In the contemporary and globalized era, a company’s competitive advantages cannot solely depend on its resources or its production capabilities. Nowadays, internal structures, especially factors influencing how employees feel about their work, are very important for how outsiders see the company and its brand. In conjunction with employer branding, employee experience has emerged as the game changer in the market as it shapes the perceptions held by potential candidates for the organization and how other players in the market view the organization’s worth.
This blog explains how a company can use employee experience to build strong employer branding and market positioning. We’ll explain both, see how they relate to each other, and see how companies can grow their position on the market when investing in employee experience.
The Relationship Between Employee Experience and Employer Branding
Employee Experience (EX) is a process that an employee undergoes during the span of his/her stay with an organization i.e. recruitment, day-to-day activities, training and development, and finally the phase when the employee leaves the organization. The concept includes those attributes that are physical, technological, or cultural that determine the thoughts and feelings of employees towards their work and workplace. A great brand is a good way to ensure that it attracts decent work and maintains a good relationship with its employees, stakeholders, and even customers.
The bond between employee experience and employer branding is mutually satisfying. The majority of a positive employee experience leads to loyalty, motivation, or advocacy which builds up the brand as the employees carrying the brand share their experiences for the good around them. On the contrary, employee disengagement is also a brand killer, dissatisfaction among disengaged employees is often voiced and negatively affects recruitment as well as general branding of the company. Employer Branding (EB) is concerned with the outside perception of the organization’s work environment by would-be employees and the general public.
Key Ways Employee Experience Impacts Employer Branding
Increased Employee Engagement
People perform at their optimal best when they feel that they are valued by the organization they work for. Engaged people are more likely to give their all, and according to Gallup, businesses with above-average engagement can increase productivity by as much as 21%. Not only does this kind of engagement drive organizational success it also acts as a strong recommendation because it also attracts other hardworking people who want to work in a ‘positive’ and ‘empowering’ environment.
Higher Retention and Reduced Recruitment Costs
It can be said that a happy employee is always a satisfied customer. This means that an employee would be willing to stick around for a longer time within the organization and thus turnover can be reduced. Forbes even quotes that losing a single employee can cost anywhere from tens of thousands to twice their annual salary.
So now you can understand how a lot of turnover affects a business. A good employee experience helps in reducing these costs by not only helping in acquiring talent but making sure loyalty is high which in turn creates a strong brand that will entice future business.
Enhanced Productivity and Innovation
Great employee experiences allow employees to engage and be more productive and creative in their work. One study by McKinsey reports that companies that allocate resources towards improving welfare and the environment of work have greater productivity combined with a more constructive operating culture.
Positive Word-of-Mouth and Advocacy
Employees who are appreciated and supported become the mouthpiece of the company, telling good stories about the organization. A LinkedIn survey showed that 50% of potential employees indicated that they would not join risky firms. This means that the point made by word of mouth is crucial. Employees also contribute to promoting the organization outside by advocating for the brand and its reach. For potential employees, it matters how strong the brand is and how the potential customers perceive the organization.
Alignment with Corporate Values and Culture
In doing so, a company’s strong employee experience aligns employees to the values of the company which helps them to feel more part of the mission of the company. This alignment not only helps to reinforce loyalty to the employees but also evokes a feeling of pride in them. This, in turn, helps to improve the employer brand. A workforce that is well aligned with the vision and mission of the institution reinforces the brand image by attracting candidates who have the same beliefs.
The Impact of Employee Experience on Market Positioning
Attracting Top Talent
A strong employer brand driven by favorable employee experience will draw in top talent and help the organization compete in the labor market. Glassdoor states that 69% of applicants are reluctant to accept employment with a company that has a bad name, thus showing how vital positive employer branding is in the nurture of qualified specialists.
Enhanced Customer Perception
It is established that happy employees will lead to happy customers. McKinsey in its research states that companies that pay attention to employee experience witness better customer interactions because motivated employees deliver better service.
Sustainable Growth and Market Leadership
A very good employee experience and employer branding also provide sustainable growth and market leadership. A significant part of helping to establish the company’s effective market leadership in the creative and digital industries has been the emphasis that the company has placed on employee experience, which serves to illustrate how, in the long run, investing in staff is an effective business strategy.
Tips for Enhancing Employee Experience to Strengthen Employer Branding
Focus on Onboarding and Offboarding
Onboarding and offboarding are crucial parts of the employee lifecycle. Good onboarding experience can boost the likelihood of retention, whereas good offboarding that is done with respect can also have a good effect on future hires.
Invest in Employee Well-Being and Development
Offering mental health support, career development skills and various opportunities to progress through the organization showcases concern for the employee’s overall health. Organizations such as Google have greatly profited from implementing wellness strategies and career training, it strengthens the business branding and draws in the best people.
Encourage Open Communication and Feedback
Raising concerns and procedures creates an environment where employees feel heard and appreciated. Organizations that have feedback mechanisms in place and use them help in affirming employees that their feedback is relevant and this results in a good experience that is in line with the employer branding objectives.
Celebrate Employee Achievements and Milestones
Boosting and celebrating some achievements, whether minor or major, makes positive impacts and cultures the employees. Touting the success of employees creates employees who are loyal to the organization and will create a strong employer branding for the reason that employees will feel valued and appreciated.
Case Studies of Successful Employee Experience and Employer Branding Alignment
Salesforce: Building a Strong Culture Around Employee Well-Being
Salesforce is an employee-centric brand and it offers good values to its employees by focusing on the employee experience throughout their journey. The company regards health and wellness as a top priority and broadens the spectrum with multiple support programs from mental health to volunteering.
Salesforce believes in ‘Ohana’ which is about ‘family’ to bring people together for a common purpose which creates a sense of belonging and support amongst employees. As a result, the employees have shown high satisfaction and have been able to attract the best of the best employees which explains why Salesforce frequently appears in the ´Best Place to Work’ according to Glassdoor. Their actions illustrate how they make the investment in employee experience and, consequently, support the employer branding transformation and promote the company as one of the leaders in the area of technology and CSR.
HubSpot: A Transparent and Feedback-Driven Culture
HubSpot has succeeded in placing employee experience at the core of its corporate strategy and built a culture of transparency and open communication. The organization leverages employees’ feedback to improve processes by showing results from internal polls and making changes backed by data. Hubspot prioritizes its employees and hence offers a more flexible work policy where they can select their working hours and locations. This has led to greater employee satisfaction.
The brand has become even more appealing, thanks to the focus on frontline employees and clear ethos and cultural values. HubSpot is placed among the best in the world in work-life balance and company culture. By integrating the employee experience with core values of transparency and growth, HubSpot has strong employer branding appealing to potential employees and even current employees; it helps embed HubSpot as one of the new-age leaders in the software industry.
Microsoft: Fostering Diversity and Inclusion for a Better Work Environment
Microsoft’s approach to DEI has significantly changed its employee experience for the better, creating an environment in which all employees feel respected, valued, and included. The organization has invested a lot of resources and other aspects of DEI strategy, from recruiting the right people to their retention through mentorship programs targeting the marginalized. Microsoft also has a lot of developmental opportunities for employees, such as leadership and career growth programs, which help employees tap into their full potential.
Such an employee experience and supportive environment have improved Microsoft’s value proposition as an employer and enabled it to be viewed as an employer of choice by the best-fit candidates from varied backgrounds.
Challenges
Inconsistent Communication
A good employee experience and employer branding can only be possible when the two parties in the equation are well coordinated through precise communication. Once the lines of communication are poorly managed resulting from a lack of transparency, trust issues will arise which could be damaging to the relevancy of the company alongside the internal dynamics.
Lack of Alignment with Company Values
It is said that trust is fostered by action, whilst brand is earned by promise. When promises made by a company are never realized by their practices, it becomes impossible to retain employees let alone reinforce the employer brand. Take, for example, a culture that is embedded with a value of innovation, where employees are not given the basics to create and innovate. Implementation of such policies may lead to self-destructing employee experience and employer branding.
Overcoming Negative Perceptions
Restoring confidence and credibility after a crisis or negative wrongdoing is a slow and cumbersome process as it involves openness and paves the way for structured communication and strategies to be rolled out. If there has been public condemnation of a business organization, working towards addressing the reasons for the condemnations by the business and determination to change will indeed restore the employer’s branding and even improve its standing in the market.
Future of Employee Experience and Employer Branding
Hybrid and Remote Work
In this hybrid environment, the employee experience will need to change in a way that the remote employees will feel included and taken care of. Organizations that have stepped up to adopt a remote employee experience will flourish when it comes to acquiring and retaining talent as it has now become a fundamental requirement to have flexible work policies.
Focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DEI gives employer branding more strength and indicates that this company is oriented towards inclusion. McKinsey’s research indicates that companies that have diverse teams are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors which emphasizes the advantages of a strong DEI focus.
Integration of Technology
For a modern employee experience, technology solutions that increase collaboration, increase efficiency, and cultivate the employee experience are imperative. It is remarkable how as firms embrace the use of cutting-edge technologies and automate, they bring about an environment where the workforce can concentrate on valuable tasks which in turn benefits both employee experience and employer branding.
Conclusion
The volume of work doesn’t matter, neither does the importance, employee experience is possibly the only constant that every employee focuses on. Investing time and effort in enhancing employee experience can pay off in manifold ways because reaping the benefits would mean earning the loyalty of the employees, building the organization’s goodwill and visibility, and more importantly getting the best of the talent across the globe. Where organizations used to compete in the marketplace in the past, they are now competing in the future space, always facing tight competition. Failing to offer employee experience would mean losing out today and being placed in perpetual catch-up mode.
Sounds good? Let’s get started together. Feel free to contact any of our experts at Auzmor to learn more regarding employee experience.
