Here's how to make employer branding a success

The first step in developing and implementing a successful employer branding strategy is to establish a "dedicated" team, with a clear division of roles and responsibilities. This ensures focus, specialization and continuity.

From the beginning, different departments need to work closely together. The hr team to translate the strategy to employees, the marcom team with expertise in brand identity and communications. C-level management involvement is crucial to provide strategic direction and resources. Their role provides the mandate that reinforces employer branding in the organization.

Currently, hr is most often identified as having primary responsibility (35.2%) for employer branding strategy, followed by marketing & communications (23%). In the future, people expect more shared responsibility between hr (31.6%) and marketing & communications (27.8%), followed by an employer branding specialist.

A successful employer branding strategy requires a long-term vision that fits seamlessly with the broader company strategy and goals. The message and values must be consistent with what the company as a whole is striving for, both for potential and current employees. A clearly defined corporate brand identity helps with this and should resonate with the employer brand. Importantly, sustained employer brand building is independent of direct recruitment outcomes.

The majority do say that they try to align the employer branding strategy with the corporate strategy as much as possible. For 36.8%, this is accomplished by collaborating with other departments as much as possible. Yet we see that half of the organizations (46.8%) say they do not have a long-term vision for recruitment and retention. Only 18.2% say they have a well-founded strategy around employer branding and are actively working on it.

As with any strategic effort, resources are crucial to the success of employer branding. Consider a realistic budget and measurable KPIs to monitor and evaluate progress. These KPIs address both quantitative and qualitative aspects, such as employee satisfaction, attrition and retention, brand awareness as an employer and the number of quality job applications. 43.4% of organizations have a separate budget for employer branding. In fact, that budget still appears to be the biggest challenge (22.4%) to implementing an effective employer branding strategy.

Employees at all levels should feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns and feedback. Open discussions are part of this, about allocating budgets, about vision differences on long- and short-term goals or about the authenticity of messages. In this way, the employer branding team has direct insight into what is going on in the organization, leading to faster adjustments and improvements in strategy.

A strong employer branding strategy is more than a fancy online presence or campaign. It is a strategic investment that starts with the right organizational foundations. Because the job market and the needs of employees are constantly changing. So as an organization, you better be flexible and prepared to adjust strategies based on new insights or a changing market. By investing in a 'dedicated' team, management commitment, a long-term vision with clear brand identity and KPIs, you can develop an employer brand that is not only attractive, but also sustainable and effective.

Employer marketing is a profession. Internally or externally, make sure you have access to experience and expertise in labor market trends, employee and candidate drivers, marketing trends and best practices in internal and external communications. Training and development of internal teams can also help build this expertise.