How can your company use employer branding as part of your retention strategy?
Employer branding is NOT only for recruiting. I'll say it again: employer branding is NOT only for recruiting. It directly affects your employee retention rate, which in turn can help ease your recruiting efforts. Here's are a few ways to include employer branding in your retention strategy.
1. Showcase employee engagement programs to your current employees.
Frequently communicate employee programs that encourage employee engagement and loyalty, such as recognition programs, leadership development, and opportunities for professional growth. Bonus points: Communicate in ways that work best for your employees. This may or may not be another email that gets lost in the inbox.
2. Consistently communicate perks and benefits.
Do you employees know about all of the perks your company offers? And no, I'm not just talking about health, vision, dental, and 401k. What do you offer that makes your company stand out? Maybe you offer unlimited PTO, flexible work arrangements, or a giving back day where employees are paid for volunteering at a local charity. Be sure to communicate these perks and benefits frequently with your employees. Oftentimes, other things take priority, but making this a priority can go a long way in your employee retention efforts.
3. Recognize and reward employees in an appropriate way.
Recognize and reward employees in an *APPROPRIATE* way. Appropriate is the keyword here. Some employees may want very public recognition and
rewards. Other employees may prefer a more private form of rewards and recognition. The key here is knowing your employees and asking for their input on this so that they truly feel appreciated by the organization.
4. Communicate company culture and values frequently.
This one goes BEYOND just addressing organizational culture and values during the onboarding process... or sending a monthly email that will inevitably get lost at the bottom of inboxes. This is your chance to WALK the WALK. Especially if you're a leader. Company leaders should embody the company's culture and values to create an organizational culture of accountability. Leaders, your actions will also inspire employees to follow suit.
5. Get employee feedback and communicate an action plan.
How many times have you sent out an employee survey and done nothing with the data? Or maybe you only focused on the positives in the survey? I can't tell you how many times I've seen organizations have the best intentions with employee engagement or satisfaction surveys, but then completely disregard them due to other priorities. I get it. HR is busy and it's so difficult to juggle it all when you're putting out 11 dumpster fires every single day (coming from someone who was an HR department of one herself.) What if I told you that making time to address and implement this feedback could ultimately save your company time, effort, energy, and money?
Retaining your top employees saves the company money AND gives your recruiters a bit of a reprieve. Instead of rushing to fill the gaps ASAP, they can take the time to secure top talent, and retain them. Employer branding goes hand in hand with recruiting AND retention. If you're looking to implement employer branding strategies, you can download my FREE employer branding strategy checklist resource here.