Whilst the best people in PR are busy securing the best PR opportunities for their clients, who is looking after your employer brand to ensure you attract the best PR professionals to work for your organisation in the first place?
I think one of the biggest ironies in PR is that the industry itself often misses a trick when it comes to promoting itself to prospective talent. In many PR agencies this tends to be because all the time, resources and energy you have are thrown into servicing clients. And if you work in-house as a PR practitioner, unless your remit is to PR your company then you’ve got a million other priorities, right?
Over half of PR employers are not getting it right
90% of PR job-seekers would consider an employer’s brand when applying for jobs, according to the 2019 Employer Branding Insights Report from employer branding agency, Wonderful Workplaces. The survey of 841 jobseekers across multiple sectors included 99 PR professionals.
But despite candidates placing huge importance on employer brand, the research shows that over half (52%) of PR employers, compared to 46% across all sectors, are not doing enough to communicate their employer brand effectively. In fact, more than one in five (22%) PR employers are communicating their employer brand “quite badly”, “very badly” or “not at all”.
At a time when the recruitment market faces great uncertainty, employer branding is of particular significance when hiring PR and communications professionals due to fierce competition for the best industry talent.
So what can you realistically do about it within your time constraints?
Offer a unique opportunity
In the study, 68% of PRs said “a unique opportunity”, 68% said “a better work/life balance” and 60% said “an amazing brand” would make them consider applying for a vacancy, even if they’re not actively looking for a new job. Furthermore, 76% would like the option to work from home in their next role.
A unique opportunity could represent anything from working on a really interesting project that isn’t possible elsewhere, to working in an exciting location, or even a work perk that no other company offers.
You need to identify the unique opportunity you are offering someone who comes to work for you and communicate it through all the channels your prospective candidates are likely to access, such as your careers site, social media and key trade publications, and reiterate this message in your induction materials.
I recently interviewed Missive’s co-founder, Emma Ross, about what is so exciting about working in tech PR and the unique team culture they have. “You don’t have to ask to work from home or leave early to hit the gym”, she told me. Their benefits package includes a £500 wellbeing allowance, flexible working as standard, a paid sabbatical after four years, and every year they take the whole team away on holiday to a destination beginning with ‘M’. They’ve got some great work perks and they’re telling people about it. Otherwise how will anyone outside the company know what a great place to work it is?
A final tip: Having an interesting careers page or dedicated careers site with the right content will help candidates to get a view of your company culture and demonstrates that you care. In addition, making sure you have strong company profiles on LinkedIn and Glassdoor, and that you regularly review and update these, is also key.
Is your organisation or team doing lots of great things but not communicating it enough? Do you know how candidates perceive your organisation as a place to work? Do you want to know how to position your organisation as an exciting place to work? For more insights and practical tips, download the 2019 Employer Branding Insights Report for free now.
PRWeek Jobs can help you build your employer brand to attract and retain top PR and communications talent. Email prcamembersjobs@haymarket.com for information about special member packages.