Download pdf - Employer brand playbook

Why this topic is so important

83% Agree that employer

brand has significant

impact on ability to

hire great talent

talent.linkedin.com

Prioritization of employer brand

(by company size)

69% Agree employer brand is a top priority for their organization

67%

70%

67%

78%

< 500 Employees

501-1,000 Employees

1,000-10,000 Employees

> 10,000 Employees

Source: The State of Employer Branding, 2012

lnkd.in/stateofeb

Lower cost per hire by

up to 50%.

Reduce employee

turnover by up to 28%.

Influence the conversation

with candidates. If you

don’t, someone else will.

91% of companies increased

or maintained their talent

brand spend in 2012.

talent.linkedin.com Source: What’s the Value of your Employment Brand?

lnkd.in/valueofEB

3 reasons to invest in your talent brand

talent.linkedin.com

39% 22% TA shares

ownership

TA has primary

ownership

15% TA has no

ownership

14% TA is a

contributor

10% Company doesn’t

think about EB

Most common departments that own employer

brand outside of talent acquisition

1. Marketing

2. Corporate Communications

Who owns employer brand?

Source: The State of Employer Branding, 2012

lnkd.in/stateofeb

Employer brand ownership

Five steps to a strong talent brand

• Start at the top

• Share compelling

data

• Bring partners to

the table

STEP 1 Get buy-in

STEP 2 Listen and learn

STEP 3 Craft your approach

STEP 4 Promote and engage

STEP 5 Measure and adjust

talent.linkedin.com

Step 1: get executive buy-in

Start at the top

• Get your CEO and exec team to support and contribute to your talent brand efforts

Arm yourself with data • Universal facts on the

business impact of your talent brand.

• LinkedIn insights on your company’s social presence, e.g. -

• Number of employees with profiles.

• Aggregate number of connections,

• Recruiting metrics on where you’re losing talent or struggling to hire.

Bring partners to

the table • Examples: HR,

Communications, Marketing, IT.

• Create a cross-functional talent brand task force.

talent.linkedin.com

Persistence and small wins pay off

“I probably delivered the same deck 40 times, sometimes to the same audience. You will feel like a broken record but it doesn’t sound like that on the other end.”

Kara Yarnot SAIC

SAIC turns to data to

ease concerns

Challenge: Leadership feared that competitors might poach employees more easily if they joined LinkedIn. Approach: Presented the unchanged pre- and post-attrition rates to leadership. Result: Leadership bought in to the network, built their own profiles, and even became active themselves.

talent.linkedin.com




data


the table

• Audit existing

materials

• Do your research:

who, what, when,

where & how

STEP 1 Get buy-in


talent.linkedin.com




Step 2: Listen and learn

Where are the inconsistencies between what you say and what they think?

How does the feedback vary by audience?

What are the biggest issues you need to address?

When

• Regular cadence

• Change in strategy

or leadership

• Decline in hiring

results

Who

• Internal and external

• Include real-world

views (e.g.,

candidates who

declined offer)

Where &

how

• Focus groups

• 1-on-1 interviews

• Surveys

• Suggestion boxes

What

• What attracts talent?

• What keeps them

there?

• What to improve?

• Official & unofficial channels

Perform an audit from the shoes of candidates and employees

talent.linkedin.com

Listening can make all the difference

Strategic annual survey use

Challenge: Keeping employees engaged in a connected world. Approach: Through annual survey, JPMorgan asked what employees need/ want in order to stay. Top answers: mobility and development opportunities. Result: Launched extensive internal mobility program. • In 10 months, internal hire rate rose

by 5% (they fill 75K positions/yr)

• Ranked #1 in Europe and #2 in the US in Vault’s 2013 Best Places to Work for Internal Mobility rankings.

Ellie

Shephard Global Recruiting Program Manager, Vice President

talent.linkedin.com


• Be real

• Be personal

• Be brave

• Be consistent

• Set your goals



data


the table

• Audit existing

materials


who, what, when,

where & how

STEP 1 Get buy-in



talent.linkedin.com



Step 3: craft your approach – right brand, right

success metrics

REAL

CONSISTENT

PERSONAL

BRAVE

Promise what you can deliver

Challenge: Talking about work-life balance at a

professional services firm.

Approach: Shifted focus from work-life balance to

“flexibility” - just as valuable to employees but much

more realistic.

Result: Believable talent brand, internally and externally.

Danielle Bond, CMO

talent.linkedin.com

Begin with the end in mind

Sample goals for your talent brand program

• Increase offer acceptance rate by X%

• Reduce attrition by X%

• Improve employee survey ratings by X%

• Increase baseline familiarity with your talent brand in external surveys by X%

• Double the number of employees with an optimized social presence

• Increase Talent Brand Index score by X% relative to key talent competitors or

for high-priority functions/regions

talent.linkedin.com


• Upgrade profiles

(yours/team’s)

• Leverage your

employees’

presence via

Work with Us

• Brand via Jobs

• Build out your

hub – Company

and Career

Pages

• Use targeted

status updates

and APIs to

engage

• Be real

• Be personal

• Be brave

• Be consistent

• Set your goals



data


the table

• Audit existing

materials


who, what, when,

where & how

STEP 1 Get buy-in




talent.linkedin.com


Step 4: promote and engage, following these rules

Look in the mirror. Make sure that what you do (and don’t do) is

what you’d like employees to emulate.

Empower your employees. Lay out the goals and show them a clear, easy

path to action.

Inform your leadership. Use data to gain support, ease concerns, and

help explain your choice of platforms.

Target your messages. The more relevant your message is to a particular

audience, the greater its impact will be.

Make your culture shine. It’s never just about jobs. Focus on your people –

their stories and emotions.

Go viral. For amplified results, find creative ways to get more

people talking about your company’s great culture.

Be visual. Bold and colorful images, graphics, charts, and

videos can bring your brand to life.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Show that your efforts are scalable and sustainable

on one platform before moving on to another.

8 golden rules to promote and protect your talent brand

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

talent.linkedin.com

Erica Robertson Software Engineer

ACME Systems

Consider your candidate’s experience

across LinkedIn and beyond

In their Inbox

On the LinkedIn

Homepage

When they

network with your

employees

When they

research your

company

Via Mobile

LinkedIn App

When they

search for jobs

talent.linkedin.com

Start with your own profile

Engaging, friendly

picture

Who wouldn’t want to

work with Brendan?

Links

to branded

destinations

Killer summary

Written in the first

person, oozing with

passion

Descriptive

headline

that goes beyond

the title

Other features

we like:

• Core skills,

endorsed by

your network

• Volunteer

experiences

• Just enough on

prior positions

to build

credibility

talent.linkedin.com

Leverage your employees’ presence on LinkedIn

Dell trains global employees at scale

• “SMaC University” (Social Media and Communication)

• Global certification program with structured classes

• Strong exec support • 5,000 trained since mid-2010

UTI takes a brown bag approach

• Took a low-budget, grassroots approach • Got exec buy-in to host brown bag

lunches for hiring managers • Helped employees overcome anxieties

about what to say on profiles

HELP THEM SHINE

Clickthrough rates 20x industry average

BENEFIT FROM PROFILE TRAFFIC

with Work With Us ads

talent.linkedin.com

Craft job posts for passive AND active

candidates

Avoid overly-creative job titles.

Tie the job to your LinkedIn Company Page.

Give high-priority positions extra oomph with Sponsored Jobs

SCIENCE

50% of job applications on

LinkedIn are via paths

other than search ART

Use your job post as a talent brand vehicle.

Showcase the position’s impact.

Try a conversational tone.

talent.linkedin.com

Create a strong hub via Company and Career

Pages

Think visually.

Use bold images to give a real-world

glimpse into your organization.

Think digitally.

Whatever you say, keep it brief. online,

where attention spans are shorter.

Think video.

You’ll be able to engage candidates more

deeply if they hear real people tell their

own stories,.

Think customized.

Adapt your content to viewers based on

their LinkedIn profiles. Target based on

job function, industry, geography, etc. Make sure your Career Page has a clear owner!

talent.linkedin.com

Spark the conversation, on and off LinkedIn

Use APIs to make your career

site more social

Leverage targeted status updates

Sketch out what you’ll say in advance and build a dialogue with your followers.

Remember the messaging you’re trying to get across and incorporate it.

Stay on brand

71% of company followers on LinkedIn are interested in career opportunities at companies they follow.

Have a plan

Mix it up

Share jobs, relevant news about your company, employee interviews etc.

talent.linkedin.com

• Use Talent Brand

Index to prioritize


• Be real

• Be personal

• Be brave

• Be consistent

• Set your goals



data


the table

• Audit existing

materials


who, what, when,

where & how

STEP 1 Get buy-in





• Upgrade profiles

(yours/team’s)

• Leverage your

employees’

presence via

Work with Us

• Brand via Jobs

• Build out your

hub – Company

and Career

Pages

• Use targeted

status updates

and APIs to

engage

talent.linkedin.com

How Talent Brand Index works

Talent Brand

Reach

1,873,354 members Viewing employee profiles

Connecting with your employees

Talent that is interested in you as an employer

Researching company and career pages

Following your company

Viewing jobs and applying

Talent Brand Engagement

264,362 members

Talent that’s familiar with you as an employer

talent.linkedin.com

What percent of people who know about you show an interest?

Talent Brand

Engagement

Talent Brand

Reach

Talent

Brand

Index

How Talent Brand Index works

Talent Brand

Reach

1,873,354 members

Talent Brand Engagement

264,362 members

=

Benchmark your score, e.g. v.s key competitors

talent.linkedin.com

For advanced tips, see the playbook

lnkd.in/gettheplaybook

talent.linkedin.com