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 talentbrand spend in 2012.

talent.linkedin.comSource: 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.Marketing2.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 1Get buy-in

STEP 2Listen and learn

STEP 3Craft your approach

STEP 4Promote and engage

STEP 5Measure 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 YarnotSAIC

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





• Audit existing materials

• Do your research: who, what, when, where & how

STEP 1Get 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?

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 ShephardGlobal Recruiting Program Manager, Vice President

talent.linkedin.com


• Be real

• Be personal

• Be brave

• Be consistent

• Set your goals






STEP 1Get 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






STEP 1Get 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 RobertsonSoftware Engineer

ACME Systems

Consider your candidate’s experience across LinkedIn and beyond

In their InboxOn the LinkedIn

Homepage

When they network with your

employees

When they research your

companyVia Mobile

LinkedIn App

When they search for jobs

talent.linkedin.com

Start with your own profile

Engaging, friendly pictureWho wouldn’t want towork with Brendan?

Linksto branded destinations

Killer summaryWritten 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 TRAFFICwith 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






STEP 1Get 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 membersViewing employee profiles

Connecting with your employees

Talent that is interested in you as an employer

Researching company andcareer pages

Following your company

Viewing jobs and applying

Talent BrandEngagement

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 BrandIndex

How Talent Brand Index works

1,873,354 members

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

Employer Brand Playbook

Business

Transcript of Employer Brand Playbook