Employer branding is the strategic process of developing and positioning a strong, attractive employer brand in the labour market to attract new employees and retain existing ones over the long term. Employee surveys play an important part in this process. We explain what employer branding involves and outline measures and examples of employee surveys that support it.
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Definition and objectives of employer branding
Employer branding encompasses all strategic measures aimed at positioning a company as an attractive employer in the labour market. Marketing concepts, particularly those used in brand building, help to create an employer brand that sets the company apart from competitors in a positive way. Building an employer brand is a process in which HR marketing implements the employer branding strategy. As it is a strategic tool, other stakeholders are involved too, particularly senior management.
Employer branding pursues both external and internal objectives:
- Externally, employer branding is designed to attract employees. A strong, appealing employer brand should attract more suitable applicants. The underlying idea is simple: companies that are well known and well regarded for their “brand” receive far more applications from interested candidates.
- Internally, employer branding also aims to retain employees for the long term.
In summary, it is about creating and maintaining a consistent, authentic image of the company as an attractive employer and communicating it clearly both internally and externally.
Employer branding objectives at a glance:
Employer branding measure: the Employer Value Proposition (EVP)
The first step in employer branding is to reflect on the company’s core and the value proposition, known as the Employer Value Proposition, that it wants to communicate to both existing employees and applicants. How is our company perceived as an employer? Which values do we stand for, and what do we want to stand for in the future? These are key questions when identifying and defining the Employer Value Proposition (EVP). At its heart is the question: “What makes our company unique as an employer?” The EVP is comparable to the USP, or unique selling proposition, in brand building. Its core elements can include attitudes to current issues such as sustainability, diversity and social responsibility. Particularly among younger people and those starting their careers, value propositions such as sustainable business practices and gender diversity in the workplace are highly valued.
An employee survey can help to develop the Employer Value Proposition. What encouraged existing employees to choose this employer? Which values do current employees associate with the company?
Answering these questions provides a clear picture of the current situation within the company. The findings form the basis for planning and shaping further employer branding measures. Once the employer brand has been defined, the key task is to turn the value proposition into a communication strategy and give the brand a clear identity.
Employee surveys as an employer branding measure
A key aim of employer branding is to retain existing employees. The employer brand should be embedded internally and lived authentically before it is communicated externally. Only a company culture that inspires existing employees can also persuade new applicants. It is therefore essential to involve the workforce, for example through employee surveys. Asking employees for their views or advice demonstrates appreciation and shows that their voice is heard. Ideally, this increases employee motivation and employee retention. Motivated employees, in turn, are happy to share the employer brand as ambassadors.
Examples of employee surveys that support employer branding
Employee surveys are an important part of successful employer branding. They can be carried out throughout the employee journey, at every point of contact an employee has with their employer, from their first days in the company during onboarding through to leaving during offboarding.
Onboarding survey
Onboarding is the phase of the employee journey in which new employees are familiarised with the company, during their first days, weeks or sometimes months with a new employer. This phase can be particularly important for employer branding. If a company succeeds in retaining new employees at this early stage, satisfied newcomers are likely to speak positively about their employer and share their enthusiasm. New employees can then become ambassadors for the brand.
Employee satisfaction surveys
Regular surveys asking employees about their satisfaction with their work, managers and the company as a whole demonstrate an appreciative attitude, especially when concrete improvement measures are derived and implemented from the feedback. Successful employer branding that aims to retain employees always involves the workforce, for example through an annual online employee satisfaction survey.
Pulse surveys
Short, focused pulse surveys, also known as pulse checks, have become an established way of retaining employees, either alongside a detailed employee satisfaction survey or independently. They are usually conducted at short intervals and focus on one current topic, such as an ongoing project or changes within the company.
Evaluating employee appraisals
Along the employee journey, employee appraisals are perhaps the most direct contact between employer and employee. In a personal conversation, employers ideally receive honest and valuable feedback on employees’ views and attitudes towards the company culture and employer brand. Employee appraisals can therefore form part of employer branding and be integrated into the relevant employer brand strategy. Surveys can be used to find out how employees perceive and assess employee appraisals and how they are organised.
Intern feedback
Interns are an important part of the workforce, too. They can act as ambassadors on campus or at their training provider and share their internship experiences with other students or trainees. If interns speak positively about the internship programme and workplace atmosphere, they are likely to encourage others to apply. A targeted survey of interns provides valuable feedback on how they rate the programme, what they like and what could be improved. If the feedback reveals negative views of the company, measures to improve should be developed and implemented as part of successful employer branding. Surveying interns can also support long-term retention: interns who are asked for their opinion and assessment feel valued, creating a good basis for retaining them as future employees.
Offboarding: exit survey
The final point of contact with an employer in the employee journey comes when an employee leaves the company, during the offboarding process. For successful employer branding, it is essential to manage this process as professionally as possible, so that former employees feel treated competently and respectfully even at this final stage, continue to speak positively about the company and retain a good, professional final impression of their former employer.
Another example of an employee survey aimed at retention is an online skills analysis as part of skills management. Find out more about this strategic HR development process here: Skills management: definition, benefits, template and tips.
Templates for employee surveys that support employer branding
We have compiled questionnaire templates for these employee touchpoints that support employer branding. You can copy the templates free of charge to your LamaPoll account by selecting “Use” and adapt them to your needs.
LamaPoll makes it easy to create and run online employee surveys or online forms for different points in the employee journey. We also provide numerous survey templates that you can use free of charge and tailor to your employer branding needs.
Employer branding in recruitment
An attractive employer brand should have a positive external impact and inspire new talent. Employer branding therefore supports the process through which companies attract employees: recruitment. Whether on a careers website and its job advertisements, in recruitment videos or on a company’s social media channels, all of these touchpoints give potential applicants an insight into the company’s values and culture. Successful employer branding therefore includes individual HR marketing measures aligned with the Employer Value Proposition (EVP), with the aim of convincing the best candidates of the employer brand and attracting them to the company. Here are some tips for a communication strategy that makes recruitment more effective:
Tips for employer branding in recruitment
- A well-structured careers website with informative job advertisements that communicate the company culture
- Recruitment videos with authentic images of teams, individual employees in interviews and the working environment
- A social media presence with stories from employees’ day-to-day work
- A well-managed profile on an employer review platform
Application process: candidate experience and employer branding
The application process is an important part of recruitment. It should be as straightforward as possible and provide applicants with prompt feedback. During the process, particularly in job interviews, candidates gain experience of the company and its culture. For successful employer branding, this experience should be positive. This candidate experience is increasingly shared on review platforms and spreads by word of mouth. A positive candidate experience strengthens the employer brand over the long term. Companies are therefore strongly advised to evaluate and measure their application process and the candidate experience regularly, then make improvements where needed. Candidate experience can be measured with a short online survey. It can be used to evaluate the application form, email communication and aspects of the interview process.
For your recruitment, we provide the following two survey templates free of charge: an application form that simplifies the application process and a candidate experience survey that measures applicants’ experience.
Find more detailed information on applicant management and using online forms in the application process here: Applicant management with an online tool.
Read more about candidate experience and surveying applicants about their experience on our page: Candidate experience: measuring applicants’ experience with an online survey.
Employer branding and people development in a VUCA world
Employer branding is also relevant in view of the challenges of the VUCA world. VUCA is an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The term VUCA is often used in connection with the challenges of the modern world, including those arising from digitalisation. These four factors create momentum and constant changes in working conditions. As a result, many employees’ everyday working lives are marked by rapid change, complex tasks and ongoing developments that can make it harder to find direction and can feel less stable.
VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. These four factors shape the modern world of work.
For employees, these factors can lead to uncertainty and possible overload, but also to a search for new, secure opportunities with an attractive employer. Especially in VUCA times, companies should focus on employee retention measures, people development and attracting employees. Against the backdrop of existing skills shortages and employees’ greater willingness to change jobs due to VUCA factors, building an attractive employer brand is strongly recommended. Employer branding should therefore be given particular importance in strategic workforce planning and people development.
Employer branding is all about satisfied and motivated employees. Find out more about employee satisfaction here: Measuring employee satisfaction
Employer branding can also be strengthened through a transparent, documented sustainability strategy as part of sustainability management. For companies of all sizes, a materiality assessment is a useful way to analyse the most important sustainability topics. Find out more on our page: Materiality assessment
What is LamaPoll?
LamaPoll is a survey tool for creating employee surveys and measuring employee satisfaction. You can use it to create, conduct and analyse all types of employee survey. Create your employee survey in just a few steps, apply your organisation’s corporate design and invite employees conveniently by email or via your intranet. You can quickly gain insights that help improve employee satisfaction. You can register for our survey tool free of charge and immediately conduct surveys for up to 50 employees with no obligation. If you need more responses to your online employee survey questionnaire, simply choose one of our monthly plans. You can also use our employee survey questionnaire templates and examples.
