Firm’s online presence vital in employer branding

Dubai / Emirates Business

The success of any business largely depends on the quality of the employees it attracts and retains. According to the recent Bayt.com “Trends in Employer Branding in the Middle East and North Africa” poll, conducted by business
facilitation company Naseba and Bayt.com, the Middle East’s leading job site, 84.5% of the respondents believe that engaging with potential job seekers on social platforms is positive for a company’s employer branding.
The study revealed that a company’s online presence is vital in shaping its perception among potential employees. A whopping 75.6% of respondents in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) usually research a company online before considering a job offer.
When visiting a company website or an employer’s branding page, job seekers named several features they would love to see, including a ‘reasons to join’ section (32%), a ‘description of the vision, mission and culture’ (9.5%), ‘testimonials and actual experiences from employees’ (8.4%), ‘company awards and accolades’ (4.2%), a ‘letter from the CEO’ (4%) videos of the teams (3.2%), or an ‘FAQ in a tone [they] like’ (2.7%). 36% of MENA respondents would like to see all of these features equally on an employer’s branding page.
In terms of answering the age-old question “Whose territory is this, exactly?” respondents believe that employer branding is the joint responsibility of the HR department and the marketing department, at 18.7% equally.
And companies looking to position themselves as a great place to work need to pay close attention to their posts, tweets and snaps: 39.8% of respondents state that social media is the most important channel for a company to brand itself as a great employer in the region.
“Employer branding is more important than ever before,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Employer Solutions at Bayt.com. “With almost 85% of respondents believing that engaging on social platforms is positive for an employer’s brand, it is essential that companies mandate a social media strategy that also includes recruitment objectives. We see many companies and individuals engaging daily on Bayt.com’s social platforms, like Bayt.com Specialties and Company Profiles. In fact, over 10.5 million professionals in the region have opted to go public with their profiles on Bayt.com, and are engaging with each other and with brands online, so companies should really not miss the opportunity.”
Respondents named ‘reputation and culture (11.9%) and ‘work environment’ (11.3%) as the two most important aspects to attract talent, while rewards and recognition came last with 5.3%. Respondents also value ‘training and learning opportunities’ (10.7%), ‘leadership in industry’ (9.2%) and ‘career advancement opportunities’ (9%).
The largest proportion of respondents agreeing that all aspects are “equally” important (42.6%).
Alongside all of these “dos”, respondents also identified “don’ts”. Being known to let go of people without valid reasons and having unhappy employees came as the two worse mistakes a company could make,
according to 17.3% and 13.7% of respondents respectively, while ignoring applications of candidates came third (11.5%) and ‘weak job descriptions lacking detail and full of
mistakes’ followed (5%). 34.2% agreed that avoiding all these factors together is equally important for
a company.
When considering a new job, the most important features for MENA respondents are that ‘the company offers great career opportunities’ (12.8%), ‘the company is known to be a great place to work’ (9.3%), ‘the company pays the highest salaries’ (9.3%), ‘the company offers the best training’ (7.3%), ‘the company has a great leadership’ (4.9%), ‘the company has great products and services’ (3.0%), and ‘the company is prestigious’ (2.7%). Again, the majority (43.2%) of respondents consider all of the aforementioned reasons to be equally as important for a new job.
Being perceived as a great place to work results in better employee engagement, according to 23.4% of respondents.