The Importance of Employer Branding for Your Home Care Agency’s Marketing
Establishing your agency as a preferred employer can have effects on retaining current caregivers, recruiting new talent—and attracting clients to your home care agency.
Employer branding is a popular term currently floating around the healthcare world, and for good reason: There are more open positions in healthcare than there are qualified workers to fill them, so employers are having to work harder, and smarter, to attract and retain talent.
Investing in your employer brand is a valuable way to market your home care agency. Not only will it serve to attract new talent to your agency and hold onto your current staff, but employer branding can also have ripple effects that make it easier for you to bring in new business as well.
What is employer branding?
Employer branding is the practice of positioning your home care agency as an employer, not just a service provider. Your employer brand is your identity and reputation as an employer.
In consumer marketing, the client is the customer. In employer branding, the employee (both current and prospective) is the customer.
Employer branding comprises practical things, like:
- Employee benefits and compensation. Are you competitive in the market? Do you provide a solid set of benefits beyond healthcare and vacation time?
- Your agency’s presence on job boards, like Indeed, employer review sites, like Glassdoor and Comparably, and social media, like TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
And more strategic things, like:
- Your employer value proposition, or EVP. This is a statement and philosophy about why someone should want to work at your home care agency.
- The way your employees feel about and talk about your company. What do they say in online reviews? To their friends? Do they feel respected and supported in the workplace? Do they feel like they have growth opportunities and a future with your agency? Can they achieve work-life balance?
- Your values and how they affect your employees. Your company values were likely written with clients in mind, but do you give the same care and attention to your own employees?
- How your brand contributes to the greater good, which matters, because according to a survey from Gartner, more than half of workers (56%) say the pandemic made them want to contribute more to society. Plus, consumers like to buy from responsible companies.
Why does employer branding matter?
Employer branding matters on three fronts:
- Attracting new caregivers to your agency
- Retaining your current caregivers
- Marketing your home care agency to clients and managing your reputation
Attracting new talent
Did you know that 69% of job seekers rank employer brand as most important or very important when considering a job offer?
And according to Mercer’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report, only 2 in 5 workers feel that their current employer is meeting all their needs. Your agency could be the one to scoop them up.
Retaining your current caregivers
Employer branding can help you retain the staff you already have by giving them a positive, motivating experience in the workplace.
The same Mercer talent trends report found that energized employees are 2x less likely to leave their jobs. When you give workers a company mission to get behind, and provide them with meaningful work in a supportive environment, it’s likely that they’ll stick around.
Marketing your home care agency
Your employer brand has far-reaching implications for your agency, not only as an employer, but as a business.
Employer branding matters for attracting both caregivers and clients. Why? Because consumers increasingly care about the way a company treats its employees. According to a 2020 report from Edelman, 81% of consumers say that being able to trust a company to “do what is right” is a factor in what and where they buy.
And get this: 29% of consumers say that the way a company treats its employees is the most important factor in deciding whether to become a loyal customer. Twenty-seven percent say employer reputation is most important when deciding to try a brand for the first time.
Plus, consumers are willing to pay as much as 22% more if the company has a good reputation, including its reputation as an employer.
Do you need an employer brand if you’re not hiring?
Yes! Employer branding matters even if you don’t currently have any positions open. This is time you can use to develop your employer brand to support your agency’s overall marketing strategy.
Sharing a little bit about what it’s like to work at your company tells potential clients about your company values, and it can show potential clients the extent of your commitment to quality care by demonstrating generosity and thoughtfulness to your workforce.
After all, happy, supported caregivers means happy, supported clients.
Need some help figuring out how to brand and market your home care agency?
Improving your agency's reputation and establishing a solid brand name can be a tall order. Reach out to the experts at Home Care Marketing Pros to see how our variety of digital marketing solutions can help you market your home care agency by getting its name out there, boosting its reputation, and saving you valuable time that you can spend working on improving your brand!
Get started with us by booking a no-obligation Discovery Call!
