1.     Digitalization

Digital technologies are here to stay and gain increasing power on employer brand management.

With the shift from traditional to digital channels, talents now are more concerned with how they experience your EVP and employer brand online. According to a research conducted by Employer Brand International social media is the top preferred employer brand communication channel (58%), followed by media such as career website (21%) and traditional channels.

Furthermore, digitalization can be used in the other stages of the employer brand management. Technologies now allow the companies to gather enormous amount of data about their employees, analyze it and use it. Measurement of employer brand activities can also be structured and analyzed using technology. For instance, IBM Smart Workforce offers digital products for each aspect of the employer brand management – applicant tracking systems, talent analytics, online employee satisfaction surveys, assessment tests, employee development plan.

The majority of the world most attractive employers report that they base their decision on data analysis.

2.     Shifting channel preferences : Employee referral

Employer Branding Now research shows that there is an increasing shift towards employee referral as an employer brand communication channel. 56% of the world most attractive employers reported to have a significant increase in investment in this channel. 41% of them, followed by 34% of the large and 30% of the medium companies are making the employee advocacy their top employer brand communication channel.

According to LinkedIn Global Recruiting Trend Report 2017, the employee referrals are the top source of quality hires, followed by third party website or online job boards and social professional networks.

3.     Differentiation from competitors – a top concern for recruiters

Creating unique value proposition is what the companies will count on even more in future. Competition for talent is the top challenge the companies face (57%)followed by limited budget, small recruitment team and high turnover.

In order to find and define in your EVP the unique experience of the employee in your company, you must be sure your proposition matches the values seen by the current employees in your company. Conducting an internal survey and creating focus groups to align your EVP with the reality is a great way to define the greatest advantages for employees your company is known for and promote those. They would not only be unique, but you would not have to worry if you would promise something your company is not able to deliver in practice.

Another trend in EVP communication is the increased targeting and translating more effectively the EVP to the different targeted audiences.

4.    Employer brand management becoming a top priority

23% of the banks say EB is their top priority and 70% of the professional services company state that it is one of their top priorities.

“Budgets go to traditional tactics, but branding tops investment wish list. Effective employer brand messaging focuses on culture and career growth. Diversity, screening automation, and data are key future trends. “ (Linkedin Global Recruiting Trend Report 2017)

If money wasn’t a factor, 53% of the companies say they would invest most in Employer branding. 80% of the talent leaders agree that EB has a significant impact on their ability to attract the top talents.

5.     Increased focus on measurement

The average number of measures used by the large companies has increased since 2016 showing a trend towards data driven analysis used by the HR department. The greatest increase is in the measurement of employer brand image, which is up to 10% compared to previous year.

“A majority of companies state their primary objective and measure is brand awareness, followed by brand image. For the world most attractive employers, brand awareness is less of an issue, leaving the main focus to be placed on ranking/relative preference vs. talent competitors (76% of the world most attractive employers measure this but only 27% of small companies do).” (Employer Brand Now research)

Sources

1.     Ali Ayaz – Secret formulas for an authentic employer brand

2.     IBM Smarter workforce website

3.     Employer brand NOW 2017 research

4.     Linkedin Global Recruiting Trend Report 2017