You want top candidates knocking at your door, acing the interview process, and sticking around as high-performing employees. So, what does your brand have to do with this? A lot. At its foundation, your brand is the perception that you create for your company. When it comes to attracting and appealing to top talent, that brand speaks for you. It’s answering candidates’ questions about your company — who you are, how successful you are, what you stand for, and most importantly, if they want to work for you. If you’re looking to improve your recruiting efforts and find the high-performing employees out there to join your team, look to your brand.

It helps candidates find you

Wouldn’t it be ideal if your inbox was full of messages from experienced, talented, and successful people dying to work for your company? With the amount of competition around, it’s a rare scenario. While strengthening your brand may not immediately send these message flooding it, it will, over time, help great candidates to find you. When you strengthen your brand, you strengthen the visibility of your company. It takes time for a brand to gain credibility, but as that credibility grows, so does the brand’s power to attract strong candidates.

It catches candidates’ attention

Who wouldn’t want to work for a successful, well-respected company who treats its employees well? Your brand can communicate all of that. Even if your brand hasn’t reached the status of Apple or Google, it can still massively support your recruiting efforts. Think about it — you reach out to a great candidate. If you’ve built a top-notch brand, they probably already know who your company is, the general opinion of it in the business realm, and its overall vibe. If your brand is still growing, and they don’t know much about you, the first thing he or she is likely to do is a quick google search. If they find a clean, professional logo, a modern website, an active presence on social-media platforms, and cohesive content, there’s a good chance you’ll grab their interest. If, on the other hand, they find an outdated website, lack of information, disorganized visuals, and no clear message — well, you probably get the picture.

It increases desirability

Your brand says a great deal about your company, both externally and internally. The exterior image that your brand conveys includes the company’s mission, goals, values, and level of success, to name a few. The interior image speaks to the office culture, how well employees are treated, benefits, and incentives. A weak brand fails to communicate these important characteristics. A well-designed brand, however, knows how to package all of this information in a concise yet clear package. Recruiting shouldn’t feel like begging talented people to work for you. Instead, it should feel like a connection where both parties could benefit.

It engages employees

Your brand factors into the company culture in a cyclical way, where the brand strengthens the culture and the culture strengthens the brand. A strong brand tends to give employees a greater sense of pride in their work. It helps them to feel more invested in the company and more motivated in their work. Invested, motivated employees — that’s the goal, right? Building a strong team isn’t just about bringing high-performing individuals in. It’s also about keeping them around as loyal and successful members of your team. When employees are happy and thriving in a successful company culture, that contributes to the company’s brand, making it more appealing to candidates considering joining the team.

Especially in the digital world we live in today, your company’s brand has significant power. When it comes to attracting great candidates and retaining talented employees, a strong brand can lay a foundation for success. Though recruiting efforts can sometimes feel like a separate field of focus, they’re intricately connected with all other aspects of the company. When you work to build a great brand, you’re also working to bring in the best people to support your company’s goals.