Job Brands

Although most Recruiting budgets are staying flat or decreasing in 2010, employment branding remains a priority at many organizations. In fact, about half of Recruiting executives anticipate increased budget for this activity.

Within your discussion of employee surveys, taglines, segment-specific messages, vendor selection, branding with social media, and the list goes on, there is one thing not to forget: job brands.

Most organizations undervalue job branding, but in doing so, they miss opportunities to improve new hire performance. Candidate awareness of the job brand (just awareness, not the quality of the job itself!) can increase his or her performance as a new hire by more than 10%. Compare this to the awareness of the organization brand, which can increase new hire performance by only about half as much. Basically, the more information candidates know about your jobs, the more informed decisions they can make about whether they would fit the role and enjoy the job.

Candidates learn about the job brand in job postings, the employment Web site, and conversations with individual recruiters or hiring managers. The job brand encompasses things like:

• Day-to-day experiences
• Type of person needed
• What is expected of a person in this role
• Type of work the person will be doing
• Skills and experiences needed

Note the last bullet: the job brand is not just the skills and qualifications of the person needed for the job. In fact, describing the day-to-day experiences and type of person needed drives new hire performance much more than listing required skills. Job postings should include more than the standard list of qualifications and responsibilities, and they should be written and presented in a way that is clear to someone outside of the organization.

Consider including some of the following in job postings or other places where candidates interact with your job brands:

• Stories of why new hires chose the job and organization
• Features of different types of employees in the job
• Profiles of typical supervisors and leadership
• An actual employee’s promotion timeline or include a sample training schedule
• Sample projects or project timelines
• Interests outside of work that employees in the job pursue

RR members, use the Job Posting Clarity Checklist to audit and improve job postings, then follow how new hire performance improves with the Recruiting Effectiveness Dashboard.