How Big Brands using innovative EB for successful hiring?  

Your employer brand entails how current and new employees perceive your company as an employer. To recruit new candidates it is vital that your employer's branding revolves around your company’s values, brand personality and aligning it with the aspiration of your ideal candidates.

Establishing an employer brand is not about “tricking” (new) employees into thinking that working for you is better than working for another organisation. Your employer brand is about defining what makes your company a great place to work for based on the unique set of benefits you are able to offer, and your competitors can’t.

Communicating the unique set of benefits to your ideal candidates through employer branding activities is ultimately what puts you ahead of the competition. It will help you with attracting candidates that are the best fit for your organisation. Not just in terms of skills and expertise but also in terms of cultural fit.

After all, people who feel they contribute to the growth of the company in an environment that feels “like home” are much more likely to stay with you and spread the word about how great it is to work for you. At the bottom line, you will see higher retention rates, increases in employee satisfaction, and a more effective hiring process since your employees become your brand ambassadors.

Employer Branding examples in successful hiring.

As you might have read in our annual report on employer branding, many companies resorted to employer branding activities that help them attract new talent. They shape their employer branding campaigns in such a way they attract the talent that is needed to support their business goals and are also a great cultural fit.

To give you some actionable insights into how these companies achieve employer branding success, check out the examples below.

ING Tech Poland

ING Tech Poland is a great example of how a strong employer brand can help with attracting candidates that are a great fit for their organisation. 

Kamila Heitzman, HR Expert and manager of Employer Branding and Diversity & Inclusion at ING Tech Poland, mentioned in a former interview how their workforce grew from 400 people in 2014 to more than 2,000 people today. (Source) A successful strategy from which they still reap the benefits today.

Like most tech companies, ING Tech Poland operates in one of the most competitive talent markets. They realise that while remuneration remains one of the biggest drivers for talent to choose an employer, it does not stop there. Talent wants to develop themselves and grow into an area where they can be true professionals or simply become better at what they do.

To many, Financial Services often come across as extremely formal, hierarchical and not to mention, resistant to change. This is one of the reasons why ING has put significant efforts into shaping a value proposition which promises and enables individuals to continuously develop themselves both personally and professionally. 

This is a promise many companies want to fulfil, but what is interesting in the case of ING Tech Poland is how they communicated these values. Because they communicated their unique set of benefits in an original, authentic, and engaging way. One of their greatest successes in getting their message across was through a series of thought-provoking podcasts. (source)

In addition to their podcast series, they also offered amazing opportunities to young people to mingle among financial experts and take part in risk modelling challenges, often in an informal atmosphere.

Initiatives such as these significantly increased their chance to connect with budding talent and stay top-of-mind of great talent. They engage with talent that goes beyond recruitment. In fact, they have built and continue to grow a talent community to empower their workforce for the long term.

Main takeaways from ING Tech Poland

• Money is a key driver but does not define a company as being a great employer. People want to feel valued and able to fulfil their full potential in a friendly and supportive working atmosphere.
  
• For companies to stand out with their employer brand, they need to find innovative and distinct ways to set them apart. Always seek to project your brand in new ways while communicating what matters most to the talent you wish to attract.

Samsung Poland

Tech giant Samsung Poland has been recognized for the third time as being the most attractive workplace in Poland in 2021, according to the Randstad Employer Brand Research survey. (source)

According to all the respondents of the survey, Samsung has excelled time and time again in areas such as job stability, remuneration, work-life balance, friendly atmosphere and last but not least career development prospects.

One of the most successful examples of Samsung Electronic Polska’s employer branding activities is their Samsung Candidate Hub. This hub enabled top talent from all over the world to show off their skills in algorithmics and NLP which in turn helped Samsung to create a community that is gathered around the Samsung Brand. This has worked wonders for Samsung’s brand recognition in Poland.

They successfully engaged over 380 programmers and more than 12,600 people who showed a clear interest in the Algorithmic challenges. In total 604 individuals registered for the program which allowed Samsung to gain unique insights in the skills of the pool of potential talent.
Source

The hub has not only proven valuable to just Samsung. Candidates who apply for the program get instant feedback from one of the biggest tech companies in the world which gives them confidence, an idea of what skills they could improve on, and also how well they would do during onsite interviews.

Main takeaways from Samsung Poland

• Candidates see right through employer branding activities from companies that are clearly meant to only benefit the company looking for talent. By creating something that is of value to both the candidate and the company, the chances of engaging prospective candidates becomes much greater.
  
• Employer branding activities are most effective when they tie in with what naturally motivates people. In Samsung’s case this means solving complex problems in a way that is both fun and engaging.
  
• Think carefully about the additional value for candidates. If an employer branding activity gives them confidence and/or could teach them something (such as an unbiased skill assessment), chances are they will apply at a later stage and/or share your brand’s initiative with like-minded talent.