, from sponsoring a local footy team to taking part in volunteer efforts like Clean-Up Australia Day—or even handing out branded sunscreen at the beach.
Or you could even take a leaf out of Salesforce’s book and give employees VTO—“volunteer time off”—to dedicate to causes they care about.
The key thing here is scale. It’s hard for big brands to develop a close, personal appeal and a sense of warmth.
By giving back, everybody wins—the community and your employees—and candidates will see that you are a company that cares.
Final tips
Whatever your SMB decides to do to build its employer brand, stay true to who you are.
Candidates may be turned off by any effort that seems overly slick or that can be dismissed as insincere talk. As with most efforts, the best way to begin an employer branding endeavour is to listen to the employees you already have. What do they love about working for you, and what are their concerns?
Use these as a foundation to make the changes you need to build your employer brand. Once you embark on this effort, keep listening to your employees.
What are you waiting for? Get out there and start building an employer brand that will attract the kind of employees who will make a difference at your company!
Raj Mukherjee, Senior Vice President of Product at Indeed, drives global product vision and strategy with the Senior Leadership Team and leads day-to-day operations of the global product team.
Prior to joining Indeed, Raj was Senior Vice President of Product at GoDaddy, helping their 14 million customers build successful businesses online. He has significant experience with SMB customers and led multiple successful acquisitions for the company.
Previously, Raj worked on the Enterprise Platform team at Google and led Product Management for Domains for Google Apps and Google Drive for enterprises. He was also Sr. Product manager for the Online Services division at Microsoft.
1 comment
[…] Hospitals, clinics, aged care and other healthcare providers must revamp their approach to hiring to create an enticing benefits package and perks to make individual positions more attractive. The best way to promote this is by promoting a strong employer brand. […]