Many companies have seen themselves forced to limit their activity due to the current pandemic. Despite the difficult times COVID-19 has brought forth, now is not the time to stop improving yourself. Dedicate the time on your hands to helping your employees develop their personal brands to become better professionals, and to boost the company’s brand image.
An employer brand is what companies stand for, how they express who they are; but it isn’t however, reserved to companies.
What is a personal brand and how cant it contribute to your company?
Your employer brand is who you are: it displays everything the outside world should know about your company. It englobes the values you stand for, the culture you want to project and the way you express it. Employer branding is extremely important for your brand’s reputation, and overall functioning as a company.
In many ways, a personal brand is similar to a company brand. It helps you stand out from the competition.
The most coveted talent has a strong personal brand. Helping your employees to show themselves as the professional they are, sharing their personal beliefs, goals, skills and expertise will improve their personal brand. Form your employees to become the best talent, and in turn, they can make your brand the best. Not only because you have the best employees, but because their culture is a reflection of yours as a brand.
Here are 6 tips to help you create an authentic personal brand for your employees:
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Start with self-reflection: ask them, “what makes you special?”
The biggest challenge about this is knowing and deciding what to focus on, what to share and how to do so creatively. They have to be introspective.
Ask them to prepare a presentation. Starting with listing their strengths and weaknesses, then focusing on their career achievements, their passions, and how it brought them to work for your company. As their career evolved, so have these traits. Make them focus on what they’ve got now (you!). As their employer, you should be impressed with their results. As a brand, you should be proud!
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Make them become their best advocate. That way, they can also be yours.
They represent your brand and have to be good at it. They have to be the best professionals they can be. So make them show off all of the traits worth being displayed. They have a lot to offer, make them show it! Make them showcase your brand’s value: whether it be in real life, on a website or social posts, everything counts.
At the moment, we’re all stuck at home. Use LinkedIn! It is the widespread professional social media tool and your best ally for boosting the personal brand.
Make sure your company page is active. Make your employees participate in groups, ask and give recommendations! They can be regarded as experts in their field, hence making your company a leader in the field.
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Be supportive!
Good talent is hard to attract and retain. Don’t let it slip through your fingers! Your company can represent the greatest learning opportunity for your employees. A thriving worker will be more productive and learn more and faster. This contributes to building a strong personal brand and reinforces your employer brand. Moreover, the candidate experience is particularly relevant today. Bad reviews have a lot more repercussion than good ones. Indeed, Deloitte published a study proving that candidates experiencing bad candidate experience will advise others not to apply. This would hinder your ability to attract talent.
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Make them define their audience.
The content they have worked on cannot be thrown out in the open, especially if this content can contribute to the company’s brand. They must define and target which audience is best to reach. When you know who you’re trying to stand out to, it is easier to create content adapted to them. Therefore, the content they express can simultaneously contribute to their personal brand and to your employer brand.
Exploit your assets. For example, if you are trying to reach tech professionals, use your digital marketing team to publish interesting articles about the latest tech news, or show that your company has the best tech professionals among its ranks. Make your team share that content.
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Share content that has an impact.
Make an impression. Stand out. That’s the goal of a personal brand, and even more so an employer brand. It is important to make sure your employees have a strong online presence. Make them share their opinions and participate in social media conversations or debates. Be active! Like, comment, repost relevant news articles in alignment with your interests. Through active social media accounts and insightful content, you can be perceived as a leader, gain an audience and importance in your industry. Important for both your employees and your brand, no?
A personal brand should be a projection of oneself; highlighting strengths, creating a reputation, communicate all of what someone can offer, express values and willingness to grow and learn. An employer brand is a projection of your employees’ personal brands. This isn’t a one-day job though, brands need to be cultivated. As your employees grow, your company evolves with it. The stronger your employee’s personal brand is, the stronger yours becomes.
Luckily for you, you’ve got time on your hands that you can dedicate to helping your employees become unique professionals.
