We all know employer branding is important for attracting and retaining talent, but in this data-driven age, metrics are vital. So, how are you supposed to track and measure the success of your strategy?
The truth is, even the most nebulous and broad strategies will need key metrics that you can track throughout the strategy. In fact, if you want to build a strong employer branding strategy, or any strategy for that matter, you’ll need to start with knowing what success looks like and what you want to track in order to figure out how you’re going to get there.
One of the most important goals you will most likely be about attracting high quality candidates and retaining your top performers. So, what metrics can you use to help this goal? In order to attract good candidates, you’ll most likely want to increase both the number and the quality of candidates applying for jobs.
The number of candidates applying is an easy metric, but you can also look at the quality of those applications. Are the right candidates applying to work with you? If not, in what way are they missing the mark? Are you targeting the wrong candidates? Are certain channels bringing in better quality candidates? Look for patterns, find what works, figure out where your top-quality candidates are coming from and direct your efforts there.
Once those strategies are put in place, you should be able to see the number of quality candidates going up and the beginning of your employer branding measurements has begun. Other measurements you should consider tracking are the cost per hire, the time it takes to hire someone and the offer acceptance rate.
In terms of staff retention, the best way to measure employee experience is through anonymous surveys and making any necessary tweaks to improve the culture. These surveys will then give you numbers you can work towards improving. Outside of the surveys themselves, you should look at staff turnover rates and the number of employee referrals you receive. After all, if your employer branding is truly strong, your current employees will want to refer people to you.
When an employee does decide to leave, exit interviews should be conducted to find out why they’re leaving and what they believe should be done to improve the organisation. Even if the company culture is not the reason they’re leaving, an employee who is on the way out will probably give you some of the most honest feedback you can get, exit interviews are a great way to get direct suggestions of ways to improve the company.
Attracting the best staff isn’t the only goal of an employer branding strategy. As a company, you want to make sure you’re well known and that comes down to marketing and brand awareness in general. But there is a difference between being a well-known company and being a well-known employer.
No one is under the allusion that the biggest brands in the world don’t have staff, but would you want to work there? Does your favourite snack company look after its employees? Is that infamous soft drink producer also a great place to work? Are the staff happy working for that major pharmaceutical company?
A brand might be well known for its product but not for its status as an employer and your employer branding strategy has to include plans to change that if necessary. The more widely known you become as a great employer with values you live by and great care for your employees, the more widely your message will be shared. And the more widely your message is shared, the more likely it will reach that top talent you’re so desperately hunting for.
While the metrics for brand awareness can be slightly more troublesome to measure, they still exist and should be part of your plan. To track employer brand awareness, monitor your mentions, interactions and engagements on social media and keep an eye on the number of websites linking back to your own site to track how strong your brand awareness is.
If your social media engagements start to climb, particularly the social media posts and campaigns around your employer branding strategy, then this shows that your employer brand is growing, reaching more people and you, as a good employer, are becoming more visible.
Find out more about building an effective employer branding strategy and how RECRUITERS can help your business.
Ruler photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
