If you are feeling anxious about the current state of the economy, you are not alone. Leaders everywhere are feeling the pinch. You are being asked to justify the impact of every dollar in your budgets and prioritize efforts based on projected return.
Increasing spend on employer branding might not be top of mind. However, the cost of not managing your employer brand can be too high to risk, and the positive financial impact far outweighs the investment.
You can grow value and reduce costs through the 4 Rs of Employer Branding:
- Reducing risk
- Recruiting top talent
- Retaining top talent
- Rivaling the competition
Reduce risk
Low employee engagement costs companies $450-500 billion each year. (Gallup, 2013) Employee engagement is one of the most important factors in determining company success. When employees are disengaged, it costs companies billions of dollars each year in lost productivity and turnover.
The cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. (Gallup, 2013) Additionally, a new employee can take up to 6 months to reach full productivity levels. That means lost time and money while your organization scrambles to find and train a replacement.
Recent studies state that 41% of employees are considering leaving their jobs. (Microsoft Work Trends Index, 2021) Chances are good that at least some of your employees are considering leaving their jobs. Employer branding helps identify and highlight the reasons they will want to stay or address the issues causing them to consider leaving.
Recruit top talent
75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job. (LinkedIn Report, 2021) Recruiting is where employer branding shines. The stronger your employer reputation, the more likely candidates are to watch your job postings and take the time and effort to apply. When talent is actively interested in a position in your company you pull people into your candidate pipeline faster and cheaper than when you have low employer brand awareness or a negative reputation. 50% cost-per-hire reduction. (LinkedIn Report, 2021)
Applying for and accepting a new job inherently includes time, effort, and risk for job seekers. So, before they apply, most respondents will do research. Your employer brand reputation is among the top searches that matter to candidates. On average, companies with a strong employer brand attract 50% more qualified applicants and find a 1-2x faster time to hire. (LinkedIn, 2021) These factors reduce hiring expenses and lead to better-aligned employees who are likely to remain longer with the company.
Retain talent and institutional knowledge
Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their jobs. (Inc, 2022) Employer branding is an inside employee experience as much as an external marketing effort. It can help improve retention by ensuring employees feel valued, appreciated, and engaged in their work. Employer branding can lead to a 28% reduction in voluntary turnover. (LinkedIn, 2021) A reduction in turnover has a direct impact on revenue as a result of retained institutional knowledge and employee productivity. Companies in the top quartile of engagement scores had 50 percent higher total shareholder return than the average company. (Aon, 2017)
Rival the competition
And finally, in this era of remote work and talent shortages, you are competing against numerous other businesses for the same candidates. 55% of recruiting leaders worldwide have a proactive employer brand strategy. And 59% of recruiting leaders worldwide are investing more in employer branding. (LinkedIn, 2021) If your competition is making this investment, it can be difficult to win the time and attention of top talent unless you have a strong employer brand as well.
Where to start
Like all branding efforts, employer branding is a process. It begins with understanding the needs and perspectives of your employees.
Our AccuitiTM Employer Brand Diagnostic measures employer brand perception across 8 key areas of primary importance to your workforce. It provides insight into the perception differential between employee segments in intuitive, visual displays for comparison and analysis. It’s easy to implement and an effective way to focus your employer brand efforts where they will have the most impact.
