How gender equality strengthens your employer brand

The ability to recruit and retain employees is key for all organizations. Having a strong employer brand allows your company to gain recognition and be recognized by more people. Although 56 percent of recruiters believe that employer branding is a high priority in their workplace, only 57 percent actually have a strategy for how to work with it. There are many advantages to strengthening your employer brand, says Maria Duni, head of the Nordics at Personio.

Graduates and talents tend to want to work at companies that have a strong reputation in the employer brand space, for example young professionals often choose employers based on the social norms and values ​​that a company has. An equal workplace is good for both the company and the employees, and can contribute to increased credibility with customers and new employees. 

A new survey with HR decision-makers in the Nordics, conducted by Personio, shows that 88 percent of the respondents believe that an equal and inclusive workplace is important. One way to strengthen your employer brand can therefore be to describe the company’s values ​​on the website, social media and also in their job advertisements.

The job advertisement is an opportunity to describe the company’s values ​​and how you work with inclusion and equality in order to attract different types of candidates. 

Unfortunately, the study we recently conducted in the Nordic countries shows that only 33 percent of the respondents are actively working to make job advertisements more equal, so there is great development potential here, says Maria Duni.

The website is still crucial in recruitment

To strengthen your employer brand and attract the younger generation, a company’s online presence is crucial for recruitment. The website is in many cases the first contact a potential employee has with the business and thus can greatly contribute to a candidates first impression.

That online presence is important is underlined by figures from TalentAdore which show that 74 percent of job seekers use the company’s career pages to find the right information and up to 91 percent also believe that a neglected website has a negative impact on the employer brand. 

Social media is also important for the employer brand. An active involvement in shows that the company is aware that job seekers today look for information in different places and by searching across several channels, it becomes easier for the talents to find the right place for them. A balanced mix of messaging on the website and varied social media platforms, provides a great opportunity for companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors in the employer brand space.

Committed employees – the best ambassadors

A strong employer brand is also important for those already employed, and a happy employee is the best ambassador for the company. Employees who enjoy themselves also tend to put more time and dedication into their work, which can often translate practically into improved operational and financial results for the company. Continuous feedback from employees on how they are doing is important, and it also gives the possibility of catching someone who is thinking about quitting.

It is also good to be aware of the new trend “Quiet Quitting”, where the employee quietly stops doing the little extra and only performs what is part of one’s duties. After several years of a work culture that rewarded the mentality of showing your feet and working long hours without getting anything in return, many employees feel tired of this and wish for a healthier attitude to work and to create a better work-life-balance, says Maria Duni.

As a company and manager, it is therefore important to review the workplace culture. A company with a good culture generates employees who thrive and in the end also a good reputation for the company.

4 takes and tips from the survey to improve gender equality in your workplace that will benefit your employer brand: 

• Educate the company’s managers in gender equality issues 
• Keep statistics and set goals – and don’t forget to evaluate them 
• Evaluate your recruitment process to make it more gender equal to attract different candidate
• With more resources, mandate and time HR can support management to a better understanding of how to recruit and keep talent. 

Download the full report/study

This blog post is written together with one of our newest partners, Personio. We are super excited to collaborate with them!