When it comes to Employer Branding, there’s no question or doubt that a LinkedIn Company page is one of the best ways to show candidates what your organization is really about.
But underneath all of the funny quotes, job opening announcements and blog post links, have you ever considered whether or not your page clearly showcases your EVP to potential candidates?
Hiring is expensive…
The average cost per hire in the USA is $3479, however the NET cost for recruiting an employee is more in the region of $15000 (including onboarding, training, drug screening, and so on).
An even more interesting statistic is that employers with strong brands save up to 18% on the cost of Employer Branding per year, so the companies that are doing it well are certainly reaping the financial benefits.
Why?
Because they are attracting the right kinds of candidates. Let’s also not forget that your LinkedIn Company page is one of the first places that potential candidates will go when they are considering whether or not they should apply for a position at your company.
Today we’re going to show you the five different ways that you can showcase your EVP through your LinkedIn Company page.
First things first. What exactly is your EVP?
Let’s get this straight - Employer Branding and EVP are not the same thing. EVP, or ‘Employee Value Proposition’ are the balance of the rewards and benefits that are received by employees in return for their performance at the workplace.
Remember, we’re operating in a candidate-driven industry, new hires aren’t going to be satisfied unless they feel like they’re being sufficiently rewarded for their work.
Every company has an EVP, whether they’re aware of it or not, and it’s your recruiter’s responsibility to sell the opportunity to work at a company based on this EVP.
What makes your company unique?
Now before you start posting like crazy on LinkedIn, you first need to make sure that you know exactly what the EVP for your company actually is!
So what’s your organisation’s thing – is it a fast-paced start-up that offers lots of perks to its employees? Let that shine on your Company page. Is it a multinational that can’t boast about beanbags lying around the office but can boast about the fact that Bob from Accounting has been with the company for 40 years? Lead with job security! Do you know that your company pays well above the average wage? Shout it from the rooftop!
All of these things are motivators for different types of people, and by showcasing what you can offer, you’ll easily attract the types of candidates that are likely to be a natural fit.
Whatever your EVP message is, it has the potential to be very powerful to jobseekers. Naturally, when you talk about what a company can offer a potential employee in exchange for their skills and expertise, the first thing that springs to mind is money, right?
Well of course that’s the key selling point for most roles, but there are a lot of other things that you can showcase as part of your EVP that will certainly resonate with potential candidates.
Let’s take a closer look at what these are…
1. People
“Our people are our greatest asset.”
So many brands out there use this phrase as their tagline, yet more often than not you could endlessly scroll through their LinkedIn Company page and not see a single example of a person actually working there!
People are often an overlooked benefit in an organisation’s EVP, when in actual fact it’s a no brainer - good people want to work with other good people.
No one wants to go to work every day to be surrounded by colleagues who are incompetent or lazy! So prove that the employees at your company are world-class!
Feature them in group photos or have a weekly Q&A post with an employee in different departments getting to know them and what they do better. Show potential candidates who they could be working alongside if they decide to apply for a job with you.
2. Compensation
How does someone get compensated for doing a great job in your organisation? Well, with a monthly paycheck, sure, but how about all of the other performance-related benefits; be it getting selected to go to an industry conference in the USA, or winning an annual gym membership for hitting target in the quietest month of the calendar year – these are all things that fall into the ‘compensation’ category.
Again, anything visual that you can post on your LinkedIn Company page to show what a potential employee can expect for going above and beyond the call of duty will be a huge draw and help to showcase your EVP.
3. Perks
Here at Social Talent HQ, we get free lunch every Monday as well as free pizza and beer the Friday before payday every month. That’s a major perk right there! It may not seem like a big thing, but put yourself in a potential candidate’s shoes and think about how nice it is knowing that if you get a job at Social Talent, you never need to worry about making lunch on a Sunday night?
You’d be surprised by how much seemingly little perks can be a draw for jobseekers, so highlight all of these things, from the free fancy coffee machine to the company summer BBQ and everything in between.
4. Mission & Values
For some people a job is just a job, but for the vast majority of us, we really want to know that our job actually matters. That it means something. That we hold the same values as the company we’re thinking about apply for a job with.
By sharing your company mission, you’ll not only attract people who have the same values and are on the same wavelength, but you’ll also be weeding out those who don’t.
5. Culture
‘Culture-fit’ is a term that’s being thrown around a lot in the recruitment world right now, and rightly so – it’s important to make sure that the employees you invest in hiring will fit into the culture of your company, so highlight exactly what the company culture is on your LinkedIn page.
Whether you do a weekly bake-off in the office, celebrate American Thanksgiving every year (even though you’re based in Ireland), or have a company football team that plays for fun every Wednesday night, make sure the information is easily available
These are the things that make a difference in the 8+ hours that employees spend in the office every day, and attribute hugely to the EVP of a company.
Summary
It can take as many as eight different brand impressions in turn a consumer into a customer, and it’s no different in recruiting (except the consumer is applying for a job not buying your product).
The goal of having a LinkedIn Company page is not only to share your company updates and job postings, but more importantly to show people that visit the page what it’s like to work at your company and create brand impressions that can encourage them to apply.
Making EVP a bigger part of that by clearly showing what the person that gets a job at your company will get in exchange for their work and skills, you can potentially put yourself in the bracket of companies that save 18% on their employer branding, simply because they are doing it right!
