Branding: The Way to Get the Best Talent to Take Notice

branding-free-stuartmiles The race for talent continues unabated. There’s a trend that’s shaping up to be the key to attracting talented performers from your rivals – branding.

Here’s why:

Talent is passive: The high achievers are passive, that’s to say, they aren’t seeking alternative employment but if they spot an opportunity or are approached by a headhunter, they will consider their options. Their key priority is to remain ahead of their game with a company whose ambitions and values match their own. The top performers stay up-to-date with industry trends and take note of the employers who stand out in their sector, which comes down to branding.

A good story sells your brand: The aim of most employers is to become the type of organization that passive talent wants to work for. This won’t happen if your online presence is tired or promotes a negative message. The most successful brands are always connecting and engaging with passive talent via their online content, whether that’s through articles, videos, social media posts or through their careers website. All content is carefully created to promote their core values, company ethos and a consistent brand message to attract the top talent. Agencies that encourage talented people to register their interest, whether or not a current vacancy exists, means that when one comes up, there’s a ready-made talent pool to tap into.

Job adverts are temporary: Passive talent is not searching the job boards for their next career move. Advertising your vacancies on a job board means you will attract only active job seekers. Once your advert expires, you will need to repost your vacancy or find an alternative way of attracting talent. With successful employer branding your content, social media posts and ongoing updates can be shared as many times as necessary to reinforce your brand message and connect with your talent pool.

Attract a better quality of candidate: Higher-caliber candidates mean better referrals and an increased interest in your company. Take a look at global brands such as Zappos, Google, Apple and Microsoft – these are all brands that prioritize employer branding. A better caliber of candidate reduces your chances of a bad hire.

Branding is open to all: Attracting passive talent is achievable for all businesses, large or small, when you design and communicate messages that reflect your brand. An online presence, consistent messaging, and regular updates via your website, blogs, social media and professional sites such as LinkedIn will enable you to build your own talent pool. With the advent of websites like Glassdoor, candidates and employees freely share their experiences of your company for all to see. It’s up to you to make sure those experiences reiterate your vision of a brand that attracts passive talent.

The ultimate aim of employer branding is to attract the talented performers that will enable your staffing business to succeed in a competitive market. Before beginning to promote your brand, understanding your core values and the type of employee you want to recruit is a must. Invest time and effort into your branding strategy to attract the talent you need in 2015.