Brand and Reputation Remain Key Deal-Breakers for Tech Professionals
Does this sound like a broken record? That’s because it is. We (and many others) have been harping on this since essentially the Bronze Age, and the situation is now reaching critical mass. According to the most recent Dice Tech Sentiment Report, 80% of tech professionals would not even apply to a higher-paying job at a company with a poor corporate reputation, and 90% believe an employer’s brand is critical in their decision on whether or not to work there. Those…are big numbers.
HR professionals are often in a tough spot here, as you are not always positioned to impact every part of a company’s brand as an employer. Where you are massively influential, however, are the areas of internal company culture and how your organization shows up to prospective candidates. In 2023, you will be challenged with pushing cultural change forward, which is always more difficult in a recession, as well as changing how you articulate the value of your environment and culture. This will be massively important for all candidates, and likely for tech candidates most of all, given both the weight they put on employer reputation and work environment and their inherent value to organizations of all sizes and types.
What HR Professionals Can Do Now
You’re likely rolling your eyes a bit, as you’ve been pushing these things in your organization all along. We feel you (we do). Maybe it makes sense to start the year off by taking a step back, and taking stock of what you’ve done on employer brand-related efforts, and where you might have fallen short.
We’ve found in talking with many businesses that employer brand efforts require a bit more structure than they are usually given, and that a strong plan around every facet of employer branding can help you not only cover all of your bases, but also sell the value of these efforts internally. And that might mean looking holistically at what HR, product, marketing and even the CEO/C-Suite each own, as cross-team collaboration is the only way you’ll get the consistency you need to be an exceptional brand.
Steven Brand of Mambu Answers Burning Employer Brand Questions
Steven Brand is the head of employer brand at Mambu, a rapidly growing fintech company. On a recent episode of Dice’s “Tech Connects” podcast, he described how employer brand messaging is best delivered from those working for the company. “If it comes from those who are experiencing [that culture], it carries a weight of credibility as well as that sort of authenticity and human touch,” he says. Candidates are looking for a human connection, “particularly when they’re weighing offers.” For those hiring managers and recruiters focusing on employer branding, it’s also key to educate everyone around you, particularly senior leadership, about the real impact of your work. This kind of branding works best when there’s total cultural buy-in. It’s a process that takes time, patience, and resources, and is well worth the effort.