Commercial
How Does Your Workspace Aid in Employer Branding?
January 21, 2020
Every business comes with its distinct reputation. This can comprise of opinions about the company, products or services, management and leadership, team members, history and much more.
And your business reputation can go above and beyond just this. It can inspire unique perceptions, be it intellectual, instinctive or even emotional in those who work for you, use your products and in due course of time speak about you.
This reputation also referred to as employer branding can work in multiple ways. It can be mysterious, powerful and a synergistic force.
With 55% of employers quantifying employer branding as a key investment area, remember that this is a phenomenon that is here to stay.
Why Does Employer Branding Matter Today?
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Talented and experienced professional are often on the lookout for better opportunities. They are also very well aware of your worth. Therefore, what would be their first steps when searching for prospective jobs?
One would probably look up Google for the best companies to work for.
For talented millennials, a fat pay check is not the only criteria when considering prospective employers. What’s most important for them is to find a workplace that is associated with a high brand image.
Stats suggest that 86% of job seekers will not even consider working for an organization with bad reviews, regardless of the pay package that is offered to them.
Which Brings You to The Question – What Is Employer Branding?
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Employer branding is the process of creating and maintaining your company’s reputation as an employer. The goal of Employer Branding is to present your company as a desirable employer to attract high-quality candidates.
Simply put, it is about the image of your company that projects and differentiates it from your competitors as an attractive option to job seekers. To simplify the concept further, it is the process of marketing the company to prospective and existing employees.
With positive employer branding, the business will be able to retain their current employees and hire top talents in the industry.
But Where Do Employers Go Wrong?
Talent acquisition for a business with good employer branding is said to be 1-2 times faster. But what happens when companies start correlating employer branding with traditional branding?
What happens if a prospective talent enquires about the work culture at the organisation? Will the business pitch be associated with their products and services?
Certainly not.
The prospective employee would be interested to deep dive into the company culture, work-life balance, core values of the organisation and more.
Hence, to project a strong employer brand, every business must ensure that they have a solid story to tell.
But just ordinary superficialities and storytelling is not enough. Laying the groundwork is equally important. By just informing your future employees that it is a great place to work is not going to drive the point home.
What’s the Next Step?
It starts with your workspace. And workplace design.
Your company culture and the vibe that you project to future employees is dependent on how you design your workspace. It is unquestionably a key contributor that defines the personality of the organisation. Remember that this can considerably influence the decision of your future hires.
Let the five human senses be your guide to workspace design.
Sight: Imagine the look of your company lobby or reception. What is the vibe that you get when you enter through it – millennial hip, maybe old world luxury, or perhaps contemporary and minimalist? Whatever the design style may be, it invokes a unique feeling and emotion.
While your company may not fit in with any of these design schemes. What can you do next? Why not think of the feeling that the design of your reception or lobby exudes? Consider if it has a personality or flair that will attract the visual sensibilities of a prospect. Take a look at the furniture design and the colour palettes. Do they align with your company’s personality?
For instance, a bright office with painted walls of red and white may appeal to your senses. However, for another candidate, a minimalist, modern workspace design that usually hovers around pale colour schemes may be more suited to their tastes.
Sound: Is your company in the habit of playing music around the office? What are the first sounds that you hear as you walk through your office doors?
It is good to have signature music, but many companies encourage silent environments too. Whichever option that you choose, it highlights a brand image that varies greatly from individual to individual. While someone may like punk banks in the background, for you, it may be the very reason why you may not want to work with a company that promotes this culture.
Smell: Even an insignificant detail such as the scent says a lot about your employer branding.
Usage of diffusers is common these days within organisations. Generally, it brings a sense of calmness and serenity to the workspace.
But which type of scent you select is what goes on to define your business personality. Lavender is typically associated with calmness whereas citrus perfumes can uplift the spirit and encourage employees to focus.
Taste: Does your workspace have a dedicated cafeteria or a pantry zone? What sort of food and drinks do you offer?
For example, if the menu has a lot of healthy food options, it shows that the company has a lot of value for employee health and wellness. This also means that health conscious employees will find this to be a key factor that helps them decide whether to work for your company or not.
Moreover, does your organization offer complimentary refreshments such as tea, coffee, snacks, etc.? Even something as small as this can influence the decision of a prospective candidate.
Touch: The comforts that you offer to your potential employees is probably what is going to impact their decision the most.
Is there enough natural light in the workspace? Are the chairs ergonomic? Have the workstations been designed in a manner that offers free mobility? Have you thought about introducing greenery around the office space?
These are key questions that need to be addressed because remember that employees spend one-third of the lives in their workspace. Hence, these are essential parameters that will encourage them to spend time, boost productivity and overall efficiency.
It Is Time to Think Functional:
It is not necessary to have a huge office space. Because contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with increasing employee productivity. Similarly, a workstation that is cluttered can also be a huge put off for future employees.
To ensure that neither of these becomes unmanageable challenges, it is vital to look at your office aesthetics with a keen eye.
Picture having a layout that transforms your workplace into a functional unit. While the concept of space is important, you must take into account other aspects of office design such as smart storage, sustainable zones, etc. All of these count as part of your employer branding initiatives.
Your office space design should reflect the organisational vision and brand philosophy.
By ensuring that your employer branding is real and transparent, it essentially gives your potential employees a true image of the business that they are going to be a part of.
This will not happen overnight. But given time, it will bring out your distinctive identity.
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