ALC - CareerArc blog

Employer Branding strategy is getting more competitive, more informed, and more necessary. In our recent CareerArc Future of Recruiting Study, we found that 97% of companies plan to invest in employer branding efforts in 2017. The majority (51%) plan to increase their employer branding investment.

These trends indicate employer brand management is a maturing discipline in HR and Talent Acquisition. As the fight for great talent grows more competitive, that talent has also grown more selective, forcing employer brands to do more just to be seen. Below is the new list of essential priorities and processes companies must adopt to earn the best hires this year, and beyond.

By Alyssa Gioscia
Client Success Manager, CareerArc

Are you reconsidering your talent acquisition tactics? Or making the business case for social recruiting and employer branding initiatives? Learn the key social media stats recruiters, hiring managers, and talent acquisition professionals should know to inform your strategy.

If you are an HR or talent leader in your organization, chances are you are constantly on the hunt for ways to reach better talent, elevate your employment brand, and improve the processes that support these initiatives.
However, experimenting with new approaches and improving upon past methods can be difficult. Old habits stick, legacy systems persist, and the status quo can remain unchallenged for years.
The talent acquisition and talent management professionals we work with everyday are often the change agents in their organization who ask the most important question: “Why?”
“Why fix what isn’t (perceived as) broken?” “Why rock the boat?”
Often the most difficult task for these change agents is convincing internal stakeholders of the power of employee advocacy, candidate experience, and talent brand awareness have on today’s hiring strategy.
Here are the most compelling social media stats to help illustrate the potential reach and influence of a social approach to recruitment, candidate engagement, and employment branding.

The industry is all a buzz about employer branding these days, and with good reason: The labor market is tightening, and today’s discerning job applicants turn to Twitter, LinkedIn, and employer review sites for a peek behind the company curtain.

These sites and social platforms have become a destination for potential candidates to learn how companies actually function (or dysfunction) judging from employee feedback and fellow applicants’ candid reviews of the candidate experience.
In our Employer Branding Study we found that 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even deciding to apply for a job.
But how does a company go about shaping, or reshaping, its brand? We see employer brand being molded by four main areas of influence – company culture, employee opinions, candidate opinions, and the corporate brand.


While corporate brand and company culture are driven from within the organization, employee and candidate opinions are based on direct experience and interaction with an employer and reflect not only how an employer treats its people, but reveal a company’s values and ethics which guide their business decisions. 
Talent acquisition professionals today are ever pushed to straddle the line of marketer and recruiter, what we termed the “HR-Marketer hybrid.” Hiring professionals who are just starting to take on these hybrid roles are fast becoming the experts and leaders of employment branding in their organization.
Related: 3 Signs You’re a Pro at Social Recruiting
We view the HR-Marketer placed strategically at the intersection of these four corners of employer brand, helping shape and communicate the company culture and corporate brand to the candidate audience, and ensuring those values are truly reflected in the candidate and employee experience.
These four areas of employer brand influence are regularly debated and are themselves quickly evolving. Here are the latest, relevant news pieces to show how these areas are being studied, perceived, and reshaped:

So, who should own social recruiting within an organization? Yes, the question is a bit controversial. But it’s a valid one, and one that comes up more often as talent acquisition results become increasingly dependent on employer brand strength and appeal.

It’s a question that Protection 1–the largest full-service security provider in the US–had to answer when launching their first social recruitment program. With about 300 open requisitions per month, the company had observed that the traditional job boards they relied on were not providing enough qualified candidates. They sought a better alternative, and they soon decided to expand their hiring efforts using social media.
So far it’s a pretty straightforward case, much like the start of our other client success stories. But what makes them different is their decision to have their marketing team own and manage the effort.
Related: Read the full Protection 1 Case Study

Watch our video to learn how CareerArc helps simplify the two critical points in the employment lifecycle–through social recruiting and modern outplacement–so employers...

This past September, the BLS reported that unemployment dipped to 3.5%, marking the lowest unemployment rate since December 1969. Job growth hit a high of 5.9 million open jobs in September as well. All good news for the economy and for job seekers, but employers are beginning to feel the squeeze of the tightening labor market.

With worker confidence boosted and growing job opportunities, the quit rate is climbing higher and higher: This past July, 2.1% of all private sector employees quit their jobs. ERE estimates that at this rate, just a little over a quarter of all private sector employees will voluntarily quit their jobs by the the end of the year.
In our recent 2015 Employer Branding Study, we found that 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job. Employers are pressured to not only retain their best employees but to take the opportunity to hire top performers who are looking to make a change. Companies are now focusing on ways to enhance and protect their employer brand so that they can keep and attract the best talent. 
Here are 15 employer branding statistics that every HR pro should know:

https://vimeo.com/136759094
We recently had the privilege of being invited to participate in Top Recruiter’s #TheMovement – a recruiting-contest-meets-documentary brainchild of show producer and host, Chris LaVoie.
Teasers for the documentary have been released, and one of the most recent clips features CareerArc VP, Mira Greenland. In the quick excerpt, Mira shares seven tips and questions for recruiters, talent acquisition professionals, and hiring managers to consider before launching their first social recruiting program. Here are four she mentions: