#BizTrends2024: Transition of employer branding – reflection and forecasts

Celeste Sirin, founder/CEO of Employer Branding Africa

2023 focus areas: Responding to global trends

Inside and out: Redefining employer branding

Companies have adopted a proactive approach to internalise, reposition, and rejuvenate their employer value propositions (EVP) and employer brands. Recognising the critical need to retain their workforce, progressive organisations have placed significant emphasis on crafting a more relatable, human-centric proposition.

This strategic shift involved meticulous attention to fine-tuning, personalisation, and the creation of an employee-centric journey aimed at appreciating, retaining, and nurturing talent.

Key focal points include ongoing upskilling and career development, prioritising mental and financial well-being, providing support, offering flexible and remote work arrangements, and fostering a more diverse workplace environment.

Internal skills-first workplace

Aligned to the aforementioned internal transformational trend, there has been a growing emphasis on recognising the significance of fostering internal growth.

With the widening skills gap and ongoing short supply of high-demand talent, companies have rapidly realised that their existing workforce has untapped skills that they can harness and grow. This has led to deliberate efforts towards recruitment marketing and repositioning their value proposition and opportunities from within.

With skills development and growth being touted as one of the highest requirements on talent seekers' agendas, companies cannot ignore this. This strategic move ensures that employees find compelling reasons to stay and grow within the organisation, tempted to not look outside.

EVP authentication and differentiation

In the post-pandemic era, Maslow's hierarchy of needs has evolved, with purpose, impact, and belonging gaining prominence alongside financial security. Candidates are increasingly adopting a consumer-centric approach to their job search, prioritising work-life balance, diverse work arrangements, financial and wellness considerations, career growth opportunities, future-proofing, and corporate social responsibility.

Talent seeks authenticity in an employer brand, demanding alignment between spoken values and lived experiences, emphasising unique culture, differentiating propositions, and upholding strong behaviours and values.

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The rise of the gig economy

Across generations, especially among Gen Z and millennials, we are seeing companies supporting employee’s side hustles. Companies that are facing talent shortage have realised that allowing employees who seek flexibility, autonomy and opportunity to pursue their passions is a good way to retain present and attract future talent. This mutual recognition towards societal responsibility and impact on the part of both employee and employer increases employee engagement, productivity and innovation.

Looking ahead to 2024: Predictions for employer branding

As we delve into the prevailing trends of 2023, we cast our eyes forward to anticipate the evolving landscape of employer branding in the coming year.

Delivery, not rhetoric, fuels authentic employer brands

In the ongoing competitive talent landscape of 2024, mere promises and empty words will no longer suffice. Companies that aspire to establish genuine and successful employer brands must prioritise tangible actions that align with their talent value propositions.

The era of empty employer brand promises is over. Companies that can translate their promises into real-world experiences will be the ones to attract, engage, and retain top talent. This shift towards authenticity demands a focus on employee-centric initiatives that foster a culture of transparency, trust, and emotional connection.

Empowering employees to become brand advocates is crucial to this endeavour. By encouraging authentic employee-generated content, companies can tap into the power of genuine storytelling, showcasing their workplace culture and values from the inside out.

Human connection as a differentiator

In the era of AI and automation, talent continues to crave a human touch. Hyper-personalisation and nurturing talent requirements through talent leaders translating their compelling EVP through their mapped-out candidate and employee journey will set companies apart. Drawing an alignment of the adoption of a consumer mindset in talent acquisition and retention to compete and secure talent will be crucial for success.

AI/Automation empowers talent leaders as employer branding marketers

AI is revolutionising talent management, transforming talent leaders into employer branding marketers who can craft compelling campaigns and cultivate a positive and productive work environment. By harnessing AI's capabilities, companies can streamline tasks, personalise candidate and employee experiences, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately build a strong employer brand.

This AI-powered transformation empowers talent leaders to craft compelling and authentic employer branding campaigns that attract, engage, and retain top talent. AI can assist in elevating job ad writing, employee-generated social media activations, scripting, candidate pitches, communication rollout plans, and more. Embracing AI will give companies a competitive edge in the ever-evolving talent landscape.

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Data-driven metrics: The cornerstone of a compelling employer branding business case

While employer branding is often perceived as a desirable but non-essential aspect of business strategy, talent leaders often face the timeless, significant challenge in securing C-suite buy-in for its implementation. To overcome this hurdle, talent leaders must adopt a data-driven approach, employing metrics and research to demonstrate the tangible benefits of employer branding.

By leveraging the power of their recruitment tech stack, talent leaders can gather and present compelling data that highlights the positive impact of employer branding on talent acquisition, retention, and overall business success.

To effectively advocate for employer branding, talent leaders should emulate the strategies of their marketing and communications counterparts in securing ongoing budget allocation. Just as marketing departments consistently demonstrate the return on investment of their initiatives, talent leaders must emphasise the people-centric nature of employer branding and its direct correlation with the success of the individuals behind the products and services.

By adopting a data-driven approach and aligning their advocacy efforts with the budgeting strategies of other departments, talent leaders can effectively communicate the value of employer branding and secure the necessary support to implement successful initiatives that drive organisational growth and success.

Wrap up

Employer branding is a strategic investment that yields significant returns, including reduced time-to-hire, attraction of top talent, retention of existing employees, and enhanced brand perception.

A strong employer brand, coupled with a compelling EVP, will be the key to attracting, engaging and securing the talent companies need to succeed in 2024 and beyond.

Investing in employer branding now will put talent competitors on the front foot during and ahead of 2024.