How to showcase your employer brand to attract top hospitality talent

Your employer brand is a major asset when it comes to attracting candidates and an area all businesses should focus on. By understanding what candidates see as a successful business, and showcasing these attributes, you can elevate your business and become a brand that candidates want to work for.

What is employer brand?

Your employer brand is your reputation as an employer. It’s about how candidates see your company culture, values and work environment. Employer branding is about managing your reputation, across all platforms, to existing employees, potential hires and stakeholders. Your goal is to be seen as a hospitality employer of choice.

Why is your employer brand important when recruiting?

In a challenging recruitment market, HR teams and recruiters have to market themselves and their brand to attract top talent. More and more candidates want to be in charge of their recruitment journey and are doing their own deep-dive research on companies.

Candidates want to have a clear picture of a business before submitting a CV and are using Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms to find connections and posts that resonate. They are looking for authentic, genuine and honest brands and your online presence should reflect these qualities if you plan to hire top hospitality talent.

Job boards such as Caterer.com are a top source of information for candidates and one of the first places a candidate visits when considering a move, with candidates citing them as a valuable research portal. This research helps them understand what a company does and whether it aligns with their career goals.

Misrepresenting your brand online or presenting a less than positive employee experience will either deter candidates or lead to poor retention post-hire.

Positioning your brand with the right information

As previously mentioned, candidates are looking for high levels of transparency. They want to understand what your brand does, how they fit into that brand and if it aligns with their own career goals.

Content from existing employees, and about existing employees, is a great way to communicate your culture, as are testimonials and Q&As about ‘why your brand if the right one and why people want to work there.’

The benefits of a great employer brand

Having strong positive employer branding will help your company in a variety of ways, not just when you’re recruiting.

Being seen as a great employer, with a good reputation in the sector is huge when it comes to the positive impact on your overall brand and business success. People want to work with a company that is known for looking after its people well.

Collaboration across all your teams, with a clear employer branding strategy, will not only attract talented candidates to your business, and by sharing your vision and culture, and recruiting talent that aligns with those, you’ll see an increase in employee retention.

Top tips on ways to improve your employee brand

It’s clear that employer branding and the candidate experience are interdependent. Companies that deliver great candidate experiences and valuable insights into their business from the initial job advert stage have a clear competitive advantage and are seen as a strong employer brand.

How to create a successful employer brand

These are just a few best practice tips for creating an employer brand candidates will want to engage with.

Provide genuine and transparent brand content, across all platforms, updated regularly to showcase brand progression, any awards won and community engagement – candidates want to align with companies that are not only top in their fields but who have a clear social conscience

Go big on your culture – what makes your brand unique, different and what matters to you and your employees.

Share employee testimonials – your employees are your biggest and best ambassadors so highlight the great things they do and get them to tell their stories of why they work for your brand and what makes you a good employer

Put a Q&A out there – and fill it with information on why candidates should work for your brand. Don’t be shy, include the ‘warts and all’ because it’s all part of being a transparent and genuine employer brand

Showcase your charity and community activities – if you support your local foodbank, help a hospitality charity, raise funds for specific causes or educate young people about careers in hospitality then share this on your social pages – people love a feelgood story and one that supports causes they believe in.