The competition to hire top talent in tech and engineering remains fierce – with no end in sight. Even though the unemployment rate in the tech sector rose slightly during the summer of 2024, it remains significantly lower than the overall unemployment rate. The talent pool is small. To complicate things, today’s workforce is selective about employers as they prioritize culture fit and a healthy work/life balance.
When it comes to recruitment, companies would do well to work smarter instead of harder. New recruitment strategies, attuned to the realities and preferences of the present-day workforce, have significant potential. In particular, employee brand ambassadors can be a boon to recruitment efforts.
Happy and thriving employees are natural ambassadors for your company’s brand. As the world at large increasingly turns to online reviews to make daily decisions, the recommendations made by your employees can bolster your recruitment efforts. Employees who share details about their work lives and your company can act as trusted voices for candidates, providing insight into your company’s values, culture, reputation, and mission – all of which are important to today’s workers.
What Are Employee Brand Ambassadors?
We all talk about our jobs with our friends and family – and quite often, we’ll share those thoughts on social media too. Workers who are proud of their workplace and the work they do can be one of your most powerful marketing tools. By authentically sharing their stories, your employees can positively influence your brand – which can considerably impact every aspect of your business from your company’s overall performance to recruitment efforts.
Employee brand ambassadors don’t have to be part of your marketing or public relations teams. And, in fact, it’s likely better if they aren’t. People are increasingly turning away from traditional advertising methods and influencer-driven marketing. Instead, they’re using online reviews to make decisions – and they’re not just using those reviews for consumer-based decisions like which hotel to stay at or which car dealership to trust.
People also use online reviews and business ratings to determine which companies to apply to. As Jennifer Gaier points out in a piece at Forbes: “People trust people – real people, not hired spokespersons. Employee affirmations, endorsements and content are organic and often perceived as more reliable than traditional methods of marketing and advertising.”
While actual reviews can be left on sites like Glassdoor, any online comments and posts about your company can affect your brand and contribute to your recruitment efforts. Employees who brag about their terrific workplaces or encourage their friends to apply to open positions are organically acting as employee brand ambassadors.
How Employee Brand Ambassadors Can Bolster Your Recruitment Efforts
Employees are perfectly situated to get the word out about your company, bolstering your brand and recruitment strategy. While it sounds simple – they say good things about you, which encourages other people to see you in the same light – there are several factors at play.
Increased Brand Awareness
Your brand is critical to your recruitment efforts. A brand is more than a slogan. It encapsulates your values and defines how your company interacts with the world, particularly your employees, customers/clients, and community.
Since the pandemic, people have a deeper commitment to working in a positive environment that supports them and the issues that are important to them. As such, you need a “compelling value proposition” (demonstrated via your brand) to attract and retain top talent.
Your current employees are perfectly positioned to increase brand awareness, thereby contributing to your recruitment efforts. By sharing the experiences they’ve had working for you, whether done on online platforms, at industry events, or through networking, your employees personify your brand and let others know what it’s like to work for you.
Increased Engagement
As employees act as brand ambassadors, they increase their engagement with your company. Increased engagement creates several interconnected threads that can bolster your recruitment efforts.
First, of course, by engaging directly with people outside your company and by sharing their pride in their work and workplace, they essentially market your company to potential candidates.
Second, they might have people in their networks who would fit well with the company and contribute to its success. They might actively encourage those people to apply for open roles – regardless of whether those people are actively seeking work or are passive candidates.
Third, when your employees talk about their work and workplace, even if not specifically related to recruitment initiatives, they reinforce your brand and promote your company culture. Today’s job candidates want to ensure that they apply to employers who will be a good fit. They want to work in a culture where they feel valued and are encouraged to flourish. By promoting and reinforcing your brand, your employee brand ambassadors assure that the right people apply for your open roles.
Finally, there is simply no drawback to employee engagement. Engaged employees can increase profitability, productivity, quality of work, job satisfaction, and retention rates. All of that positivity snowballs – for example, an employee who takes pride in contributing to their company’s success is likely to be more productive which further increases the company’s success. This positivity and success will organically attract the best candidates to you.
Access To Passive Candidates
As mentioned above, employee brand ambassadors are perfectly positioned to reach passive candidates. By simply sharing their joy in their work and their workplace, they let everyone in their personal and professional networks know that working for your company is fantastic. This kind of organic marketing can attract people who aren’t currently looking for work but are open to opportunities with the right employer.
Building Trust Through Authenticity
Most online reviews and ratings are seen as trustworthy because they’re authentic. Employee brand ambassadors are seen in the same light. By telling their own stories, in their own words, they’re essentially leaving you a glowing review – and in the 2020s, glowing reviews and evidence of a strong brand are essential to attracting top talent. Glassdoor reports that:
- 86% of candidates look for reviews when deciding where to apply for jobs;
- In the United States, 86% of women and 67% of men wouldn’t accept an offer from a company with a bad reputation;
- 92% of people would consider changing jobs if a company with an excellent reputation offered them a role; and,
- 68% of millennials, 54% of Gen-Xers, and 48% of boomers visit an employer’s social media pages to evaluate their brand before applying to roles.
The impact of your employee brand ambassadors on your recruitment efforts is enormous. It’s important to realize that that impact is created whether you offer any direction or encouragement to them.
How To Encourage Employee Brand Ambassadorship For Recruitment Efforts
While employee brand ambassadorship occurs organically, it can also be part of a more structured program. However, keep in mind that authenticity is critical for employee brand ambassadorship to work. While some overarching guidance or policies around employee brand ambassadorship can be helpful, too many guidelines could backfire.
Look For Natural Ambassadors
Not everyone will excel as an employee brand ambassador and some will shine in certain situations but not others. For example, some may already have a large social media following and regularly create certain types of content. Others may be naturals at public speaking who enjoy participating in industry events. Lean into the strengths of each of your employees and recruit them for the type of advocacy they would most enjoy and do best.
Encourage – Don’t Force – Participation
Authenticity is key for employee brand ambassadors. It’s important that they feel passionate about working for you and want to share that passion with others. While employees shouldn’t be forced to participate, offering incentives can get more people to volunteer their time for an ambassadorship.
Provide Training, Guidelines, And Resources
While each employee brand ambassador needs to tell their story in their own way, providing them with training, guidelines, and resources will likely help them better understand your needs and objectives and also help them better represent your brand. Consider providing your ambassadors with:
- Examples of the type of language to use;
- Suggestions regarding the best content to create;
- Guidelines around hashtags and links;
- Talking points;
- Sample posts; and,
- Suggestions on how to engage with potential candidates online.
The way people search for jobs and new employers has changed. It’s critical to adapt your recruitment strategies to these changes. This is particularly true in the tech and engineering fields, where filling open roles is an ongoing challenge. Since professionals in these sectors place a high value on company culture and good fit, and since authentic voices are highly regarded as credible sources, employee brand ambassadors are uniquely situated to bolster your recruitment efforts.
