Tim Sackett (@TimSackett) brought up a great point about employer branding in his post, “How Fake is Your Employer Brand”.

Tim said,

“I think most employment brands are completely fake. The reason I feel this way is because HR and Executives approve the messaging.  We, HR and Executives, are the last people who really know what our employment brand truly is.”

Is Tim correct? Well, it depends on who you ask. 36% of HR departments manage the employer brand. If you ask HR, Execs and marketers who have worked so hard to build out employer branding strategies and campaigns, you’re probably going to get a little bit of backfire. However, if you ask an employee who was completely duped by his or her employer’s branding facade then you’ll find some agreement.

How do we get HR, execs and marketers to be more transparent with their employer branding initiatives? Well, let’s try leaving the branding up to the employees (with a little bit of HR’s direction and marketing’s creativity).

Here are 3 ways to cut the BS on your employer branding strategy and ensure that your company is honestly represented to job seekers.

Forget the staged, produced video interviews with employees…

Encourage employees to document glimpses of what a typical day in the life would be like at your company and find a way to creatively portray it. Use these videos to show what it’s really like around the office instead of using staged, produced videos like these… what a snooze.

What do job seekers really want to see? Well, 29% of job seekers believe employers don’t do a good enough job reinforcing why their company is a good place to work. One of the best ways to show how your company is a good place to work is through honest, raw footage of your employees in their day-to-day activity. Is Sue always in a good mood and loves to give compliments? Show it. Does Jeff hold the door open for anyone and everyone? Show it. Is Melissa always putting together little contests in the office? Show it, because there are no rules. While these are small acts within your organization, they are what job seekers want to see.

Job seekers want to see what a REAL day in the life of your employees is like. Not a staged video.

Create specific social accounts that are strictly for employees to use.

Allow them to upload pictures from around the office, team meetings, lunch outings and events that highlight the unique makeup of your workforce. Tumblr and Instagram, photo sharing sites, are growing faster than Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Tumblr is seeing a 120% increase in active users, while Instagram is seeing a 64% increase. It’s the perfect time to jump on these social networks and show off your employees’ crazy, but hardworking sides.

The employer brand isn’t bound by office walls.

88% of Millennials want a better work-life balance, so why not show how your employees do just that. Like it was mentioned in #1; there are no rules. Start an initiative within your company to find unique stories about the people that make up your workforce. What do they do in their free time? Are they painters? Do they play on a sports team? Have they overcome an enormous obstacle? What differentiates them from the rest of their team and how do they all come together to build an amazing workplace? Job seekers want to see that these employees on your career pages are real people, not actors for your employer branding marketing strategy.

2 out of 3 candidates will accept a lower salary if the company gives off a good employer brand.

It’s been determined that 2 out of 3 candidates will accept a lower salary if the company gives off a good employer brand. In the candidate-centric recruiting landscape we are in today, employers are fighting for candidates’ attention. Job seekers see through staged initiatives, so instead of being like everyone else… try showing off your brand in a completely genuine way.