Employer Branding | A Must For On-Campus Hiring

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Attracting the best brains to a company is imperative to its growth. And a good employer brand image is a sure-shot way to derive ultimate benefits. The rapport and reputation a company builds in the minds of its potential employees (and future pipeline) are referred to as its Employer Brand. In this article, we will further explore this concept and discuss the best ways of creating an extremely magnetic employer brand image.

Employer Branding Linked to a POSITIVE & CLEAR Brand Image

You must have heard of the age old saying- 'Birds of Feather flock Together'.

This statement implies that nothing can be better than connecting with like-minded people. And this can be held perfectly true in the case of on-campus recruitment as well. A positive brand image can score better in winning the hearts of prospective recruitees, who are generally either final-year students or people who will soon to be in that position. And these students are continuously on the lookout for a company whose ideals, work culture, vision, and mission coincide with their own. It is then a prerogative that the prospective employer gives that vibe so that it is able to attract the right candidate.

An employer should start strategizing well in advance to create brand awareness as well as to understand better the needs of the potential candidates and introspect if the current condition and the way the company works is a lucrative proposition to the would-be hires. Since the candidates are mostly novices without any prior knowledge of the system, they will pick and choose an employer who resonates with their current goals and ideals.

Once the employer has recognized the current brand perception, to whom it wants to hire and why? the work becomes relatively condensed thereupon. A clear brand perception sends out a clear message to future hires, thus, attracting an employee that fits in.

Aggressive Online Presence

It’s common knowledge that after the Android revolution, the current generation has become extremely tech-savvy and has been spending huge amounts of time on social media. According to various surveys, the millennial generation spends about 18 hours a day (actively or passively) on Social media.

Since there is already a large base of the potential audience waiting online, an Employer can utilize this opportunity to grab attention with the help of innovative posts and videos.

A few common social media portals are

Facebook

It has a 2.2 billion user base and we all know how posts get viral on this site. It can be one of the major tools to propagate any news or info about an Employer very quickly and owing to large numbers of users it is easy to even know more through reviews written which makes it quite reliable.

Youtube

It is considered one of the fastest growing media, as we can see each day new channels are coming up and their videos going viral. A beautifully scripted video advertisement always wins our hearts and such a thing can really prove beneficial to provide various insights into the Employer brand.

Instagram

Nothing can stop us from posting a “Pic” on Instagram. Photos of company outings or beautiful workstations can prove conducive to Employer Branding.

Career Sites

Prominent Job and Company Websites are an old tool to post news about current openings and placement opportunities, and also updates on the various achievements of the Employees. Reviews have become the lifeline of any brand. Reviews written by normal employees or new hires provide a genuine insight into the company.

Content Marketing

Creating videos and success stories for journals and social media can be a very powerful tool to uplift the employer's brand image. Often times we see videos made of famous personalities like CEO of leading companies or financial institutions.

It showcases their journey from being simple employees at the zenith of success while working for the same institution. As we all have role models in our lives and when we get to know more about their lives, struggle, and success, we somehow feel connected and want to achieve greater heights like them.

These content marketing tools can create a very positive image of the brand thus, attracting students with high aspirations and ambitions.

On-Campus Events to build your Employer Brand

Now comes the real challenge and acing this will make our position secure in terms of Employer Branding. Since on-campus engagements directly establish a connection with prospective employees one needs to prepare well and put in the best endeavor to build a strong rapport.

Events like Career Fairs, Talk Shows, Company-information Sessions are some of the most favorable ways where one can have face-to-face interaction.

Since a Company’s image is directly linked with its Workforce so it would be nice to send Highly-motivated and Energetic employees with a positive mindset for direct interaction with students, as their infectious energy will draw in people towards them.

Off-Campus Presence

Quizzes, Hackathons, Business Strategy Simulation Games, and other gamified events is a very productive ways to expect very prolific Employer and Employee Engagement.

General Knowledge quizzes are also a tool employed by business houses to attract students towards them in lieu of attractive prizes. This helps in creating an impression of the employer in the minds of the students.

Theme-based quizzes on the company’s history or leadership keep students engaged in research about the company which helps them to know more about the company eventually.

Hackathons are related to coding and organizing such events by various technical brands helps to know more about the skills of their prospective hire, simultaneously it also helps a student to hone their creative coding skills and boost their confidence.

Many big business houses use Business Strategy Simulation Games as a tool for employer branding. Such games provide deep insight into a student’s mind and his/her capabilities and vision which helps an employer to choose the right candidate.

This type of event offers two-way benefits, firstly, it ushers very happy engagements and participation, secondly, it helps the Employees and the Employer to know and understand each other’s needs and wants.

One of the very creative ways of standing out in the crowd is to arrange tours to the company, where the candidates can spend the entire day at the office and know more about the corporate culture since a normal office day work is the real way how an office runs, it can be a good way to create a positive image in the minds of the would-be hires.

The day can be followed by a Storytelling event, wherein the new hires can share about their journey so far, which will instill a personal touch and can prove magical in creating an impression.

For employing successful Employer Branding strategies like Quizzes, Hackathons, Business Simulation games, and other website presence, on and off-campus engagements we Unstop (formerly Dare2Compete)can be an easy help!

Unstop aims to conceptualize, market, and execute campaigns in form of competitions, quizzes, hackathons, business strategy simulation games, or any other gamified solution in a creative way to enable new dimensions of employer branding in campuses and competition-led-recruitment of future leaders.

Magic of Brand Ambassadors

Employing Brand Ambassadors can be an effective strategy for mobilizing the crowd toward your side. Pick Ambassadors from the leaders of the student groups as they are already in an advantageous position of knowing the crowd well and being a popular figures they can inspire and draw in more followers towards their side.

You can also choose an alumnus of the same college working for you, one who knows the way around and can instill the feeling of trust and admiration. A powerful brand ambassador can utilize his/her strong student network to spread the word of mouth and also work collaboratively to design events that can attract students because he/she will be it a better position to know the nerve and fervor of the students being one of them which can make your Employer Branding easier.

Lure with Internships to Improve Employer Branding

Summer Internships will always be the most exciting moment in a student’s life. Since Interns who visit the parent company to understand the know more about the work culture for the first time, when they come back on completion of their tenure they will be like a “Pandora's Box” full of stories to share; a word of mouth about the workplace can work as an acquired or earned appreciation and can be pretty useful creating a strong Employer Branding.

Employee Happiness Index

“We all live for Happiness.”-Buddha

“Happiness” is the only word that adds sparkle to our lives and we tend to bring in sky and earth together to achieve it. How good would it be when an employer publishes a “Happiness Index” every six months?

The index can be a balance sheet of various policies and steps taken by an employer for the well-being of its employees and how satisfied the employees are. It would immediately prove the credibility and transparency of such an organization which is dedicated to improving the lives of its employees.

It can have ripples of good effects as a satisfied employee will always work more dedicatedly and it can be used as direct feedback to the organization thus helping them to weed out mistakes in the longer run. Such an organization will always remain a favorite working destination for many of the aspirants.

Above are a few tools for engaging in successful Employer Branding, however, there are always more options open, try and think out-of-the-box as though ways of branding can be conventional, it also relies on current trends and the mindset of the students which is pretty much not the same always.