Why Traditional Employer Branding Is Broken—And How to Fix Yours

Talent Talks, formerly The Talent Revolution

Notes from Tom:

Traditional employer branding is used as a magnet to attract a high volume of candidates. Companies share their strengths, benefits, and opportunities, presenting themselves in the best possible light. (Not unlike the corporate version of a Tinder profile.) The more people who swiped right, tradition said, the better a company was doing.

But this logic has a fatal flaw. You can’t possibly hire everyone you reach, so high application volume is actually a net negative.

Instead of using employer branding as a magnet, you should be using it as a smart filter to find the best matches. “The best candidate experience is the information required for them to decide not to apply in the first place,” Bryan says.

The goal isn’t to attract more volume—it’s to polarize your audience. If you draw in some people and repel others, you’ve done employer branding right.

Bryan suggests that if you deeply understand your organization and the capabilities required to drive your business forward, you can turn that understanding into a message that will divide an audience.

Therein lies the magic that convention will tell you not to talk about: the harsh realities and adversities that come along with your employee experience.

Bryan recommends researching three perspectives to gut-check your company values and your employer branding strategy:

#1: Leadership View

#2: Employee View

#3: Market View

That’s just one example of turning data into insight that moves your organization forward and using your employer brand to craft tomorrow’s narrative.

With authenticity, you can help candidates disqualify themselves (or you). Focus on the qualities that will exist today and will persist tomorrow—those universal truths are crucial to your business.

Also check out:
TTR, Episode 9 - 3 Steps to the Ideal Candidate Experience
TTR, Episode 8 - Why You Should Buy HR Software Like a Toddler