HRD finds out the best way to boost your talent attraction strategy amidst a crisis
Whether you’re on a hiring pause or actively recruiting employees, Mark Reilly, director of employer insights at Indeed, reminded leaders that “your response to COVID-19 matters”.
“Some companies would have needed to pause their recruitment, and maybe even let staff go,” Reilly said in a recent webinar co-organised by HRD.
“Regardless of whichever category you fall into, you know there are some steps that you can be taking now to help set your company up for future success as we progress – hopefully through recovery and into the future.”
He believes that now is the perfect time to focus on your employer brand, especially if you’re not hiring at full capacity.
While every organisation may be prioritising different things at the moment, taking the opportunity to refocus HR’s recruitment strategy around the company’s brand will pay off once business picks up.
Read more: How to hire during a global crisis
Why you should prioritise your employer brand
And just how many are prioritising branding right now? In a quick poll of HR leaders in Singapore, eight in 10 said they’re at the same level or working on increasing focus on employer branding, compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Quoting his colleague, Brian Chaney, director of employer brand, talent attraction at Indeed, Reilley said that your employer brand is even more important now because “your character is revealed in challenging times.”
This means how you respond to the impact of the pandemic and manage employees, as well as customers, will eventually affect what people think of your organisation.
“It can influence how current and future employees feel about you – after the crisis is over,” Reilley said. “Not being thoughtful about how you take care of your workforce and your customers during the crisis can create negative sentiment towards your company, making talent attraction more difficult.
“On the other hand, showcasing how your company has responded to the crisis, by taking care of your employees and your customers, and helping the fight against the virus, helps you attract and retain top talent.
“And when it's time to ramp up hiring again, you'll be positioned for success. So it’s important to make your employer brand a top priority, and to communicate your response in a sensitive and authentic way.”
Read more: How crisis will define your employer brand
How HR can build a stronger brand
Reilley offered some best practices to improve your employer branding:
The crisis led to skyrocketing stress and anxiety levels amongst employees, especially in terms of personal health and safety. He recommended that employers go beyond standard government guidelines and take ‘extra care’ of employees. This will boost your employer brand, as well as the company’s bottom line.
Ask yourselves: Do your employees feel valued and included? Companies may be hiring employees remotely for the first time, so what are you doing to make them feel included and appreciated and on equal footing with employees that you had hired before the pandemic?
“It’s much harder to build relationships, particularly in companies that did not have some form of remote environment in place before the pandemic,” he said. “This is certainly an area a lot of people have had to adapt.”
Read more: How to onboard remote employees
It’s vital to pay attention to the organisation’s stress levels and help ease employees. This can be difficult to do, especially in a remote working context, but it does highlight the value of training managers and leaders to be able to identify and support staff.
It shows that you’re committed to your employees and that you’re in this crisis together. One example of a simple and effective initiative is offering an allowance to set up a conducive home office.
“One thing we can safely say, though, is that, irrespective of whether you are [letting] people go, remaining stable, or growing a business, your employees will be talking about their experiences and sharing their stories about how you responded during 2020,” he said.
