Employer branding has become more important every year, but what does the future of employer branding look like in the next five years? According to employer branding global leader Universum, there is a serious disconnect between CEOs and HR professionals about who they believe is responsible for employer branding.
Universum surveyed more than 2000 senior executives, including CEOs, heads of HR and recruiting, employer branding and marketing, among others and said “the lack of consensus about who owns employer branding is troubling.”
Image: Universum
However, regardless of who actually owns the employer brand function, the majority of managers, leaders, CEOs and HR professionals agree that it will continue to grow and become a vital tool to fulfil long-term recruitment needs.
According to LinkedIn, companies with a strong talent brand spend, on average, 43% less to make a hire than competitors without a strong brand. This is because companies benefit from the natural talent attraction traits of an attractive employer brand instead of spending money on advertising and marketing campaigns. So, what do companies need to know about employer branding strategies in the next five years?
Candidates trust a company’s employees three times more than the company itself when it comes to providing credible information about what it’s like to work there. Furthermore, a company’s employees have, on average, 10 times more LinkedIn connections than the company has followers.
With this in mind, it is clear that a company’s employees can quickly become the most effective employer branding tool. They’re a resource all companies already have, they’re proven to be more effective and are more likely to infiltrate the passive talent pool. Companies will need to be clever about how they can turn their employees into advocates of the brand, and it starts with ensuring your employees have a genuinely good working experience. The reason employees work so well as a branding tool is because they’re a trusted source. That means companies need to be confident in the experience they give, which starts with a strong company culture.
An EVP is an employee value proposition and it is different to your employer brand. You can read more about what an EVP is here but put simply, it relates to the value your employees get from working at your company. While their salary may seem like the obvious answer, it’s actually more to do with the whole experience and the value they get from working there beyond their salary. After all, that’s the basic reward for any job.
While only 61% of organisations have an EVP in place according to Universum, having a strong EVP in place will become a vital part of every company’s employer branding strategy. While they were once considered separate and important for different reasons, it’s becoming clear that in the future of employer branding, you can’t have one without the other.
‘With millennials making up 75% of the workforce by 2025, what they value in a workplace should be taken seriously’
Apart from simply establishing your company’s brand, a major reason to have a strong employer brand is to attract and retain the best talent, and part of that will be to have a strong EVP. This also goes back to having your current employees as brand ambassadors. If you have already given them a strong EVP, they will shout about that.
It’s also important to consider the future employment trends when reviewing your EVP. With millennials making up 75% of the workforce by 2025, what they value in a workplace should be taken seriously. Their objectives differ greatly from traditional workforce conditions, with many favouring better work-life balance and a sense of purpose over high salaries. This trend will make a huge difference to the future of employer branding.
It will come as no surprise to many that social media’s role in employer branding will grow in the next five years. In fact, according to Universum’s survey, 35% of respondents said social media was the most important digital channel and 70% will increase their use of social media in the next five years. However, only half of respondents are actually measuring their social media activities for responsiveness.
Almost 80% of jobseekers are likely to use social media in their job search. Companies that have a strong social media strategy not only engage these jobseekers but they also engage their existing employees. This includes sharing their stories, posting pictures and videos from your events, engaging with your audience and sharing interesting content. But what will become more important in the future of employer branding is measuring that social media engagement. Is that engagement successfully attracting more candidates? What is the quality of those candidates? Has your retention rate grown? Are your employees becoming more engaged as you use social media tools?
Much like the natural blend that comes from your brand and your EVP, your employer brand and your consumer brand will need to become more connected in the next five years. A significant number of respondents to the Universum survey expect their consumer brand and employer brand to connect in the next five years.
Image: Universum
The reason for this is down to what candidates find when they research your company before applying for a job. A jobseeker will spend an average of two hours researching a potential new employer. During that time, they will not only look at a company’s website, but they will also trawl through its LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Facebook in search of clues to how employees feel about working there.
They will essentially be ingesting all of the branding and information you put out there for consumers, but with a jobseeker’s hat on. They will look at how you position yourself you’re your consumer brand, but they will be carefully dissecting clues that show off your potential as a good employer.
Find out more about building an effective employer branding strategy and how RECRUITERS can help your business.
At RECRUITERS, our experts are not only adept at finding top talent, but they’re also experienced in solving your business and staffing challenges. Just check out our success stories here.
Written with contributions from the RECRUITERS team
Crystal ball photo by Garidy Sanders on Unsplash
