Employer brand

11 Facts You Should Know About Talent Brand

How much do you know about talent brand? You know, the totally public version of your employer brand that encompasses what talent thinks, feels, and shares about your company as a place to work.

Are you familiar enough with talent brand to pitch your C-suite on its value? Or perhaps, just enough to nod in vague recollection when you hear the term on a conference call?

No matter your level, here are 11 facts about talent brand that will empower you to better understand the impact and maybe even build the case for investment in talent brand.

1. Talent brand is a top priority for talent leaders around the world

Our 2015 Global Recruiting Trends survey asked talent leaders about their biggest priorities in 2015, and it turns out 56 percent reported that building their employer brand is a top priority for their company.

talent brand priority

2. Talent acquisition leaders find talent brand has a “significant impact” on hiring

In the same survey, 75% of global talent acquisition leaders reported that talent brand has a “significant impact” on their ability to hire great talent.

talent brand impact

In this graph, the orange line shows that 75% of talent professionals agree or strongly agree that talent brand has a significant impact on their ability to hire great talent, as of last year. In 2012 and 2013, the majority was even greater.

3. Referrals are the #1 way people discover new jobs  

top places people find jobs

The best way companies can spread the word about their open positions is to leverage current employees and those employees’ personal and professional networks.

Take advantage of this finding by training and empowering your employees to act as “brand ambassadors” for your company, sharing their experiences, open roles, and work highlights with their social networks.

4. Not knowing what a company is like as a place to work is a huge challenge for job seekers

In our recent 2015 global Job Switchers survey, we found that 49% of professionals said their biggest obstacle when changing jobs is not knowing what it’s like to work at the company. 

job change challenges

By building your talent brand, along with every employee at your company, you’ll help job seekers feel informed—and even excited about—your company culture and values.

5. Over half of your LinkedIn Company Page followers want to work for you

When professionals on LinkedIn want to learn more about your company as a place to work, they “follow” your Company Page. We’ve found that 58 percent of your followers are “interested in working for the company.”

linkedin company page followers

Are you sharing content and reaching out to your followers to get them in your recruiting pipeline?

6. A strong talent brand leads to a 25% higher InMail response rate

It's easier to start a conversation with someone who knows a few things about you than with a complete stranger. The same logic applies to recruiting.

By increasing awareness of your company with your talent brand, you should see a higher InMail response rate. Your InMail recipients are more likely to already trust you as an employer and will have a better sense of whether they want to work with you.

We analyzed the average InMail response rate of companies with a strong talent brand on LinkedIn vs. companies with a weak talent brand on LinkedIn. We found that a strong talent brand increases your InMail response rate by 25%.

inmail response rate

7. And attracts more applicants per job

The more professionals know, and like, your company, the more likely they are to become applicants.

In the same analysis, we also found that companies with a strong talent brand on LinkedIn see, on average, 2.5x more applicants for a job posting than companies with a weak talent brand on LinkedIn. It just makes intuitive sense—the more comfortable a job seeker is with your company culture, the easier it is to imagine themselves there.  

increase job appilcants

8. Which helps you hire faster

We also found that companies with a strong talent brand on LinkedIn experience, on average, a 20% increase in their rate of hire (calculated by new hires / total hires in a given amount of time) than companies with a weak talent brand on LinkedIn.

candidate response rate

9. And hire cheaper

Not only does a strong talent brand help you hire faster, it also helps you reduce your average cost per hire.

We found that our customers with a strong talent brand spend, on average, 43% less to make a hire on LinkedIn than our customers with a weaker brand. The stronger your talent brand on LinkedIn, the less you need to spend on LinkedIn to make a hire.

save on cost per hire

10. Social professional networks are growing as a main channel to promote talent brand

Since we began tracking this data in 2012, social professional networks (LinkedIn) have grown in popularity as the main channel companies use to promote their talent brands.

Our 2015 Global Recruiting Trends survey found that 61% of talent leaders use social professional networks to grow their brand.

talent brand promotion

11. For big companies and small businesses alike

60% of “large businesses” and 63% of small to mid-size businesses report using online professional networks as the primary channel to build their talent brand.

talent brand promotion for big companies

*Image by Kamal Hamid

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