Employer branding is a vital resource in attracting and retaining top finance talent.
In the financial landscape, your candidates aren’t just looking for a great salary and benefits package. Today’s ACA-qualified candidates, senior financial analysts, and accounting experts want their employer to share their values. Your employer brand is how you demonstrate your unique benefits to would-be employees and attract the right people to your door.
Employer branding isn’t a new concept in the financial recruitment world, but the demand for the right image has increased in the last year. The impact of the 2020 pandemic means that today’s financial experts are becoming increasingly discerning about where they choose to work.
In an environment where financial staff can find remote opportunities in roles worldwide, your employer brand needs to be better than ever.
How to Enhance your Employer Brand Post-Pandemic
The pandemic in 2020 changed a lot of things about the way we live and work. Financial employees can now work from anywhere thanks to cloud-based software and remote employment. Business leaders have new opportunities to seek sensational talent without geographic restrictions.
In the last year, the changing workplace has caused candidate priorities to shift.
The values and benefits you demonstrate with your employer brand today may not be the same as those you used five years ago. Here’s what you need to know to attract the best talent in the new age of work.
1. Create Policies for Remote and Hybrid Work
Before the pandemic, demand was already increasing for more flexible employment schedules. In the financial environment, where a great deal of work is detail and task orientated, software-based, and accessible via the cloud, team members don’t need to be in an office to be productive.
The pandemic showed candidates their employers could implement flexible working opportunities. In 2020, around 80% of people worked for a company adopting some manner of remote work. Going forward, your financial leaders will still want an opportunity to work with flexibility.
To create a policy for remote and hybrid work that successfully benefits your business brand, you’ll need to:
- Implement the right tools: Empower staff members with the right technology. Ensure software is available online and implement policies on how to access technology as effectively as possible without compromising security.
- Update management strategies: Make sure your supervisors are equipped to support remote workers. Don’t leave employees to feel isolated. People working outside of the office should still benefit from regular communication and feedback.
- Be flexible: Allow your employees to suggest the right hybrid working strategies for their needs. Experiment with different schedules and explore new options to enable productivity.
2. Build a Culture of Trust and Empathy
Trust has always been an important factor in employer branding and recruiting. Now, it’s more crucial than ever. Today’s financial professionals don’t want to risk working for a company that won’t support them or consider their unique needs.
For in-office employees, organisations will need to ensure they’re taking every precaution to keep teams safe and productive. This could include implementing new health and safety strategies to put financial staff members at ease. Implementing new hygiene stations and leaving larger gaps between desks will become more common in the years ahead.
Trust also needs to be a foundational part of the remote working environment. Companies will need to walk the line between overly micromanaging their remote employees and not communicating often enough. Your staff members will want to feel trusted to perform in any environment, but they don’t want to be left isolated and out of mind.
Think about how you can regularly check up on team members, both in the office and externally, to preserve a culture of caring and empathy – without seeming overbearing. Regular digital polls about employee satisfaction might be a good option.
3. Improve Communication
Today’s financial advisors want to work with companies that are transparent, supportive, and honest. No one wants to work for a business that avoids sharing information with employees. Communication needs to be a fundamental part of your business so that you can develop the trust required for an effective employer brand.
Improving your communication strategy for the new age of work could start with arranging more meetings and conversations between managers, supervisors, and employees. Around 58% of recruits say connections with supervisors and managers are crucial to their happiness.
Consistent newsletters, meetings, and updates from the company will also help all employees to feel like they’re still “in the loop”. At the same time, employees should have the option to ask questions and request information from their employers when they need it.
Don’t forget that part of good communication is also implementing a good feedback loop. Giving your employees plenty of recognition when they perform well and letting them know how to do better when they miss the mark is crucial.
4. Listen to your Employees
A significant part of building trust and emotional connections with your employer brand will be based on how well you listen to your staff. You can’t make positive changes to your reputation and business practices if you don’t know what employees are already thinking and feeling about your business.
Ask your employees for feedback about how they picture you as an employer. Anonymous surveys are useful for team members who might feel uncomfortable giving negative reviews. Provide spaces for employees to give suggestions too. You could have a monthly meeting where everyone brainstorms new ways to make the workplace more efficient.
As you continue to listen to your employees and implement their suggestions, share stories about your development with the world. Write blogs on your website to highlight how your teams achieved their goals by finding a solution to a productivity problem as a group. This content will show future candidates that you’re willing to accept criticism and evolve.
You can even improve your chances of a positive employer brand by conducting “stay” interviews. When you notice a lack of engagement or interest from a member of staff, bring them in for a meeting to discuss what they like and dislike about their role
What Next?
The financial recruitment world has changed drastically since the pandemic. Companies are under more pressure than ever to make the right impression, and a good employer brand can help with that.
If you’re looking for support to build a more effective employer brand or need help tracking down the right talent, contact Rebus today. You can reach us by emailing us here or calling our direct line on 01282 930 930
Thanks
Rachel Mitson
