Employer branding has been one of the biggest HR themes of the past decade, and studies show that it will continue to be even more important in the future. In fact, according to a recent LinkedIn Global Recruiting Trends report, 72% of recruiting leaders believe that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring and 55% have a proactive employer brand strategy.
So, how can you ensure that you’re putting your best foot forward with candidates? Measuring the effectiveness of your employer brand is a great first step. In addition to helping you understand how candidates view your company, it can also help you identify reputational challenges and address them. Here are some things to keep in mind as you measure your brand’s success.
Keep track of employer brand metrics
Quantifying success starts with the right metrics, so it’s important to understand how your brand stacks up when it comes to candidate engagement and retention. The best way to do this is to come up with a list of data points to measure, including factors like cost-per-hire, application completion rate, the time required to fill a role and the rate of candidate drop-off.
This can help you develop a better understanding of how your employer brand affects your business as well as highlighting areas you may need to focus on. It’s also a great way to create a holistic picture of your overall employer branding efforts, which can help you set more effective goals in the future.
Consider how candidates and employees view your brand
Once you have a clear understanding of your employer brand metrics, it’s time to look to outside sources for a 360-degree view of your brand. This can include checking out your company profile on Glassdoor and taking a close look at engagement on your posts and job listings on LinkedIn.
In addition to giving you access to real-time feedback, this can also help you develop a better understanding of what’s resonating with the job seekers you’re trying to reach and how you may need to adapt your strategy. Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper. While Glassdoor and LinkedIn are great places to start, taking a look at your company’s social profiles can also offer helpful insights about how others view your company and where you should concentrate your efforts.
Focus on engagement and applications
After you’ve developed a clear sense of how to measure success both internally and externally, it's time to look at your overall engagement and the number of incoming applications. For many employer brand experts, this is the true test of how candidates view your company and it can help you see how your efforts are paying off.
The best way to do this is to track applications over time to see if you notice a positive correlation with your employer branding efforts. For example, if you’ve recently launched a campaign focused on boosting your company’s profile and offering an inside peek at what it’s like to work for your organization, an increase in applications can be a clear indicator that your efforts are working. And if you’re noticing a drop-off in the number of applications or the way people are engaging with you on professional networks, it could be a good indicator that you need to increase your efforts and communicate your value.
Another stat to look at beyond simply quantity of applicants is candidate conversion rate. One key impact a good employer brand can have is that it will help you attract the right candidates — those who not only qualify based on skill sets and work history, but also align with your company values and mission and thus result in higher candidate conversion rates.
Although employer branding is a fairly recent phenomenon, it shows no signs of slowing down. And it can have very real benefits — from a 50% reduction in cost-per-hire to a 28% reduction in overall turnover. By taking a proactive approach to measuring your brand’s success, you can create effective goals and recruit the talent you want.
Want to learn more about improving your employer brand? Find out how to activate your employer brand within your company and how to beat out the competition with killer employer brand positioning.
