The best candidates are spending more time now than ever before researching the jobs they want and the companies advertising them. “79% of job seekers say they are likely to use social media in their job search and this increases to 86% for younger job seekers”. Candidates want to see a strong, current and positive social media presence, good reviews from current and former employees and a company website that highlights social values with mission statements that the candidate views favourably and can relate to. Candidates are looking for morality, ethical behaviours and responsibility from their potential employers. This is particularly true of millennials who are soon to become the majority of the workforce.

It is now expected that companies will be able to live up to the expectations of candidates and will be practicing the values they purport to hold through their marketing and external communications. The issue many companies face is when the values and mission statements do not seem to be upheld within the organisation, are not encouraged within teams, or are not embodied by managers (in particular) and employees – leading to bad press. It also makes inclusion policies appear superficial as employees from underrepresented groups do not get the experience promised by the marketing. The opposite can also be true. In a marketplace like FM companies are working hard to stand out, but there is not always perceived to be the budget or knowledge on how to promote their social values and inclusive company culture therefore they may miss out to another company who is promoting their values more successfully.

Branding through social media allows customers to buy in and builds trust with your future customer base, even if they haven’t bought from you yet. This is the same with talent. You need to show them your brand so that they can establish whether or not they would like to work for you. If there is little to no branding, such as little social media presence or an impersonal presence, a low quality or outdated website, little engagement with industry media or few articles mentioning the brand, candidates may see your company as a more insecure choice.

Employer vs Company Branding

LinkedIn research has shown that “a strong employer brand is twice as likely to be linked to job consideration compared to a strong company brand".

But what is the difference?

A company brand is the impression a company gives to customers, clients, stakeholders, people who sit outside the business. It is the identity of the business, created and shared through various mediums. An employer brand finds the identity of the company as an employer. A good employer brand goes beyond CSR, ESG and values: it should encapsulate everything that the company is doing to retain its current employees, not simply advertising the benefits and extolling the values that will bring new hires on board. Giving an individual a positive impression of a company as a place to work can be instrumental in their decision to work there.

Impact of Talent Retention on Employer Brand

Talent retention and employer brand have significant impacts upon one another. Employer branding should encapsulate how companies are retaining current staff, therefore it is vital that they do retain their current staff. Holding on to employees long term and low turnover rates look good for your brand and means you are more likely to get meaningful and engaged employee generated content to feed into your employer brand.

Having this enthusiastic employee engagement is invaluable to the employer brand as it shows the culture from people who live it. It also shows new talent searching for their potential teammates online that employees within the company likely enjoy working there as they are putting time and effort into following them on social media and are willing to promote them. An employer brand benefits from employee retention through engagement, promotion and authentication.

FMs stand poised to be at the forefront of company branding and employee retention. They should be managing the return to the workplace and have influence over flexible working policies and employee experience. They are able to create the office as a place to be and not just to work. There have been rumblings within the sector since the pandemic started about the role of FM alongside HR and FM perhaps taking a more active role in employee comfort and satisfaction as relates to place, but also in their own spaces when utilising a hybrid working model.

FMs are able to create aesthetic physical spaces that are comfortable and welcoming environments for colleagues to return to. They are also responsible for maintaining spaces that employees can use to relax and unwind in safely, as well as managing the technology needed for people to arrange meetings, hotdesking, cleaning and so on. The role of the FM has been moving away from asset management for some years now which provides the opportunity for FM to become a more people focused sector, assisting in making employees happier and supporting the social value strategies of a company.

Employee Experience

It can be extremely valuable to have a company brand which promotes employee experience (EX). EX focuses on the people, place, product and process of a company so that employees feel trained, able to do the work, and comfortable in their workplace setting and with the work they are asked to do. Companies who focus on EX gain by attracting more talent due to having a workplace culture people want to work in, which in turn leads to much lower attrition and more employee satisfaction, and a more engaged and productive workforce.

Autonomy

One of the most important aspects of employee retention according to Daniel Pink is autonomy. To an extent, autonomy breeds a high level of performance in the workplace and allowing people ownership over what they do encourages them to make valuable, informed, accurate business decisions as well as feeling more able to contribute to their team(s) goals, and to the overall goals of the company. They will also feel as though their time has been put in to creating something worthwhile, which in turn leads to employee loyalty as they want to stay to see their outputs and projects through. Autonomy requires a level of trust in employees that some employers are unable to give, however it is really important to many people that they are afforded that trust in order to be able to give commitment to a company. The removal of autonomy and control of personal workflow through micromanagement is often a contributing factor to employees seeking work elsewhere.

Thought Leadership

The outward presentation of the brand should seem forward thinking, flexible and inviting, and FM leaders should be looking to be thought leaders in their organisations and the market, thus showing their and their company’s value to the sector. This can be through company blogs or through engaging with media companies in the sector and openly caring about social value, sustainability, innovation, health, mental health and wellness at work, and equity, diversity and inclusion.

Training

A good employer brand will also promote great training opportunities within the business. This way you can leverage the current talent in your business through employee development and retraining, as well as go into the market and recruit outside of your sector as you’ll have the ability to provide transitional training to make the transferrable skills a candidate has gained in another field all the more applicable. This training will increase retention and engagement among employees as many people want to work for a brand willing to invest in them and their future. It will also increase the profile of the company as a great place to start at entry level, encouraging in new talent from school age.

Quick Decision Making

Candidates are often turned off by complicated, drawn out and stressful recruitment processes. In the current market, candidates have much of the power in the hiring process, as there are many roles open and not enough candidates to fill them. Employers need to be making quick decisions as the top talent will be receiving more than one job offer at once.

Hiring managers must react quickly to secure the talent they want – offer interviews sooner and squeeze the hiring process where possible to decrease the length of time between the initial application submission and the final offer. Ensure that all the right steps are taken to get the best candidates, but see if those steps can be taken more quickly. Ensure that offers and feedback are sent out in order to build relationships with candidates – they may apply again if not suitable for the initial role but they had a good experience during the application process.

Partnerships

This is why partnerships with your recruiters are so important as they are able to sell your brand to the candidates. They will work with you to source the best talent for your company, screening the ones who may not work for you. Recruiters act as the gateway to the candidates, ensuring they are prepped and ready for interviews and able to show the best of themselves to the hiring managers. They are also able to help speed up the process by giving reminders to both sides as well as keeping in constant communication so that people feel in the loop and considered.

300 North are the Facilities Management recruitment specialists providing permanent, temporary and interim solutions to the UK Facilities Management, Mechanical & Electrical and Construction sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you with your recruitment needs by visiting our website home page or calling us on 0113 336 5161.