A good employer brand makes it easier to hire and retain top talent. Did you know 86% of people wouldn't apply or continue to work for a company with a bad reputation? Companies with a positive employer brand can get up to twice as many applications as those with negative brands, and it costs them £435 less to recruit each candidate. Plus, companies that invest in their employer brand can reduce turnover by 28%.
When it comes to hiring apprentices, your employer brand is more crucial than ever – and it takes more than a few cool videos and a table full of merch to get it right! Students talk. In schools and colleges, years 12 and 13 swap notes on the brands they admire and the pros and cons of working for different companies. At this age young people are particularly suggestible: make a good impression and you'll become a talent magnet; make a bad impression and word will spread – not just among current school-leavers, but to future cohorts, too.
So, how do you improve your employer brand in the eyes of young people? Whether you're hiring apprentices for the first or fifteenth time, these five tips will help you make the recruitment process easier and more enjoyable for everyone involved.
1. Define your AVP (Apprentice Value Proposition)
If your Employer Value Proposition is essentially all the reasons someone should choose to work for you, your Apprentice Value Proposition is all the reasons a young person should choose to start their career with you. With a massive 75% of job seekers saying they consider the EVP before applying for a job and 47% of active job seekers saying company culture is a driving motivator when looking for work, there's no reason to assume young people would be any different.
If you want to attract apprenticeship candidates, it's important to address their unique needs with a dedicated AVP. Revisit your offering and consider how you can tailor it to the wants and needs of school-leavers entering the workplace for the first time. For example, what's your 'work-from-office' policy? What are the chances of a permanent job at the end of the apprenticeship? What additional support and development do you offer first-time workers? For young people especially, your AVP will be more compelling if you focus on how a role will be meaningful (be that personally fulfilling or concerned with global good) or offer a superior work experience.
2. Engage current employees with your apprenticeship programme
Your employees are crucial in shaping your Apprentice Value Proposition, because they're the ones who contribute to your company culture daily and manifest your brand vision – so it makes sense they'd be a great advert for your business. But did you know prospective candidates are also three times more likely to trust your employees than your CEO when it comes to finding out what working for your company is like?
Show off your team by getting them involved in your apprenticeship hiring cycle – from planning, outreach and attraction, to pipeline development, and hiring and onboarding. They could do talks in schools and colleges, host CV workshops, play a role in immersive assessment experiences, take part in insight days, or even become career mentors. Do it right and they'll get just as much from the process as your apprenticeship candidates.
3. Think social
In today's digital age – especially when you're trying to reach young people – the power of social media can't be overlooked. Did you know 25% of job seekers use social media as their primary tool for job searching, and 70% of 18-34 year-olds found their previous job through social media? Not only that, 9 out of 10 candidates would apply to a job when it's from an employer brand that's actively maintained on social media.
Make sure your social channels showcase your AVP and provide a window into your organisation through strategies like employee-generated content that provide credibility and help build awareness and interest. But remember: authenticity is key. Young people are savvy – they'll spot a marketing ploy a mile off, so only post real content from real apprentices. And make sure their representation is diverse, so future talent identifies your business as a place for 'someone like them'.
Bear in mind, social media isn't just about talking – it's also about listening. Nudge prospects to the engagement (and hopefully, eventually, action) stage by regularly responding to questions and comments, actively seeking input, and taking part in the wider conversation your audience is having about your brand and early careers more generally – both on your channels and others.
Top tip: Don't forget about non-traditional social media sites like Glassdoor – your prospects won't!
4. Take your own application
The average candidate spends 3-4 hours submitting a single application, while 70% of companies think it takes them less than an hour. On top of that, 60% of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online job applications because of their length or complexity. We've talked before about how young people are under more pressure than ever, so make sure you're not adding to it with an excessively difficult or time-consuming application process. What better way to sense-check than by taking your application yourself?
If you want to get the best out of applicants, online-only, exam style applications might not actually be the best option. Instead, incorporate interviews in your selection process and ask attitude-based questions to get a better idea of the value candidates can bring to your business. Or, why not kill two birds with one stone and set up an immersive assessment experience where your team takes part?
Throughout your assessment process, make time for feedback and ensure your candidates know exactly what to expect at every stage. Ghosting candidates is never okay, but when dealing with school-leavers it can be especially damaging for their self-esteem and for your employer brand.
Top tip: 95% of teens have a smartphone or access to one, but fewer have access to a computer at home – particularly among lower-income families. So make sure your application is mobile-friendly!
5. Nail your onboarding process
You've reached out to disadvantaged young people, assessed them, and got hard-to-reach talent through the door. Think you're done? Think again. Onboarding is a newly-hired apprentice's first experience of your company, and a negative impression could be disastrous. In fact, people who have a negative onboarding experience are twice as likely to seek a different opportunity. For your business, that spells a lot of wasted time and effort – not to mention money.
Get your new apprentices excited and immersed in their new roles from day one by arming them with the tools, introductions and orientations they need to hit the ground running and start thriving. When it comes to young people entering the workforce for the first time, the pastoral element of onboarding is especially important. Create regular, dedicated time, along with proper support structures and processes, to care for their personal and emotional development, too.
Of course, who you hire says a lot about your employer brand, too. Seeking out socially diverse school-leavers for your apprenticeship programme helps push the envelope for diversity in your wider team – not only does it open doors to hard-to-reach talent who might not previously have considered (or been considered for) a career at your company, it also signals to other disadvantaged or underrepresented prospects (and customers) that you're an inclusive employer.
Plus, having a range of unique thinkers with different experiences and reference points on your team will generate invaluable insight into how to further leverage your employer brand and stay ahead of the competition.
At Visionpath, we help you elevate your apprentice-employer brand with end-to-end support – from outreach, to pipeline development, to onboarding and line manager training.
Want to find out more? Check out how we work with employers or get in touch.
