Top tips on how to put employer branding at the forefront in a post pandemic world. 

As recruitment and HR professionals, is your employer branding strategy fit for purpose? If your workforce has been remotely based during the pandemic, you may find they now value different things as the world emerges from the Coronavirus crisis. Here are some top tips to help you adapt your employer branding.

Reach out: There’s nothing more valuable than truly understanding what your employees think about the business, what it stands for, why it is or isn’t a great place to work and the stories they therefore tell to their friends and families. They are the ambassadors of your business and without their positivity around culture, values and opportunities, the business has little to work with. The first thing to do is to gather the data and have honest and open conversations with all levels of seniority within the business. 

Offer a hybrid working model: Businesses that are able to offer remote working should assess the ongoing offer of remote working and/or a hybrid working model which allows an incremental creep back to the office with some face-to-face time, twinned with days working off-site. A one-size-fits-all policy of either home or office may not be appealing to the majority and it’s important that you can brand your organisation as an employer that is open to the expectations of a workforce that is newly emerging from a prolonged lockdown and may want to hold onto some aspects of remote working.

Evaluate your recruitment practices: Are they COVID compliant? Is your reputation one in which you are offering a safe process for hiring? Is the process free of bias, transparent and accessible to all? Is the literature about the vacancies and company easy to access and available on a variety of platforms? Are you reaching out to untapped talent? 

Re-tune communications for a dispersed workforce: With a hybrid workforce, it’s crucial that comms channels are fluid and fluent. Connection is key because employees who feel aligned and valued are more likely to shout out, loud and proud for the company they work for. Are you reaching all your employees? Which are the most valuable lines of communication? Is company news readily received? Do employees understand the ways they can further their careers and professionally develop in a post pandemic business?

Put wellbeing centre stage: If we have learnt anything during the pandemic it is that nothing can supersede wellness. Businesses need to get the message out there, that this is the most important focus for them. Employers that fail to deliver on this may find their workforce is no longer amenable to the messages.

Recruitment professionals and HR leaders that shape their employer brand for the post-Covid business world will do well to heed what employees want, new ways of working and the importance of wellbeing. 

Read more about how to rethink your employer brand in this free downloadable ebook: Employer Branding Reboot: A guide for employers throughout the pandemic and beyond

Need advice or help building your employer brand? Get in touch with Wonderful Workplaces on [email protected] 

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Annie Hayes is a specialist HR, skills, careers and L&D writer with 19 years experience in the sector. 

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