Why is employer branding important when recruiting procurement talent?

Employer branding is essential when it comes to improving your recruitment strategy and staying ahead of the competition. It is an incredibly important aspect of recruiting and retaining top procurement talent.

December is the best month to begin work on your employer branding and employer value proposition. Usually it is this time of year where recruitment quietens down in the run up to Christmas. However, it’s important not to rest on your laurels, investing in employer branding now will have a greater impact when the “new year, new job” hits procurement professionals across the UK in January.

At CIPS Procurement & Supply Jobs we see an average increase of 78% in applications for January compared to December. Yet, we only see 10% less jobs in December. Meaning that demand for talent doesn’t significantly wane despite having fewer candidates on the market. 

Therefore, ensuring that your procurement job stands out from the crowd and presents itself as a unique opportunity will help you to recruit even in the slower months. 

What is employer branding?

We’ve all heard of branding. How you package a product or follow a set of brand guidelines to ensure the company is consistent and recognisable to its audience. But how is employer branding different?

Employer branding includes some of the tropes of how you might package a product, yet that product is your business. It’s how you market yourself as an employer. Therefore, employer branding is incredibly important when trying to create an attractive proposition to potential jobseekers, whilst ensuring current employees are aware of and aligned to the company values.

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Why is it important for organisations to consider their employer brand?

Candidates do not care purely about salary or location, they want to know that the organisation they are applying to work for is a good place to work. That means understanding the culture of your organisation, its values and the working environment. Do you offer flexible working (one of the benefits most employees now look for from their employer) or an attractive pension scheme? When looking for a job, it is these aspects that interest jobseekers most and employer branding will help you to advertise this.

Employer branding is also important when it comes to cultural fit, something which is often front of mind when interviewing a candidate. By making your company culture and values transparent you will receive better suited candidates, saving you time at interview stage. 

That’s not all, employer branding has an impact on retention. How you talk about your organisation and present it to the outside world, also needs to be advertised to your current workforce. Your values and culture have to reflect your current employees, not an aspirational concept thought up by senior management. If the way you speak about your business resonates with your current employees, then they too will help to drive that culture and are more likely to remain in the organisation.

To summarise, employer branding will help you to:

• Attract top procurement talent to your roles
• Ensure that candidates are a good cultural fit 
• Filter your values and culture throughout your organisation
• Retain top talent who buy into your culture and values