What is Employer Branding? Why It Matters
Hawaii is a great place to have a business: it’s the place where your work and your family thrive. Even so, we know the competition to attract and retain employees is fierce. Organizations across the state face unprecedented talent shortages fueled by return-to-work fears, enhanced unemployment benefits, and pent-up turnover. What can employers do to stand out in a tight labor market? Start by creating a strong employer brand…one that demonstrates how you help employees succeed—both inside and outside of work.
Employer Branding 101
If you haven't heard about employer branding before, you’re not alone. Employer branding can include everything your company does to create value for its employees. This can include your company culture and employee benefits, but also your website, social media presence, or involvement in the community.
In a nutshell: Employer branding is about presenting the best possible face of your company in order to attract and retain top talent. The more value your organisation can communicate, the more likely you’ll be able to attract job-seekers, and retain high performers.
Why Is It Important?
The modern workforce is changing. The labor market is tightening so it is critical for businesses to understand the evolving desires of job-seekers. This can be a challenge as it is no secret that today's workforce has different needs and desires than previous generations.
But not paying attention to your employer brand can be detrimental, especially when it comes to hiring and retaining talent. Let’s take a look at some recent numbers:
How to Improve
The good news is that there is a way to develop your employer brand, resulting in higher morale, increased retention rates, and yes, happier employees!It’s a little-known HR strategy many companies—big and small—are turning to an employee rewards strategy called Total Rewards.
A “Total Rewards” package or program is an HR term used to describe the strategic blend of monetary rewards (e.g. salary, bonuses, etc.) and non-monetary rewards (e.g. healthcare, career coaching, PTO, free office snacks etc.) a company offers its employees to attract and keep them.
Unlike other reward programs, Total Rewards takes a step back to holistically look at the value a company offers its employees across the entire organization.
When adopting Total Rewards, there’s no one size fits all. Every organization is wonderfully unique and you can expect that employee rewards will vary from company to company. Even so, all Total Rewards packages should include at least one reward in each of the five main categories below:
- Compensation – What is your pay philosophy?
- Health & Wellness – How do you enable a healthier life?
- Financial Wellbeing – How do you empower financial stability?
- Workplace Flexibility – How do you promote work-life balance?
- Professional Growth – How do you encourage career growth?
To dig deeper and learn more about each of these five key reward components, simply download our free guide: A Better Way to Reward Employees. In our guide, we talk about the top advantages of a Total Rewards program and even include an employer’s checklist to help you get started.