How strong is your current employer brand? For engineering employers, this is probably the first question you should ask if you’re struggling with recruitment. Unfortunately, however, for many it’s also among the hardest ones to answer.
But the good news is that we’ve got insights to help you navigate, diagnose the state of your current employer brand and make changes that will translate to the outcomes that matter.
At the end of the day, as you’ll soon see, the foundational importance of a strong employer brand is almost impossible to overstate.
why employer branding matters
Just how important is a strong employer brand for engineering employers? Stats like the following should leave very little doubt about the answer:
- Nearly nine out of 10 professionals say they won’t apply to or work for a company that has a bad reputation.
- Research shows that the benefits associated with leading employer brands — work-life balance, opportunities for professional development and more — are among the top reasons that engineering professionals choose to remain with their employers.
In other words, from recruiting to hiring, retention and more, employer branding impacts key outcomes. And given how readily all of those things translate to bottom-line value, employer branding can easily be the make-or-break factor in determining the overall success of engineering employers.
simple steps for improving your employer brand
Being known in your sector is key to winning the talent pool, period. So whatever your current level of brand awareness among engineering candidates, there are steps you can take to proactively increase mindshare — and more effectively promote your company to top talent, too.
With that in mind, here’s a simple question: Right now, would you say that the majority of engineers in your field know about your company? Alternatively, would they need to do some research simply to learn about your existence?
If it’s the latter, you’ve got some work cut out for you. Here are two simple tips to help you get started.
1. connect with relevant local organizations
Working with schools and local communities is a great way of not only connecting with aspiring STEM professionals but making sure students know about relevant career pathways. Meanwhile, you’ll also be putting your company on the radar for talent going forward. It’s a win-win for everybody.
Mind you, of course, such an approach is more likely to yield long-term than short-term value.
2. seek out the right strategic partner
Not all employer brands are well-known to candidates, especially in engineering. But you’ll need to do something about it if you hope to drive different recruiting and hiring outcomes going forward.
That’s why you should consider reaching out to a strategic partner. These organizations have large networks of engineering talent available on demand, offer flexible delivery models and can rapidly scale up or down alongside your business.
key takeaways
It might seem like there are any number of ways to bolster your employer brand — running a digital ad campaign, for example, might help move the needle, but probably only incrementally.
To truly make an impact, and to deliver on your talent-related goals going forward, you’ll need to go further. Check out our full guide to recruiting engineering candidates for more in-depth guidance:
Find out how the experts at Randstad can help by getting in touch with us today.