In a job seeker’s market, particularly in a high demand vertical like supply chain, your company’s reputation is paramount. Branding a company is about communicating the value of your business, its products or services, and competitive edge; but employer branding is the differentiator that matters most for talent attraction and retention. In fact, successful recruitment and organizational culture go hand in hand. Want to secure the best people? Create a workplace where professionals can engage with, advance, and celebrate their careers. Here’s how:

Why Organizational Culture Matters

As Inc. aptly observes:  “A great company culture comes down to one thing: people. You define your values and mission, but ultimately, it’s up to your team to live by them.” A company that empowers its employees is one that fosters an environment of innovation, contribution, and ideas – not to mention the ability to better cultivate long term buy in. When your staff works for a company that values them, their work, their professional life, and their worth as a person, great things can happen… and great people will want to be a part of your success story.

Colorful work life isn’t only for “cool” companies like Facebook or Google, and it need not be expensive or flashy to have an impact on the everyday lives of your staff. Activities and initiatives that put people first reap remarkable rewards for businesses, in terms of organizational culture, team cohesion, as well as the bottom line. It’s about recognizing your top resource and investing where it counts.

The Recruitment Process Reveals Your Company’s Values

The Argentus team is passionate about recruitment, and we believe that giving candidates feedback, even the ones you reject, is an integral component of that. The recruitment process is an opportunity to build your employer brand and communicate the right message about how you operate as a company. What’s your process? How do you tackle challenges? Do you humanize your business and capitalize on moments to demonstrate brand values in practice? How employers navigate recruitment speaks volumes about the real company behind the glossy narrative.

So practice what you preach:  be honest with yourself and recruiters about job scope, expectations, and salary; be clear with job seekers about what kind of cultural fit really works to excel on your team and in that industry; be transparent with the public about your workforce. How you treat employees is an increasingly important pillar of corporate responsibility and consumers take note, actively preferring to support businesses that treat their employees well.

Talent Attraction Also Means Talent Care & Development

See the dividends of a healthy organizational culture connect to your talent strategy. We’re often on the front lines of this as a specialty recruiter, and operate with information and insights from both clients and candidates. When your business “actively manages and develops culture through recruitment, it can significantly improve employee retention and performance, which directly influences organizational profitability and growth.”

And don’t underestimate the strategic role hiring managers can hold, too. After recruitment firms and internal HR, hiring managers are the main touchstone when it comes to wooing candidates on the position and a key advocate for the desirability of pursuing a career at your company. Make sure that the vetting and evaluation process includes a marketing element: don’t oversell, but effectively highlight your brand’s strengths and see the difference it makes in your hiring outcomes.

Employer Branding is the New Game Changer

We encourage employers to set some key metrics to evaluate employer branding, like employee engagement, changes in productivity, and talent acquisition. And don’t underestimate how much getting the go ahead from leadership can make a big difference as well:  it’s one of the top factors involved in shaping a strong employer brand. It also sets the tone business-wise, lending gravitas to the practice of ongoing employer branding measures across departments.

Being a powerhouse at employer branding isn’t only about offering enviable job perks (though that never hurts)—it’s about taking the time to consciously rethink the symbiotic relationship between recruitment, retention, and organizational culture.

What do you think matters most for employer branding, and how do you see it changing the game for recruitment and talent attraction? Do you think that some strategies above apply more or less to organizational culture in supply chain? Let us know in the comments.