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With organizations across the globe competing for the best talent, creating an attractive employer brand is crucial to any successful recruiting strategy. Top candidates can afford to be highly selective about where they want to work and aren’t afraid to shop amongst competing businesses.
Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, candidates continue to seek flexible work schedules, remote work arrangements, and wellness opportunities in prospective employers. Both job seekers and current employees want to know how employers will support their workers both now and in the long run. When looking to attract new talent, organizations must consider how they can incorporate these highly coveted values into their employer branding.
This article will take a look at why and how businesses should develop a remote-friendly brand culture that highlights workplace flexibility and a commitment to employee wellbeing.
Why Create a Remote-Friendly Employer Brand?
An employer brand that effectively reaches remote workers can increase your chances of engaging the most qualified candidates worldwide, not just those who can make the commute. Organizations that fail to attract remote workers are limiting their access to qualified talent pools to that of their immediate region.
An employer brand, particularly one that showcases your willingness to accommodate issues surrounding flexibility, will also benefit candidate diversity. Remote-friendly work arrangements may appeal to those with disabilities who may benefit from the absence of a daily commute and working parents who may benefit from a more flexible schedule.
Ultimately, showcasing your organization’s commitment to flexible work arrangements and employee wellness will reflect positively on your employer reputation, giving you the competitive edge you’ll need to attract top talent in your field.
5 Steps You Can Take to Create a Remote-Friendly Employer Brand
1. Share Details of Your Commitment to Remote Workers
Starting at the candidate engagement step, does your company website currently highlight your organization’s remote work options? If not, your career page is a top tool for showcasing your commitment to remote workers. Be specific about the steps you take to support remote working, flexibility, and wellness initiatives. Share details surrounding the benefits your organization can offer to remote workers. If you are using specific tech tools to help your employees stay connected, name those.
Looking for great examples? Check out tech companies who have been building robust remote workforce cultures for many years.
2. Evaluate Feedback from Candidates and Existing Employees
Ask candidates for their feedback on the outreach, interview, hiring, and onboarding process through an anonymous survey. Engage reviews from Glassdoor, Indeed, and like platforms to gather consensus on current sentiments and areas where your employer branding may fall short. Candidate reviews can shed light on how well your virtual interview process is performing among prospective candidates. Additionally, employee reviews can also demonstrate how your organization’s benefits, wellness initiatives, and remote management efforts are perceived by existing employees.
3. Enhance Your Virtual Interview Experience
A common obstacle of virtual interviews is that interviewees are unable to witness the physical space and company culture the same way they would in an onsite interview. There are a number of things you can do to supplement the experience and really bring your employer brand to life during a virtual interview. Be prepared to provide stories, videos, or even a virtual tour of your headquarters to give candidates insight into what it's like to work for your company and be part of the team. You could even create an engaging introductory video featuring your mission, values, and leadership to send out to candidates prior to the interview.
Consider providing virtual interview training to ensure that hiring managers and interviewers are appropriately reinforcing your employer brand. Recruiters should be aligned on how they are showcasing your company mission, values and culture. They should also be consistently describing remote-specific benefits, career growth opportunities, and wellness initiatives across interviews. When interviewing for remote positions, outline how these values will translate to their day-to-day routine. For example, if social impact is part of your values and your company has service days or projects, explain how remote employees are included in these activities.
4. Showcase Remote Work-Focused Data
As part of developing your remote-friendly brand, collect relevant data to inform your brand messaging. How many employees work remotely? Where are they located throughout the world? What is the time saved and environmental impact of not commuting?
5. Share Employee Experience and Success Stories
Employee experiences are an authentic and highly effective way to showcase your company culture across various departments in your organization. Consider sharing remote-focused working experience and success stories from current employees on your website and social channels. This can be in the form of quotes, videos, blogs, interviews, and podcasts.
By reflecting their commitment to remote workers in their employer brand, organizations can demonstrate to prospective candidates their efforts to provide a supportive and enriching experience to employees beyond the office. As the remote workforce continues to grow, investing now in an effective remote-focused employer brand will go a long way in attracting top candidates.
