Have you been struggling at attracting great talent to your organization? The problem could be that you’ve overlooked your employer brand.

Consider some of your favorite brands. You likely have a preference in auto makers, athletic gear, or even something as trivial as toothpaste. There’s a reason for these preferences. Apply this same concept to an employer.

Developing a strong employer brand for your company is of the utmost importance for meeting your recruitment goals. Let’s dive in and discover exactly how you can create a better employer brand through these elements.

Five employer branding elements

As you consider the employer brand of your organization, these elements are the most telling factors. You may have more control over some of them than others, but each contributes to how people perceive what it’s like to work for your organization.

1. Culture

Corporate culture is the holistic combination of your organization’s values, vision, and mission. It encompasses the day-to-day communication and operational goals that create the organizational atmosphere and the way people work.

A strong mission statement drives your culture, but at the end of the day, it comes down to the people who are employed by your organization and how they feel about their jobs.

2. Values statement

An organization’s core values are the glue that holds the company together. Your core values are a key driver for employee success because they give applicants and current employees a way to connect with the organization and communicates the type of people they'll be working with.

At G2, our values statement is to “Live at the PEAK.” PEAK, in this context, is an acronym that displays the four core values of our organization: Performance, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Authenticity, and Kindness. These four core values inform internal and external stakeholders what behavior is necessary to the company’s success.

3. Diversity statement

You may think that diversity, equity, and inclusion are just trendy HR buzzwords. For organizations committed to recruiting the best talent, it’s not something to be ignored.

A diversity statement for your organization is a written explanation of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion for its employees and customers. It tells stakeholders how diversity fits into your organization’s mission and values.

As you build your employer brand, creating a diversity statement will show that your company takes DEI seriously and has given it the proper attention it deserves.

Creating a diversity statement involves considering the feelings of the many different stakeholders (both internal and external) of your organization. Poor diversity statements (or none at all) can be detrimental to your organization’s mission and even contradict your values.

4. Work environment

The home you create for your organization is just as important to your employer brand as any of the other factors we’ve mentioned. Just like any other brand elements, your office should exemplify your values and culture.

Using design concepts such as space, form, light, color, and pattern will create a physical manifestation of your employer brand. A company focused on collaboration between employees wouldn’t put barriers to this through interior design. The space itself can help set a tone for how employees should interact with each other.

5.Recruitment marketing

If your organization isn’t doing well at recruitment marketing, it doesn’t matter how good of an employer brand you have. Recruitment marketing is the process of using marketing tactics to attract and nurture people to join your organization. The main goal of recruitment marketing is to funnel talent to apply and be recruited.

Similarly to consumers who need to be attracted and nurtured to purchase a product, talent needs to find value in an employer in order to reach the threshold of applying for a position. Recruitment marketing handles the stages of awareness, consideration, and interest to drive talent across that threshold.

Throughout your recruitment marketing process, focus on showcasing your employer brand and culture. This is best done through a recruitment marketing agency or recruitment marketing software.

Why do you like where you work?

An employer brand should accurately highlight all the best your company has to offer. You’ll want to show off perks like the espresso machine or game room, but it’s usually more important to depict the benefits such as training and development, stock options, or paid time off.

80% of emerging generations said that an emphasis on personal growth is the most important quality of a company’s culture. Check out how else you can go about recruiting Millennials and Gen Z with three proven strategies.