When you think of Google, Zappos, or Facebook, what comes to mind? Of course, you’re reminded of these companies’ extraordinarily successful products -- but if you’re like most of us, you may also have heard that these are unusual, innovative, and exciting places to work. You see, these companies’ corporate brands have been successfully meshed with their employment brands. As a result, working at one of these companies seems exciting and compelling, and they receive many highly qualified applicants for each opening.

What Is Employment Branding?

What is your employment brand? Don’t confuse it with your corporate brand—the one you want your customers to perceive for the product or services you provide. Instead, an employment brand refers to the impression others have specifically of your company, its culture, its mission, and its work environment. Remember, a company may produce something that is beloved, common, or even indispensable, but still not have a positive employment brand.

Why Does Employment Branding Matter?

The most obvious reason employment branding matters is one you’ve probably already guessed: recruitment. While it may not always feel this way to jobseekers, those of us on the other end of the equation know that sometimes things get tight when you’re looking for the best and brightest. A strong brand will help you stand out in the market, and that’s worth a lot.

So, do you have a reputation for being a great place to work? Can you say for sure that you have a strong company identity (casual, innovative, family-friendly?) that potential employees find compelling? If so, you’re at a huge advantage. Not only are you going to attract more candidates, they’ll also be of higher quality and more in line with your own goals.

Not Just About Recruitment

For a long time, this head start in recruitment was seen as the major—maybe the only—advantage to successful employment branding. But this is a huge mistake, and if you’re only succeeding in getting your branding through to job seekers, you’re not doing it right.

Essential and Profitable

Instead, your employment branding must become an essential part of your company and your employees. They should feel that branding when they come to work in the morning, and it should be part of what they communicate to the world about their job and your company when they’re out there talking about you. You see, when your idea of “what we’re about” and their idea of “what we’re about” are congruent, you’re going to get better performance, more loyalty, and better employee retention. You’ll also see that the goals you’re aiming for and the ideals you value as a company are being reflected more often and more accurately in your workplace.

All this not only improves your bottom line and adds up to higher profits, it makes your workplace more effective and dynamic. It saves you the cost of recruiting and hiring new employees, because the ones you have will be on board with your vision. And it makes your business more sustainable, not just for today, next week or next month, but for the long term. A stable image and identity can really take you a long way.

So what first step do you need to take make sure your employment brand is strong, dynamic, positive, and doing all this incredible work for you? First, know what it is that you’re aiming for. You should be well aware of exactly what the employment brand is that you’re trying to project, and why. Next, take a look at the brand you already have by asking employees and checking out the word about your business on social media and person to person. If you don’t like what you hear, you certainly know where to start.

Employment branding used to be seen as something we did to “jazz up” our brand or to improve recruiting a bit, but those of us in the know are learning what big companies like 3M, LinkedIn, and Ikea have already figured out: employment branding is not just window dressing, but central to your success. Get to work on this aspect of your business today!



Carol Williams is a marketing specialist who gathered experiences working for several companies. Currently employed by Florida Oranges she still improves her marketing skills working on a variety of projects.