Carla Sutherland
Ah, the Melbourne Cup. Year after year, Australians spend the first Tuesday morning of November organising sweeps and working out which horse is going to win the the race that stops the nation. For just a few minutes of the afternoon almost every room and restaurant is full of suspense... then big cheers... and then after some celebration, we go back to our normal routine and we’re back to business as usual.
The race might only last a few minutes for those of us watching, but it's taken everyone involved in that race months and years to put it all together. There's no "winging" an event this big, and no way the winner gets to first place without some serious hard work. As HR professionals, we could probably learn a thing or two from those who compete – not just in the Melbourne cup, but any race.
Focus, resilience, and strategic thinking are key to bagging the prized trophy, the gold medal, or the blue ribbon. We can apply the same principals to building our employee experience and our employer brand.
We’ve pulled together some of our top blogs on how to make sure you create a fantastic brand worth betting on.
1. Make sure your company values are a part of your recruiting process
If you really want potential employees to connect to your employer brand and company culture from the get-go, you need to connect your company values to your recruiting process. Learn some tips from me, HR Business Partner at RG, on how to make your mission, purpose and values shine in everything your company does – especially during the recruiting process.
2. Make sure you embrace creativity when creating job advertisements
One of the best ways to make your company stand out from all the rest is to make it unique and use your creativity. Learn why skipping the traditional template is key and trying something new in your recruitment process is beneficial.
3. Make sure you look beyond the resume to find top talent
Sometimes companies focus on resumes alone in the recruiting process to find top talent. But, it’s important to note that resumes aren’t everything. In fact, our Senior Recruiter, Gemma Matthews, argues that you should look beyond the resume in the recruiting process and instead focus on letting your values lead and find out if the candidate fits or adds to your company culture.
4. Make sure you use moments of employee recognition to fuel your employer brand
Both internal and external employee recognition are equally important in fuelling your employer brand. Share moments of recognition on social media, like showing off your company’s fun side with an event or shining a light on company values.
5. Make sure you use your EVP to attract and retain candidates
Designing your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to appeal to your ideal candidate helps you identify the type of people you ideally want you attract to your organisation. Start by asking your current employees what attracted them to your organisation in the first place to get a better idea of where to start. James Edwards, Global Support & Implementation Director, walks you through why enhancing your EVP is about more than attracting candidates, it’s also about retaining top talent as well.
6. Make sure you create employee-centric content for new starters
New starters should immediately feel connected to your employer brand and EVP, aka what makes your organisation unique. In short, your EVP helps you understand what value you bring potential and current employees and what attracts people in the first place.
This Melbourne Cup, take a step back and look at the bigger picture of your candidate experience. Is it something that you only consider for a few fleeting minutes? Are your candidates forgetting or dismissing you instead of celebrating and cheering you on?
In order to improve your candidate experience, focus on enhancing your EVP, shining a spotlight on your company values and using moments of employee recognition to fuel your employer brand.
And if you have any more ideas on how to create a winning candidate experience, leave them in the comments section below!