How FMD attracts talent

This article was originally posted on SEEK https://www.seek.com.au/employer/hiring-advice/smes-have-employer-brands-too-use-yours-to-attract-top-talent

Why your employer brand is so important right now

Competition for candidates is as strong as ever, and if you’re a small business owner you might be wondering how to compete with big corporates for talent.

Your brand – who you are and what you offer candidates - will help you stand out from the crowd.

Find out how small and medium businesses can attract – and keep – top candidates.

How your brand attracts talent

Simply put, your brand (or Employer Value Proposition) are the benefits you offer that attract and retain employees. They might include pay, career development, culture, benefits, and flexible or hybrid working.

And for SMEs competing in a competitive market, your brand is key to attracting talent.

An advantage of being a SME is that you don’t have to compete with larger companies, says Anne Chiew, Founder and SEO Director of Full Measure Digital, a search marketing agency that works with large national brands.

“There are more search jobs than people, so we need to stand out. We are never going to be able to compete with big companies and global offices.”

The key for SMEs is finding your point of difference, Chiew says. “You can play your own game: that’s the way to attract talent.

“We're not just a search agency, we're a relationship agency. We all know that the reason projects don't get done is not about the solution - it's always a people problem. For us to be successful, we need to be good at relationships and communication. We really embody that in our brand and value proposition even from when our job ad is written.”

Perks that SMEs can offer

Smaller businesses can’t always offer the perks that large corporations can afford. But SMEs have the flexibility to make quick decisions, to implement them straight away – and to move on if something doesn’t work, Chiew says.

For example, Full Measure Digital decided to have a company-wide mental health day off during the pandemic. “We decided that in a half hour meeting, and we didn't need to talk to investors or a big parent company. We just made a decision and did it.

“I'm a big believer in ‘fail fast, learn fast’. The best way to find out if something works is just to try it. If we fail, at least we learn something from it.”

At Full Measure Digital, employees are offered:

• Remote working: All staff work remotely and are given a work-from-home allowance for equipment. “We’re fully remote, and that’s point of difference that I’m proud of,” Chiew says. “We do try to get people to come together once every three months to do team building and workshops.”
  

• Flexible working: Flexible days and hours, such as starting and finishing work two hours earlier or later.
  

• Asynchronous work days: This suits some parents who prefer working at night when their children are asleep. “We encourage staff to work when it suits them, and it doesn’t have to be 9-5. We use communication tools that allow scheduled and delayed send, so clients and team members get messages during 9-5 hours.”
  

• Flexitime: A flexi-time channel in Slack where employees can post a message and let others know they’ll be unavailable for a certain time.
  

• Benefits: A paid day off on their birthday.
  

• Zoom alternatives: Employees can take a break from Zoom fatigue and opt out of video calls, communicating by phone or messaging instead. “I want to make sure we offer all the different options to teams, so communication isn't an issue,” Chiew says.
  
  “I would hate is for someone to avoid talking to a team member because they don't feel confident in front of a camera that day.”

How to promote your brand

No matter how busy your business is, there’s plenty of scope to promote the great work you’re doing. Here are some suggestions:

• Write an eye-catching job ad: Your job ad should stand out from the crowd, says Chiew, who avoids following a boilerplate job ad templates.
  
  “We write about the job as though we’re telling a story over a campfire, and choose our language very carefully.”
  

• Remember your staff are your biggest cheerleaders: “We believe our people are our biggest assets and advertisement,” Chiew says.
  
  “I only have a limited amount of hours per day to talk about our business and what we stand for, but I can create mini cheerleaders who understand what I'm trying to achieve with the business.
  
  “We know that we can’t keep staff forever, but when staff or clients leave, we want them to leave as a better person, or a client with their marketing in a better position. While they're with us, we want their experience to be meaningful.”
  

• Talk to your network: Word of mouth is extremely powerful, Chiew says. “If I'm looking for talent, I'm not afraid to let people know we're hiring and ask if they know anyone. Go out and talk to your network because they just need to be reminded that you exist.”
  

• Make the time for content marketing: Even if your business relies heavily on word of mouth, the impact of frequently posting on LinkedIn or adding staff profiles to your company website can be huge.
  
  “You have to set the time aside to market your business no matter how busy you are, and even if you have work coming in,” Chiew says.
  
  “You can't be in front of everyone at the same time, but an article will sit on your website forever and will continually work for you.”
  

• Contribute to your industry: Volunteering as a mentor, in your industry, or for non-profit organisations is highly rewarding and will open up new networks, too.
  

• Enter awards: There are plenty of awards out there in every industry – and you won’t win if you don’t enter!