Original article posted from @ere_net  at http://www.ere.net/2012/03/07/when-your-consumer-and-employment-brands-dont-synch/

HR professionals are not typically knows as “Marketing Gurus” but in the era of social recruiting, mobile ATS Android platforms and #twesumes, we have begun to evolve our skills to fit the new job-seeker market. Morgan mentions in her article that there are 5 ways that employers can build their employment brand by:

1. Commit to telling the great story you already have
2. Recognize it will take time
3. Identify your differentiators
4. Be real and transparent about the ups and downs of your organization
5. Ask and showcase your employees

I already have #1 down to a science. I keep 2-3 good interview engagement stories that I rotate sharing with my recruits during their interview to really help them conceptualize why I like working for my organization.

#2 is a gimme; nothing worth waiting for happens over night. As recruiters, we can sometimes be bombarded with tight open-to-fill deadlines and last minute requests to create and staff a new position, but when we are met with the overall challenge of staffing, we know that it does take time to source, interview and cultivate top talent.

#3 Knowing what differentiates your company from your competitors and other work organizations in general is imperative to speaking to your company culture. At my company, we foster an environment of self-motivation and not one of micro-management. Considering that a large portion of the employees that I staff (Product Analysts/Buyers) work with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of product moving in and out of our company over a quarterly period, I have to hammer home that part of our organizational culture is TRUSTING and RESPECTING our employees to make analytical and accurate business decisions at their discretion. At some of our competing companies, buyers do not have the opportunity to make buying recommendations to their supervisors; instead they order what they are told with no questions asked. We have an opposite approach at my company-we expect our buyers to make suggestions and to use their skills in forecasting and product trending to make good decisions. That is one thing I really love about our company culture.

#4 This actually piggy-backs off of #3. Being a straight-shooter when it comes to the ups and downs of your company structure and the particular requirements for success in each position are imperative to keeping your turn over low and your productivity high. Think about a job you may have had where you accepted the offer because it was explained to you one way during the interview process, but when you actually started doing the work, it was NOTHING like what you thought you signed up for. That is a horrible position to be in and I can guarantee you that any smart person would be actively job seeking the second they got home from work!

#5 Today I listened in on a great webinar about integrating video into your recruitment strategies:http://www.ere.net/webinars/how-to-recruit-with-video/. Not only is this a current and relevant tool in regards to utilizing social media platforms to get your organization inside the real of social networks and get people buzzing about your business, but you are providing real-time employee feedback of their experience within the company to potential recruits who want to interview the company before you interview them. Go scope out some of your favorite companies to see how they are branding their employment process.

What are some some of your branding success stories?

Namaste