Standout Jobs

David Earle of Staffing.org has a fantastic article on the key metrics for measuring a great employer brand.

The first thing he does is tackle two misconceptions about building up a quality candidate pool:

“Two common misconceptions are: a) that great products speak for themselves, hence a reputation for product excellence will guarantee an ample supply of eager candidates; and b) that branding equals advertising, i.e. publicize compelling hiring packages in enough places, and the pipeline will fill.”

His second point really resonates with me, although a recent study reveals that most candidates (of all ages) rank a competitive base pay as the most important thing. That’s no real surprise - but what’s more surprising is that the reputation of the organization as a good employer ranked very low. Caliber of co-worker was also ranked low, although in my experience I’ve found people rank the team they work with as extremely important.

David goes on to list the characteristics of companies with great staffing brands and what counts most:

• High levels of employee enthusiasm and commitment.
• Frequent candidate referrals from employees.
• Low turnover.
• High quality recruiting procedures.
• Pipeline partnerships.
• The flow of high quality, unsolicited resumes.

Take a look at the full details David provides in his article on employer branding, there’s a lot of interesting material to digest.