It must be:

• Authentic - reflecting the true culture and values of the company
• Aspirational - reflecting the vison for the future of the organisation
• Unique - showing how the company differentiates itself from the competition for the same talent
• Compelling - how this uniqueness overlaps with candidates’ motivations, values and ambitions
• Dynamic - reflecting that employees have different roles and responsibilities, and come from different backgrounds

I develop your employer brand through understanding the future vision of the business and the talent implications. Then I understand what the lived experience is by talking to employees to find out why they joined, from where, why they’ve stayed and how they see their future careers developing. Factoring in evidence from exit interviews gives an angle on why people have left and where they’ve gone. Then I look at the employment perception from external sources. And finally, I analyse the employer brands from competitors (if they have one) to identify our points of difference.

This is all consolidated into pillars to allow recruitment messages to be flexed up or down according to our target audiences, summarised in long and short narratives for recruitment and employment communications, and finally summarised in the employer brand strapline.

Your employer brand strapline neatly summarises the DNA of you as an employer

Once developed, the Employer Brand needs a strong internal launch, then to feature in all available touch points on the candidate to employee journey:

The office environment, recruitment advert copy, agency / headhunter briefings, company content on Glassdoor, job boards and other third parties, careers content on website, social media and LinkedIn, job descriptions, candidate communications, interview and selection process, offer letters, contracts, onboarding comms, induction and ongoing training, performance management and career development.

Only a rigorous and consistent marketing of your employer brand across all these touch points will build perception of it, and start to deliver positive commercial and human benefits.