How Employee Recognition and Rewards Can Help Attract New Talent

Building a strong employer brand takes time, and hard work but is essential to an effective recruitment strategy. According to TalentNow, when deciding where to apply for a job, 84% of job seekers say the reputation of a company as an employer is essential.

So how can a company boost its employer brand? By leveraging your employee recognition strategy to help grow company awareness and attract talent. Transforming your top employees into brand champions can be accomplished through a year-round reward and recognition strategy tailored to your company to help employees grow and feel more committed to their jobs. 

Share-worthy recognition gifts & swag

To incentivize employees to become brand ambassadors, spreading the positive word on your company, they'll need to feel valued and appreciated. One way to do this is through tangible recognition gifts, like the ones we supply from Chocolate Soup. 

A physical gift like a curated gift box or company swag is not only a fun way to reward your hard-working employees, but it's also social media share-worthy. It can be a great way to encourage your team to voice their employee experiences, demonstrating a healthy company culture that will attract top talent. 

With company swag, you're basically transforming your team into walking billboards. Employees should be proud to rock your company name on a t-shirt, sweater or even backpack. Stylish team merch is excellent for building employer brand awareness while giving employees an awesome keepsake they'll have forever. 

An employee referral program for word-of-mouth

Employee referral programs are a strategy many top companies use to bring qualified candidates into the company. A standard program will pay an employee a bonus after referring someone to a role at the company. Employee referral programs work well because the referring employee can share their personal experiences with friends or peers, which helps set expectations on what it’s like to work there. 

One thing to keep in mind is if you’re looking to build a truly diverse team, a referral program is a form of nepotism that gives special treatment to a group of people. Not all talented candidates will have the benefit of connections to leverage. So if you’re implementing a referral program, make sure you have a level playing field that allows all candidates to be considered.

Another benefit to hiring referred employees is that they stick around longer. After a year, retention of a referred employee is 46% compared to 33% from career sites. 

Showcase inclusive perks and growth opportunities

Growth, learning, ownership, creativity and on-going improvement are things that top performers are driven by. Many employees rank these perks above their salary in terms of importance. Offering unique employee rewards and recognition opportunities are essential to attract talent and retain them after the fact. 

Highlighting attractive benefits like career coaching, educational opportunities, mentorship programs on your careers page is a great way to demonstrate your company's investment in learning and development. Giving candidates a peek into what their future success could look like helps them visualize a long-term career with you. 

Encourage employees to share their work experiences

Like we mentioned above, encouraging your employees to share their work experiences online is one of the most powerful ways to attract talent. Candidates want to hear from existing employees on culture and working environment; it’s why review websites like Glassdoor have been influential. 

Employee social proof can come in many forms like a company review, a LinkedIn post, an article on Medium, a tweet, an Instagram Story or a quote displayed on your careers page. Your goal is to generate social proof for your employer brand that acts as an endorsement that says, “this company is trustworthy, and you should work here too.” A key thing to note is that this should be an organic process, and you shouldn’t be forcing your employees to leave reviews or posts about your company. There are ways to encourage employee storytelling while also keeping it authentic and genuine to your company culture. 

Promote your rewards and recognition program internally

Lastly, it helps to promote your recognition and rewards strategy internally to your employees. Your team can’t spread the word and aid in the recruitment strategy if they don’t know all the details or how they can contribute. 

Your people are the building blocks of your employer brand, which is why getting them involved is a must—you wouldn’t have a great culture without them. You’d be surprised how many brand champions will step forward, proud to share their story; all you need to do is ask. If your team feels recognized and happy in their current positions, they’ll be excited to share that positivity externally.