As hiring is predicted to increase in 2024, that means employer branding will be all the more important for companies trying to expand their reach and hire top talent.
At Purpose Jobs, we keep a steady eye on the job market, recruiting trends, and the best practices. Here are 8 trends we're predicting for employer branding that will have a huge impact in 2024.
8 Trends in Employer Branding for 2024
Using employer branding to boost revenue
Employer branding can be a wide-reaching industry. Sometimes it falls under HR and recruiting, other times it's marketing. Is it also sales? While the sales team probably won't own your employer branding, the data shows that business leaders consider employer branding to be a critical strategy in business development.
The key in 2024 is getting buy-in from the board to invest in employer branding this year. Not only will it boost your talent attraction initiatives, but it will also help your company stay competitive and boost its revenue.
Image courtesy of Signal Advisors
Focus on authenticity and distinctness
Looking to attract younger talent? authenticity is more important than ever. Gen Z candidates have a sensitive bullshit meter, and when things seem scripted, it's a red flag. Focus on sharing employee stories that are authentic and distinct.
It might seem counterintuitive, but the more specific a story is, the bigger impact it will have on the audience. "We have great flexibility" is not as powerful as "The team was so supportive when I needed to take time off here and there to take my mom to her chemo appointments." Tell an authentic and distinct story to catch the attention of prospective candidates, and get them hooked on your brand.
Need help crafting your story? Purpose Jobs' team of expert storytellers works with your team to craft an authentic and compelling story.
Sharing evergreen employer branding campaigns year round
Do you tend to only focus on employer branding during big hiring pushes? What happens when you get to that busy month? you're stuck building a pipeline from scratch and reintroducing your company to prospective candidates because no one remembers who you are since your last hiring push.
In 2024, keeping a consistent and year-round employer branding strategy going will be key to success. Highlight employees, initiatives, benefits, and mission throughout the year to keep people engaged — they might not be job seeking now, but they could in the future when you're ramping up hiring!
Building up a Talent Community during slow times
In a similar vein, it's important to always be working on your talent pipeline, even when you're not actively hiring. As you continue to promote your employer brand, even in slow times, building a talent community for your company will be key. Every piece of content you put out there can still have a clear CTA for people: join our talent community. It's about catching people's interest and channeling that into a pipeline. When the hiring push ramps up, your team is ready. Companies are doing this more and more on the Purpose Jobs job board.
Trying new distribution channels
LinkedIn is an amazing tool for finding candidates, posting about your company, and distributing your employer branding content. But the truth is, not everyone is on LinkedIn, especially younger Millennials and Gen Z candidates. Plus, there are loads of passive candidates (people not actively looking for a job right now) that aren't on LinkedIn. But, if they hear your company's story elsewhere, they might suddenly be on the market to work for your company.
According to Hootsuite, Gen Zers highly value endorsements and recommendations from people they know. The next best channel? Surprise, surprise, it's TikTok. Does your company need to invest heavily in TikTok this year? That's up to you to decide. Other channels Gen Z prefers are YouTube and Instagram. Point is, it's critical to think about where your target audience is and put your content there.
Wellness and flexibility will continue to dominate the narrative
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of employee benefits that focused on wellness and flexibility. That has not gone away. If anything, candidates want that more than ever. According to Indeed, 90% of people say how they feel at work matters, and 66% of people say that wellbeing data is important when considering a company. That's why Indeed launched its Work Wellbeing Scores in 2023. This year, companies will be sharing more and more data about employee wellness — how can you share that story for your company?
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Additionally, many candidates are still searching for remote work and hybrid flexibility. In 2023, many major tech companies like Amazon and Meta announced new mandates to bring employees back to the office at least three times a week. And they received a lot of backlash for it. According to a Greenhouse report, 76% of candidates say they would actively search for or be open to a new job if their company rolled back flexible work policies, and 42% of candidates will not apply for a role if it doesn’t offer their preferred working model. If your company offers remote flexibility, that should be a major part of your employer story. If not, you have to make a compelling case for why being in office is the best employee experience — for real.
Humanizing leaders on social media
Employer branding is all about humanizing your company — after all, companies are just collections of people working on the same mission. We're seeing an increase in the number of companies humanizing their brand and their leaders in order to connect with potential candidates. Have your c-suite executives be posting on LinkedIn and in other channels at least a few times a week. Your Head of People should be talking about culture, building a great workplace, hiring, giving candidates tips and insights, etc. If you're hiring engineers, make sure your CTO is sharing about the tech team, new product launches, the process, the excitement, all that good stuff. It's all about getting people interested in your company, what you do and how you do it, even if you're not hiring.
Employees becoming brand ambassadors
We love to see this! Not only should your leadership be posting about your company, but your employees should too! They can be the biggest champions of working at your company. Recommendations from friends and family is the most powerful marketing channel, so give them the tools and resources to spread the word! Create a template for new hires on how (and what) to share on LinkedIn about their new role. Share photos from team events for others to share, and don't forget to tag your teammates in posts. Your employees are your strongest marketing channel.
Looking for more help with employer branding in 2024? We love helping companies share their story, spread the word, and attract top talent. If you have no bandwidth but want to have great branding, let's talk!
