The number one challenge we see in the financial sector is that companies just don’t know how to attract talent outside their own network. The result? A white men’s club. In order to improve diversity in your company, you need to change the way you attract talent. But how? 

In this article we will tell you all about the importance of investing in your brand, employer branding and the return on investment: attract better talent, reduce time to hire, cut down on hiring costs and reduce employee turnover.

The first step in attracting a more diverse candidate poule
Would you invest in a company that you have never heard of or maybe even has bad online reviews? We wouldn’t either.

> So, do you think women will want to work at your company when they have never heard of you before?

And what about attracting new clients? How much have you invested in marketing and referrals to attract more potential clients? A lot right? We do too.
> Have you put equal focus in your employer brand?

As we said in our previous article, finding out how to position your company will help you attract the right candidates and counteract the reluctant candidates. This process is called employer branding!

And while it takes some time, effort and money, investing in your brand will eventually help you in reducing the time, effort and costs per hire. So, let’s take a deep dive into employer branding and how it can help you in attracting, not only female talent, but a more diverse talent poule in general.

Nowadays, a company’s reputation matters more than ever. 

• In fact, 86% of workers would not apply for, or continue to work for, a company that has a bad reputation with former employees or the general public. 
• A good employer brand can reduce turnover rates by 28%, and cut your costs-per-hire by half. 
• Additionally, 75% of active job seekers are likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand.

So, the key to success is employer branding? Sounds like that is exactly what you are looking for right? So, what the hell is employer branding and how can you use it to attract the right (female) talent?

Employer branding is how you differentiate your company from others. It outlines the purpose, aims and motivations of your organisation together with the unique traits that employees can expect to enjoy – your Employer Value Proposition (EVP).

In other words, employer branding is how you market your company to job seekers and internal employees. The better you are at employer branding, the more likely you are to attract top talent. Additionally, a clear employer brand can also help you retain top talent.

To ensure a good employer brand, you need to tell a compelling story.

However, it goes deeper than storytelling — you need to walk the talk. Telling your employees, and the general public, that your company is a great place to work because you have a ping-pong table or you are going on a yearly ski-trip isn’t going to cut it. A great example from a company which does it best/knows how to improve employer branding is Google for instance.

Google’s invested a lot into research on culture and the impact of the working environment. Its research has highlighted the importance of an emotionally safe environment where employees know what they do has meaning and impact, and where they can rely on each other to deliver high-quality work. 

This ethos has filtered into the way that Google works; along with the great job content and fantastic career development opportunities you’d perhaps expect, looking after employees and promoting personal fulfillment have become essential elements of the employer brand.”

Just like Google, it all starts with doing your research. Do you want to attract more female talent? Then you need to find out what motivates them and what they are looking for in an employer. 

We recently were at a company and we discussed the research we’ve done: “What motivates women to work in Private Equity?”. According to our research, there were 4 main motivators:

1. The amount of responsibilities you get from the start
2. The culture, flat or hierarchical structure
3. The sector focus should be within the field of interest
4. Focus on ESG is a huge plus

So what are you missing in this list? Right, where is the money? 

That is also the question we got from a male partner. “Where is the compensation? To be honest, for me starting in Private Equity, the salary was a huge motivator.”

This is of course what we hear more often, but we do see that this is more often a motivator for men than for women. So not only ask yourself “What motivates me to work at this company?”, also start the conversation with the target group “What motivates them?”. Time has changed, candidates value flexibility and a great working environment way more than before.