How to Makeover your Employer Brand in 8 Simple Steps

Is your employer brand feeling lacklustre? Is it missing the mark with the objectives you initially laid out? Put down the lippie and perming solution - this isn't that kind of makeover.

To reset or refresh your employer brand and ensure you're making an impact on your talent function, you need more than just superficial changes.

If the foundation of your brand and strategic planning is sound, this will trickle down through all of your decisions and messaging, resulting in a cohesive and authentic campaign. Use these checks to refresh your employer brand from the ground up and prime yourself for success.

1. Align with business priorities

Effective employer branding directly supports your organization's core goals. When branding boosts business objectives, it becomes a shared win. Don't treat EB as a side project - ensure it addresses leadership priorities and challenges.

2. Build a concrete reputation

Rather than vague aspirations like "best place to work," create a clear identity. Focus on the three C’s. Be the Career Accelerator, with a distinctive Culture or service-oriented Citizenship. Rally people around a tangible and inspiring reputation.

3. Embrace key perspectives

Robust branding needs three viewpoints: Leadership offers vision and direction. Employees share authentic, daily experiences. The market lens highlights your competition and opportunities for differentiation.

4. Craft your “give and get”

Discover what your company requires from its people and what talent want in return for their work. Find the sweet spot where both needs intersect. Focusing in on what talent will have to sacrifice, and what challenges they may face, is as important as highlighting the benefits and opportunities. Craft a simple "give and get" deal everyone comprehends.

5. Be different and relevant

Branding must set you apart from rivals. But it also must resonate with your audience. Do your research and balance uniqueness with relevance. Don't just be different - be different in ways your people value.

6. Calibrate global and local

Global cohesion and local flexibility is a balancing act. Global alignment ensures everyone across the organization buys into the same overarching vision and sits around the same proverbial campfire. However, local autonomy is still needed to allow tailored messaging that resonates in specific regions or departments. Maintaining some consistency globally keeps everyone united, while customizing aspects locally, results in authenticity.

7. Know your online audience

It's vital to understand where your target audiences are spending time and attention online. This goes beyond identifying the relevant social platforms and websites - you need deep insight into preferred content types and formats on each channel. For instance, short-form video clips thrive on TikTok and Instagram, while YouTube caters well to longer videos. By creating content tailored to resonate based on how your audience engages with different platforms, you’ll increase your impact.

8. Track what matters

There are dozens of potential employer branding metrics, but resist the urge to track everything. Be selective and focus your analytics on factors that clearly influence or align with company goals and priorities. This selectively demonstrates how branding drives outcomes leaders already care about. When you measure what truly matters to the business, you earn crucial support, resources and buy-in.

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