What Most Hiring Managers Forget About Employer Branding During Their Recruitment Processes

A company’s brand is perhaps its most powerful tool in attracting future talent. And yet many companies fail to realise that it is not just newspaper or internet advertising that makes a brand. It is word of mouth. The things people hear in the market or the experiences they have with your company will create a long-lasting impression. The higher the profile of your company-brand, the bigger the danger that your brand can be portrayed to the market in the wrong way.

This article looks at ten effective ways that hiring decision makers can maintain a positive impression with their brand when hiring talent in the Asia Pacific Japan market, particularly when relying on an external recruiter to help with the hiring process. As an HR Practitioner, this ball lands in your court!

1) Ensure that there is a Common Understanding of How Your Brand Should be Portrayed to the Market by all Stakeholders Involved in the Hiring Process

You want stakeholders to say the same core things about the company during a hiring process. Give them briefing notes and articulate the key points they should get across about the company to the prospective candidate.

2) If Using Recruiters, Ensure that They Also Clearly Understand How Your Employer Brand Should be Portrayed to the Market

Give external recruiters a summary of the key points to market the company’s brand. Ensure this includes data on market share, key products, geographical regions, revenue, current challenges and unique selling points.

3) Avoid Ambiguous Job Briefs

Give external recruiters clear details on what the job entails. Try to provide a job description if possible, or collaborate with an external recruiter to get a job description written. Cutting to the chase on exactly what candidate is needed will ensure that fewer candidates are contacted in the market and that referrals are more exact.

4) Involve High Calibre People in Your Recruitment Process

Ensure that your company puts its best foot forward in terms of the quality of stakeholders involved in the hiring process. Should there be a weak link for whatever reason, pre-warn the candidate or have a higher calibre stakeholder join a mediocre performer in the interview.

5) Avoid Relying on Multiple Recruiters, and be Explicit About Whom You Have Contacted Yourself

The danger of multiple recruiters working on the same brief is that too many candidates are often contacted in the market, as multiple recruiters can sometimes ‘race’ each other. It can cheapen your brand if candidates hear about the same role from two sources. Try to give one recruiter the brief exclusively for a set period of time (perhaps two weeks or one month) and then review their performance. If you have approached any candidates yourself, be sure that the external recruiter doesn’t approach the same candidate.