Adding Authenticity to your Employer Brand through Employee-Generated Content

As an employer, your brand becomes your identity. Every experience job seekers have with your brand online and offline impacts how you are perceived and could be the determining factor in a candidate’s decision whether to work for you or not. Adding authenticity to your employer brand helps you connect with potential candidates and gives them the ability to picture themselves working for your organization. Employee-generated content speaks to the very essence of authentic storytelling. Implementing a strategy for employee-generated content (EGC) can help your organization not only build an authentic employer brand, but it can also improve employee engagement. Here are three ways you can use EGC to improve your employer brand.

Include EGC on Your Career Site

Employee photos, videos and testimonials are powerful storytellers that allow you to convey your company culture in an authentic, transparent way. Adding EGC to your career site provides the opportunity to create a compelling depiction of who you are as an organization and what it’s really like to work for you. Here are a few options for EGC that can easily take your career site to the next level:

Employee Testimonials

Testimonials are a great way to easily include your current employees in your recruiting efforts. Here are a few questions you can ask employees to get great testimonial content:

• What brought you to this company?
• What made you choose this organization over a competitor?
• What do you like best about working here?
• How have you been able to grow at our company?
• How would you describe our company’s culture?

Employee Videos

Video brings your message to life in a whole new way. Combining words with real people and their experiences allows you to connect with your recruits on a deeper level. According to Recruitics, “80% of people agree a video about a job helps them better understand the role.” Here are a few topics to consider for video content:

• What a day-in-the-life at your organization looks like in multiple career areas
• Your company’s value propositions and/or differentiators, such as benefits, bonuses or growth opportunities
• Your company culture and the working environment candidates can expect to join
• Current leadership and the support provided to employees

Career Blogs

There are many ways to incorporate employees into your career blogs. You can profile a particular department, a certain sect of employees or assign a theme that aligns with a company event (participation in community initiatives or national sponsorships). Content could include:

• An employee feature that highlights your company culture or growth opportunities
• Specifics on unique benefits your company offers, such as tuition reimbursement, leave options, etc.
• What makes their career journey with you a continually satisfying experience
• Supportive leadership that has helped them develop personally and professionally
• Be sure to include supporting photos and/or videos on your career blog!

Ask Current Employees to Review Your Organization

According to Glassdoor, “86% of employees and job seekers research company reviews and ratings to decide on where to apply for a job.” Based on that statistic, it’s clear that maintaining a positive employer reputation on job sites is important to attracting talent. Asking current employees to leave reviews on Glassdoor, Indeed or other third-party sites allows job seekers to learn what it is like to work for you from someone who has experienced it first-hand. These sites can also be used to recognize your employees, which boosts your reputation. Consider featuring employee photos, career blogs and other employee-generated content to appeal to your audience in a subtle, yet forward-facing manner. They will feel connected to your work community prior to even applying.

Feature EGC on Your Social Media Sites

Social media is a great place to share EGC. According to a survey conducted by Content Stadium, “98% of recruitment, talent acquisition and employer branding teams use social media.” You can include EGC on your social media by:

• Featuring content on Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) created by ERG leaders and members
• Recognizing employee accomplishments and anniversaries, incorporating employee quotes and photos
• Develop a hashtag that employees can use to share work stories and experiences on their own social media accounts

Final Considerations

Although EGC is a great way to add authenticity to your employer brand, make sure you provide the training, channels and support employees need to create the content you need. Not sure where to start? NAS is a full-service recruitment agency that can teach you how to incorporate EGC into your recruiting strategies and help you take your employer brand to the next level.

Contact us today!