Your employer brand is the most important tool in your armory when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent. The popularity of hybrid working, the rise of the four-day work week and the increase in job opportunities in Ireland towards achieving full employment, all mean that your employer brand must be a leader in your space so that you can compete for increasingly scarce talent.
Potential employees will search for your organisation online. The search results and information they read here will be highly influential to their selection of your company as a potential employer and assist you in driving job applications. Your PR agency should be very focused on helping you position content that will be persuasive and influential on their choice of employer.
The goal of PR is to share valuable news and insights with the media to positively influence relevant audiences. Good PR builds a positive on-message brand profile with customers, prospective customers, employees and prospective employees. PR plays a key role in enabling a positive employer brand profile.
So, first off, what information should your employer brand be providing?
- Who you are and what you do
- What it’s like to work there
- Where you lead
- What’s unique to the employee value proposition
- What kind of people are best suited to working there
Effective PR can showcase the answers to these questions in an engaging way and promote what your company has to offer as an employer.
Here’s the four ways a PR agency can help your employer brand:
1. PR professionals are best positioned to get your message to the right audience
A PR agency has the tools to create and execute an accessible and varied content strategy, which should result in positive online and media coverage. It’s no secret that one of the best ways to get your company name out there is to receive some positive coverage and attention in the media. A PR agency knows how to define your messaging, position your company values, and achieve influential coverage in media your audience will be consuming. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, through written, audio-visual content, or even events.
Social media/online presence
Googling is often the go-to method when you want an answer to a question. So what impact do you think it has when a potential employee Googles your organisation? It is likely that they will have a positive view if they see independent articles in respected media outlets featuring a senior team member promoting a positive message; if they see that your organisation won a workplace award; or perhaps read a news article about some interesting research that your company conducted.
This coverage shows that the business is well thought of and respected, has a company culture worth of awards and that its leaders are highly thought of. These are all positives for the employer brand.
Articles featured in online publications can include backlinks to your website, which in turn will attract more visitors to your site. It doesn’t have to be all written content either. A PR agency can find ways to mix this up, perhaps through creating enticing infographics, short videos or even podcast episodes. The traditional media is very powerful too, and radio and TV interviews can work wonders for employer branding too.
Online newsroom
In their search for information about an organisation, potential employees often turn to the company’s online newsroom as a starting point. This offers a glimpse into the company’s identity, recent events, and future plans, as well as a deeper understanding of the brand through its press releases. Your website – and more importantly your newsroom – serves as a centralised hub for positive stories, so ensure it is easily navigated.
Events and workshops
Participating in workshops or career fairs can enhance an organisation’s reputation. This presents an opportunity to connect with individuals and shape their opinion of the company, while displaying its unique features and benefits. A PR agency can create hype and publicity around your organisation’s involvement which can draw more people and attention to the event, further enhance the business’ brand and scout out potential employees.
2. PR experts can help you win awards that positively influence your employer brand
There are many avenues businesses can take to enhance their employer brand, and one way is through awards. Employer awards like “Great Place To Work” are not just fantastic milestones of success. They are also evidence that gives credence to your organisation’s excellent employee strategies and processes and its dedication to providing a great workplace. In fact, all sorts of awards are beneficial, and your PR agency can help you maximise your chances of winning. They are likely to have lots of experience helping companies like yours put its best foot forward in an award application.
Diversity awards, for example, are particularly valuable for employer branding as they highlight positive diversity and ESG initiatives. A company will receive an award for a good reason, and a PR agency can help find those reasons and package them up nicely into an impressive award entry. PR professionals can spot what makes a company special and build the story.
An award win or listing can then result in a press release and media coverage that is shared on your company’s social media, the award’s social media, and local and national media. Before your company knows it, word of mouth has spread and the whole organisation has garnered a positive reputation as an employer.
3. A PR agency will maximise the reach of your company’s good news
If your organisation is creating lots of jobs – shout it from the rooftops. Big job announcements are valued in the media, and rightly so, as they will have a positive effect on many people’s lives. They are also a great opportunity to secure a government minister to help launch the news. This adds weight to the announcement, and demonstrates government approval. This is very influential for your current and prospective employees.
A PR agency should have the ability and contacts to reach relevant government personnel and increase the chance of securing ministerial attendance, not to mention the media contacts to maximise coverage.
The main thing is that you’re putting your organisation’s name and opportunities in front of lots of potential employees, their families, and friends. The combined power of PR and word of mouth can have a very positive impact on job applications and CVs from high potential candidates.
The reach, relationships, and capabilities of your PR agency in terms of media relations is critical to your success. Make sure that the agency you work with has relationships with the right journalists for you. As a tech-orientated PR agency, Comit has fostered strong relationships with technology media. For reaching a technical audience, you should consider an agency like Comit, who will have the right connections and capabilities for you.
4. Good PR will ensure your brand stays on trend and in the media
Showcasing that you’re using the latest cutting-edge technology is attractive to a tech-loving job seeker. If a company spokesperson has expertise on how to help businesses to become more sustainable with their operations, then that’s enticing to employees who want to be part of a company that does their best for climate change. PR professionals will find ways to get this message out there and in front of the eyes of potential employees.
Your PR agency can keep you up with the latest trends and news agenda. PR professionals are always on the lookout for newsjacking opportunities or hot topics in the media. Being a media spokesperson helps you to be seen as a leader and this provides a great opportunity for your business to maximise its position as an attractive place to work.
People love stories, and finding the human interest element in a story is what can set your company apart from the rest, so this should be a top priority for your employer brand. Your employees and management may have great personal stories to tell. Your PR agency can identify suitable feature articles and secure opportunities for your people, allowing them to reach hundreds of thousands of readers through highly influential and widely read outlets. These stories can showcase the diversity among your workforce and provide insights into the amazing people you employ.
At the end of the day, the right PR agency will raise awareness of your company, enhance recognition as an employer, maximise positive news, and keep your employer brand current. So, choose wisely, and never underestimate the power of PR for your business.