How to Use Your Employer Brand to Recruit Passive Job Seekers

This isn’t about specific strategies to recruit passive job seekers. We don’t need to tell you how to use LinkedIn Recruiter, paid social media ads, or open information sessions. This is about constructing an employer brand identity that appeals to people who aren’t actively looking for a new employer, one that tells the consumer about what it’s like to work in your organization. 

Give your employees the best experience possible

Every employer brand begins with your current employees. How do they feel about working in your organization? Do they feel recognized, respected, and trusted? Do they know everything that’s available to them? (Think benefits like tuition reimbursement, mental health counseling, and flexible work options, and programs like skills training and mentor matching.) 

You may be surprised to learn that your employees don’t know everything they can take advantage of, and how much more recognized, respected, and trusted they would feel if they did.

You’ll find that happy employees are natural evangelists, and the referrals they bring in will save you time and money in the short and long term. 

It takes about 55 days to fill a position with traditional recruiting strategies, and just 29 days to fill a position with referrals. These employees stay longer too. Thirty-three percent of hires made from career sites and 22% of hires made from job boards stay for at least a year. But 46% of referred hires stay for at least a year, and the retention rate is even higher over three years. 

Stand for something

Workers are increasingly principled in their choice of employer, and increasingly discerning in the products they buy.

According to a corporate social responsibility (CSR) report by Aflac, more than half of American consumers (55%) believe it’s important for companies to take a stand on social and political issues. 

Three-quarters of American consumers say they are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world better, and 25% say they have a “zero-tolerance policy” for companies that display dubious ethical behavior.

Need to see CSR in employer branding action? Check out how investment bank Blackrock talks about its CSR work on Instagram and how Dave’s Killer Bread makes fair-chance hiring an important part of its employer brand.

Be a subject matter expert

Lead and advance your field. A forward-looking company will be seen as one that will bring its employees into the future too.

Employees, especially those who work in tech, are watching their skills expire at an unsettling rate, and they’re counting on their employers to help them stay up-to-date. 

According to Gallup’s 2020 American Upskilling study, 57% of workers want to update their skills, and 48% of workers would switch to a new job if they were offered skills training opportunities.

Build a consumer-grade employee experience

Passive job seekers may know you only by your consumer-facing brand, so your consumer experience should blend seamlessly into your employee experience, upholding equal standards of quality and service.

The moment a potential hire interacts with a recruiter or hiring manager, they should experience the same attention that a potential customer would receive from a customer service representative.

Kimpton Hotels, for example, offers some of the same perks to its employees that it does to its hotel guests, like access to online therapy from Talkspace.

Customers are what bring in money for the business, so when passive candidates see you treating your candidates as you do your customers, they know they’ll be seen as an asset.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about workplace culture, DEI, and hiring. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, From Day One, and InHerSight, among others.

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Launched in 2016, Uncubed Studios is a full-service creative agency with a client list representing the most influential employers on earth along with the high growth tech companies.

The team that brings the work of Uncubed Studios to life is made up of award-winning experts in cinematography, journalism, production, recruitment, employee engagement, employer branding and more. 

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