The saying goes that ‘Brand is what someone says about you when you are not in the room’. The role of brand trust in shaping a company’s market standing is well-established, it’s abundantly clear that a company’s credibility is built through its quality of service and products and directly influences customer behaviour and perception. However, the impact of brand trust is not confined to sales and marketing alone. A lesser-known but equally influential sphere where brand trust matters significantly is Human Resources (HR), particularly when it comes to a successful recruitment strategy and employee advocacy. According to Linkedin 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job.
Advocacy from Within: The Interplay of Brand Trust, Recruitment, and Employee Advocacy in HR and Recruitment Strategy Success
Brand trust, in the simplest of terms, is the faith that customers place in a company’s ability to deliver quality and reliable service. It’s a measure of a company’s integrity, competence, and performance, which profoundly affects customer loyalty and profitability.
Equally important is the employer brand trust, which gauges the confidence employees and prospective hires have in the company as an employer. It signifies whether the company is perceived as a supportive, fair, and reliable place to work, it affects whether a company finds it easy or difficult to recruit and retain staff successfully, and most crucially, it impacts how confident employees feel in being ambassadors for their company, i.e.… What do the employees say about the company when their boss is not in the room?!
Brand Trust in HR: The Recruitment and Advocacy Connection
Just as consumers must trust a company before they invest in its offerings, prospective employees need to believe in the company’s promise of a nurturing work environment, fair compensation, the right tools, and growth opportunities.
With easy access to employer reviews and testimonials, a company’s reputation as an employer can significantly influence its ability to attract and retain talent. A company with high employer brand trust attracts a diverse pool of high-quality candidates, ensuring a smoother recruitment process and hiring the best-fit individuals.
Moreover, this relationship doesn’t stop at recruitment. Once an individual is part of the company, their trust in the organization impacts their performance, loyalty, and advocacy.
The Power of Employee Advocacy
Employees are the company’s first and foremost brand advocates. Their belief in the company’s brand, its culture, and its mission profoundly impacts how they represent the company, both internally and externally.
When employees feel aligned with their organization, they become active promoters, driving positive word-of-mouth about the company and its products or services. Conversely, employees who feel disconnected or disenchanted can adversely impact the company’s reputation, affecting both customer and candidate perceptions. Happy employees attract both happy customers and more happy employees!
Cultivating Brand Trust for Successful Recruitment and Advocacy
Given the pivotal role brand trust plays in recruitment success, the question arises – how can HR and recruitment professionals embed it into their strategy, cultivate, and sustain it?
- Employ the right people in the right places: The first step is ensuring that you have employees that are the perfect fit. A recruitment marketing solution like VONQ will help you make sure you are hiring the right candidates quickly and efficiently.
- Open and Regular Communication: Ensure that employees are regularly updated about the company’s plans, progress, and challenges. Transparency fosters trust.
- Recognition and Reward System: Recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions reinforces the company’s commitment to its employees and boosts morale.
- Set employees up for success: From recruitment to promotions, implementing fair practices, and providing access to the right tools at all stages, it is essential in demonstrating the company’s integrity to set employees up for success. That starts at the beginning, with effective tools in place to get the right candidates in the first place, read here how Multi-posting technology can help increase your candidate reach.
- Open Feedback Culture: Encouraging employees to voice their ideas and concerns builds an environment that values its employees, nurturing their advocacy for the company. This Zippia review found that, 69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were being recognized through feedback.
- Employee Well-being: Prioritize your employees’ physical and mental health. A company that genuinely cares for its employees establishes itself as a compassionate and trustworthy employer. While well-being programs are no replacement for a good work-life balance and fair compensation, providing employees with access to subscriptions like Headspace can be a great boost, in fact, VONQ employees can testify to the benefits of Headspace firsthand!
Employee Brand Trust can help towards a Successful Recruitment Strategy. - Conclusion
To sum it up, brand trust goes beyond a company’s image as a vendor. It is integral to a company’s identity as an employer and plays a significant role in recruitment and employee advocacy. HR professionals, by understanding and harnessing the power of brand trust, can pave the way for a successful recruitment strategy and process, fostering a workforce of inspired advocates, and driving the company towards unparalleled success.
But if you dont feel your Employer Branding is where you want it to be yet, then never fear, read here to learn more about how to boost your employer brand, and in the meantime having great recruitment technology tools such as VONQ Job Post which is a built automation solution for volume recruitment and VONQ Job Marketing to give you expansive reach, perfect for hiring in niche and competitive fields, can make sure you still find the right candidates no matter what.
