Employer Branding

A strong employer brand is crucial to recruiting and retaining the most sought-after employees. It’s more than a logo or colors. Your brand is the cumulative result of all interactions people have with and about your school. Think of it as your organization’s reputation, specifically as an employer.

In today’s competitive job market, your brand matters. Use these resources to define your employee brand to stand out as an employer and ensure each child in Ohio has an excellent educator.

88% of job seekers consider employer brand; a strong employer brand drives a 50% reduction in cost per hire; 86% of candidates look at online ratings to decide where to apply for jobs

Know Your Current Brand

To help define your current employer brand, consider the following questions:

  1. What is your district’s brand? Your employer brand should be vertically aligned with it and have a clear focus on being the employer of choice in your area.

  2. What are you currently doing to bring your employer brand to life? This should include a combination of messaging and channels to activate your story about the employee experience.

  3. What’s your biggest struggle related to your employer brand? This could include negative online reviews or word-of-mouth

  4. Are there current employees that personify your current employer brand? Consider how they bring the brand to life with others in the workplace, and others they interact with outside the workplace.

  5. What role do staff play in defining your current employer brand? If staff do not personify your brand, what impact do they have on colleagues and others they come in contact with who could see them as unofficial representatives of the organization?

  6. How would others describe your school or district’s reputation as an employer? Employee survey or interview data (stay or exit information, for example) can inform what you would describe as your current state reputation. This is driven by trust, and it is developed over time.

We had never mystery shopped our district. Once we took a look at our Careers page and candidate tracking system, we made multiple changes to make the experience more straightforward and aligned to our employer brand.
— A district administrator

Define Your Desired Employer Brand

To help define your desired employer brand, use feedback collected from internal and external stakeholders.

Think about these questions:

  • How can you enhance your current employer brand?

  • What are other schools and districts doing, and what can you learn from them?

  • Do you have a specific desired employer brand? What is it?

  • What is keeping you from realizing that desired brand?

  • What’s your biggest struggle in establishing your desired employer brand?

  • What aspects of your employer offering (i.e., rewards, recognition, compensation, or benefits) can be altered to help realize your desired employer brand?

  • Are there current employees who would be willing to serve as ambassadors for your desired employer brand?

  • What role can your social media presence play?

Take a look at these slides about candidate experience to learn about leveraging key communications touchpoints—and make a difference in candidate perception of your brand.

Get Started

Begin to enhance your employer brand based on where you want to be, and close the gap realistically given your current state.

The Employee Value Proposition (EVP) describes how you want the employee to perceive your organization as an employer, and its benefits as they best meet their needs. It’s their perspective on the employer brand.

Tips

  • Reinforce your brand with every communication (i.e., standardize PowerPoint presentations and handouts for staff meetings, update email signature to include logo or slogan).

  • Tie communications to an overall theme, like your school motto.

  • Use storytelling! Focus on staff members, how they are helping students, and tell the story from different perspectives, like a student.

  • Highlight what it’s like to work at your school or in your district.

  • Leverage social media.

    • Add photos to get more attention.

    • Like, share, comment, and engage with the community.

    • Provide guidelines to staff.

  • Share media releases along with talking points for news media with staff.