Finding new employees these days is a challenging task for sourcing professionals . When it comes to choosing a company, some candidates prioritize a competitive salary and a benefits package, while many value the company’s ideals, culture, and reputation. All companies, regardless of their size, should consider building a strong employer brand. It can help them differentiate themselves from other employers, as well as solve a number of company issues, including attracting top candidates, reducing employee turnover, and increasing customer trust. Depositphotos , one of the leading stock content platforms, shares its experience in developing an employer brand that attracts top talent. Continue reading to get useful tidbits.
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To begin, let’s define what an employer brand is. An employer brand is the reputation of a company as an employer. It is the people’s perceptions of a company’s values, culture, and work environment. An employer brand includes everything a company does to make it a desirable place to work. Depositphotos, a company with a team of over 450+ talented professionals, has 12 years of experience in building an employer brand. During these years, their recruitment team has developed a decent understanding of what brand elements are crucial in attracting top talent. 
In this case study, Inha Koshmanova, Recruitment Team Lead at Depositphotos, shares her expertise, thoughts, and advice. Read on to discover more.
If a company demonstrates employee culture, ideals, and a solid reputation, top talent will turn to it. 
Moreover, if people are aware of the company’s processes, the benefits of working for it, and their attitude towards employees, they can decide in advance whether or not they want to work there. A strong employer brand allows candidates to uate if they are a good fit for a company. It can save time for both candidates and recruiters, while also increasing employee retention and engagement rates over time.
With a strong employer brand, you have more flexibility and additional options when approaching candidates. Flexible working hours, holidays, no dress code, and internal policies aligned with the company’s ideals are all examples of such options. Each point helps create a positive employee experience, which aids in the hiring of new employees .
When you have a strong employer brand, you can guarantee your current employees engaging and challenging tasks that will maintain their interest, while also ensuring professional growth and development. 
We live in a time when development is an integral part of any professional’s life. Why bother if you are unable to advance from your current position at your company? Everyone wants to expand their knowledge and skills. Nowadays, it’s difficult to find someone who would say, “I don’t want to improve and progress.” People are ambitious these days, and they want to achieve their goals. With a great employer brand, you can provide that to your employees.
When a company has a strong employer brand, candidates are convinced that the company is trustworthy. Most likely, the company is large and well-known, which provides reassurance that it will not collapse overnight. Employees can be confident about their employment conditions by joining a company like this. Of course, this also depends on the employees, and how they perform assigned duties. But if the employee is completely confident in the company, this is a stepping stone to their stability.
With a strong employer brand, employees spread word about the company, and explain why they enjoy working there. They strive to promote a company among their friends and relatives, and are also willing to recommend a friend to a company. This is an important aspect of an employer brand that helps build a stronger foundation for the HR department.
It’s great when an employer has the opportunity to create different visuals for various platforms and purposes . This can be a company page on social media, a Facebook group for employees, or an employee’s profile on LinkedIn. 
When an advertisement or job description is accompanied by quality visuals, it always attracts attention and stands out from the crowd. Moreover, a company that uses visual support will be more memorable for a candidate, as people perceive images better than text.
Most candidates place value on a company’s reputation. Therefore, you must ensure that future employees will find positive information about your company in the media, in the comments section of your social media posts, or on specialized sites with reviews about employers.
Corporate culture can help create a more supportive working environment, resulting in happier and more efficient employees. Employees cherish company culture because they are more likely to get satisfaction from their job when their needs and values align with those of the company . Moreover, a strong company culture attracts skilled and talented employees who will contribute to the company’s growth 
Recruiting is one of the most important components of an employer brand. It’s the initial point of contact between a candidate and a company representative. If the recruiter handles this communication correctly, conveying information about the company, product, and conditions, there will always be good feedback, regardless of whether the candidate receives an offer or not. After a while, the candidate will not be hesitant to respond to the vacancy again, knowing that communication is excellent. What’s more, they will continue to spread positive information about the company and the hiring processes to their friends or family for a long time.
The three main components that Depositphotos’ employer brand implements are: transparency, flexibility, and speedy decision-making. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
Transparency in communication is a must in the 21st century. When it comes to candidates, we understand that job interviews can be stressful. Everyone has been interviewed and can imagine themselves in the shoes of a new employee. Therefore, we can anticipate what stages you’ll need to go through with candidates, and what you’ll need to explain as a recruiter. If we are as transparent as possible about how many stages of the interview there will be, what the interview will consist of, how it will take place, how long it will last, while also discussing all critical points, then candidates will understand how fitting the position is for them and inform us about it right away. Thus, we save their time, as well as our time. The same is true for current employees. They should unquestionably receive constant feedback on their job. And most importantly, the company must be completely transparent in all matters, so that employees know who to contact if something happens or if they need something.
If the company is not flexible, we will not be able to hire anyone due to the highly competitive environment. Now at Depositphotos, we think that a personalized approach is more suitable for hiring. We use the same approach for our current employees too. Everyone has different needs, and if we can meet them while remaining flexible, there is a better chance of the person staying with us.
The sooner a candidate receives an offer or feedback, the more loyal they will be to the company. This is how we strengthen our employer brand. When the hiring process is quick, it is significantly more effective. Thus, the candidate remembers all interview stages and information about the company, just like a recruiter. As a result, both sides benefit from a high-quality hiring process. Moreover, quick decision-making allows a company to gain loyalty from existing employees. This can include a variety of things, such as tasks, money and material items, development and growth , and so on.
It’s difficult to pick one thing. An employer brand is extremely diverse. Strengthening it entails a number of complex measures. It can include high-quality communication with candidates and employees, organizing various types of events, optimizing processes, and so on. If you choose to do all of the above, your employer brand will improve on all sides. You can’t simply change one process and hope for other ones to follow. When we develop an employer brand, we always strive to approach it from different angles. There will never be a moment when we can say, “Everything is done.” Development is a never-ending process.
To hire the best people, you must provide them with tasks that are both interesting and challenging. Depositphotos is a product company where employees at all levels are given the opportunity to work on challenging projects. It allows them to grow. If we, as a company, cannot provide this, we’ll never be able to hire the top personnel. Depositphotos has an interesting product, which is why professionals are drawn to it. We always seek skilled specialists with diverse backgrounds and experience. As a result, when these employees advance, so does the quality of our products.
Your company needs to stand out in order to gain people’s attention in today’s competitive world. Don’t underestimate the importance of an employer brand. A company can reduce marketing and hiring costs, attract better candidates, build consumer trust, and differentiate itself from others by developing a strong employer brand.
Author’s Bio:
Yulia is a content writer at Depositphotos who focuses on photography, design, and marketing. She is interested in art, music, and travel. For this case study, Yulia interviewed Inha Koshmanova, Recruitment Team Lead at Depositphotos, to share expertise, thoughts, and advice on developing a strong employer brand that attracts top talent.
