Building Your Employer Brand: How to Avoid Fake Solutions

So, you’re thinking about building your employer brand? Awesome! But if you’re serious about it, you’ll need to put in the resources: time, energy, and money. The good news is, all this effort will pay off in the long run if you focus on genuine, thoughtful strategies rather than quick, flashy fixes. Here are 3 tips to help you get started on the right foot.

"Branding" inscription made of Scrabble chips.

As the saying goes, “A smart person learns from others’ mistakes.” We’ve gathered three common mistakes to avoid, so you can build a strong employer brand that lasts. Sure, everyone loves quick and impressive results, like a viral TikTok, but if you’re only creating a superficial image without real substance, it could backfire and hurt your company’s reputation.

1. The Myth of Perfection

„”Working here is pure happiness! You’ll get everything you ever wanted because YOU are our top priority!” Sounds like a utopia, right? But let’s be real. Even in Hogwarts, there were exams and annoying professors. In the best companies, there are busy times, annoying colleagues, and frustrating online systems. And if by some miracle, everything is perfect, it’s still a workplace where you have to, well, work. And work can be tough and demanding, even in the best environments. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Build a myth around your brand only as much as you can live up to it!

"Branding" inscription made of Scrabble chips.
Want to build your own employer brand but don’t know how to get started? Read our tips for a guaranteed successful start!

2. A Great Team Matters

Your employer brand is defined by your employees. If you don’t know who your potential employees are or what kind of team they’ll be joining, it can negatively impact your company. Employee behavior affects the workplace atmosphere and internal communication, which in turn shapes your employer brand. Think about Michael Scott might not have been the best manager, but the team dynamic made Dunder Mifflin memorable. For instance, a skilled worker with poor leadership skills can destroy team morale, while a people-oriented leader, even with less experience, can thrive. Every company competes for the best talent, but to create a great work community and build a successful employer brand, you need to know who you’re looking for. And to do that, you must ask your current team for their input!

3. Look Beyond the Catchy Phrases

How are employer brand promises created? Sometimes, we get a catchy employer branding message from consultants or internal teams and plaster it everywhere without much thought. If we’re lucky, it’s backed by research and testing, but often, it’s just made up. Staying unique and authentic in your employer branding while appealing to your target employees is challenging. Empty promises won’t attract talent effectively. Instead, identify your true values and build your brand around them. Just like in product development, where you test and iterate based on feedback, employee feedback is crucial in employer branding. Ask your team what they think about the company and what values matter to them. This way, you can truly stand out in the market, like Friends or Stranger Things did with their unique and relatable content.

4. Real vs. Fake Solutions

If you only scratch the surface and focus on maintaining an image rather than building a genuine brand, you could harm your company’s reputation in the long run. Defining employee values with the help of an employer branding agency can be extremely beneficial. Their objective perspective and experience allow for accurate and in-depth evaluation. Empty promises and superficial solutions lead to disappointed employees and high turnover rates. No matter how shiny the store window is, if the products inside are poor quality, the atmosphere is bad, and the service is rude, customers won’t return. Remember, even the Death Star had a critical flaw. The same goes for your employer brand.