Why is it worth investing in IT employer branding?
IT employer branding is a field on the border of marketing and talent acquisition, which focuses on building the image of the employer. Now, when the IT market has become very competitive, and developers and IT specialists are among the most wanted groups of employees, it is one of the main factors affecting the positioning of the brand on the labor market. In this article, you will learn what benefits a properly implemented IT employer branding brings to the employers and you will learn how to implement it in your company.
Benefits for the employer
Building a positive image of an employer in the IT industry brings a number of benefits. Here are some of them:
Attracting the best IT specialists
Attracting the best talent, whether front-end, back-end or software engineering, is crucial for employers who want to succeed in the labor market. To achieve this, it is necessary to build a strong image of the employer, i.e. employer branding.
To attract the best employees, an organization must build an image that will attract their attention. This means that the company should focus on promoting its organizational culture, values and mission, as well as the benefits offered.
It is also important that it is visible on the labor market. This means that it should use various communication channels, such as social media, a dedicated career page, job portlas, industry conferences, job fairs, etc. In this way, the company can reach more potential IT candidates and attract their attention.
See our concept for Twilio, which wanted to recruit new IT specialists.
Reduction of recruitment costs
Good employer branding can attract candidates who fit the company culture and are motivated to work. This means less work in the recruitment process and lower related costs. By attracting the right candidates, the company also avoids the risk of costly recruitment errors and the mismatch of candidates.
Going further, a well-built internal image of the employer can also help in negotiating salaries and benefits. Employees who feel attached to a given company are more likely to work on favorable (for the company) conditions, which contributes to further reduction of recruitment costs.
Increasing employee involvement
A positive image of the employer allows you to increase the involvement of employees in their duties. Employees who feel that the company values their work and cares about their development are more motivated and satisfied with their work. This has a positive effect on the efficiency of the specialists employed and increases the quality of the tasks performed by them.
To activate your developers and increase their motivation to work, create a plan of dedicated events, such as hackathon, ambassador program or gamification.
“Year after year, the fight for the best talents becomes more intense, which means that as an employer brand, we must constantly take actions that distinguish us on the local IT market. One of them was the implementation of the employer branding strategy in our company. As part of it, we started the process of translating global brand standards to the Polish market, and developed a communication strategy focused on our target group, developers and engineers. In this way, both in the visual and verbal message, we managed to build entire communication cycles, thanks to which we strengthen the image of the Harman brand in the eyes of candidates. We implement all this in cooperation with the LoveJob agency, which has been providing consulting and operational support from the beginning of our activities.”
Sonia PodgórskaTalent Acquisition Lead at Harman Connected Services Poland
Reducing staff turnover
IT employer branding allows you to reduce employee turnover. Employees who are satisfied with their job and value their employer are less likely to look for other offers. In addition, a company that enjoys a good reputation among its employees attracts talents who are looking for a stable and long-term offer. Thanks to this, the company can reduce costs related to employee turnover, such as the cost of training or onboarding.
Improvement of the company’s image
A good employer image in the IT industry attracts not only potential employees, but also customers and business partners. An organization that cares about its employees and offers them attractive working conditions is perceived as reliable and trustworthy.
How to implement IT employer branding?
The implementation of employer branding activities requires a good action plan. To make it easier for you, below are a few steps worth taking to effectively implement an IT employer branding strategy in your company:
1. Defining of goals and target group
The first step is to define the goals that the organization wants to achieve by implementing an employer branding strategy. At this point, answer the question: do you want to attract the best specialists, reduce turnover or increase brand awareness on the market?
Also specify the target group to which you are directing your activities. Do you want to attract young IT specialists, mids or experienced seniors?
2. Employer image analysis
Then it is worth analyzing the current image of the company as an employer. What do our employees and potential candidates say about us? What are their expectations and what are their needs? Does the company offer attractive working conditions, development opportunities and an organizational culture that attracts with its offer? It is worth analyzing opinions about the company on the Internet and in social media. The first point of contact is usually Google and what it suggests after entering key phrases, such as company name and job, opinions, job offers, etc.
3. Creating a unique employer’s offer
To attract the best IT employees, it is worth creating a unique employer’s offer. It should contain not only information about an attractive salary, but also a rich package of benefits, such as work on international projects, additional days off or training and industry conferences to improve skills.
It is also important how we want to talk about ourselves, what is our motto (claim) and how do we present ourselves? The answers to these questions are included in the creative concept, thanks to which you will build a coherent message to candidates and current employees.
See what mistakes to avoid when building offers for IT positions to increase the number of applications.
4. Internal and external communication
In building the image of an employer in the IT industry, it is worth taking care of internal communication, i.e. informing employees about the latest initiatives, incentive programs or company achievements.
In addition, external communication is also important. Inform candidates about current job offers and benefits offered by your company, e.g. in social media, on the organization’s website or on job portals, and you will quickly see how the number of job applications is growing.
A company blog is also a great way to enable constant external communication. Technical articles published on it regarding specific solutions and technologies used in your company will not only attract the attention of potential candidates, but will also help you position your brand online through SEO Content Marketing.
5. Monitoring the effects of actions
The last step is monitoring the effects of actions, which allows you to determine which ones bring the best results and react to negative opinions about the company. To do this, set KPIs, i.e. success measures (number of visits to the career page, conversion rate, degree of involvement on social networks, etc.), and then monitor them using dedicated tools, e.g. Google Analytics.
It is also worth conducting regular employee and candidate satisfaction surveys to find out what needs to be changed and how to improve the job offers to make it more attractive.
