This document discusses employer branding and provides tips for building a strong talent brand. Some key points: - 69% of companies agree that employer brand is a top priority, with larger companies placing more importance on it. Employer brand significantly impacts hiring ability. - Steps to build a talent brand include getting executive buy-in, listening to candidates and employees, crafting an approach, promoting the brand, and measuring results. - Promoting involves optimizing company and employee profiles, leveraging employees' LinkedIn presence, crafting job posts, and engaging candidates on and off LinkedIn through updates and APIs. - The Talent Brand Index measures brand engagement vs familiarity to benchmark against competitors.

2. Why this topic is so important
69%
Agree employer brand
is a top priority for
their organization
83%
< 500 Employees 67%
501-1,000 Employees 70%
Agree that employer
brand has significant
impact on ability to 1,000-10,000 Employees 67%
hire great talent
> 10,000 Employees 78%
Prioritization of employer brand
(by company size)
Source: The State of Employer Branding, 2012
lnkd.in/stateofeb talent.linkedin.com

3. 3 reasons to invest in your talent brand
Lower cost per hire by
up to 50%.
Reduce employee
91%
of companies increased
turnover by up to 28%.
or maintained their talent
brand spend in 2012.
Influence the conversation
with candidates. If you
don’t, someone else will.
Source: What’s the Value of your Employment Brand?
lnkd.in/valueofEB talent.linkedin.com

4. Employer brand ownership
Who owns employer brand?
39% 22% 15% 14% 10%
TA shares TA has primary TA has no TA is a Company doesn’t
ownership ownership ownership contributor think about EB
Most common departments that own employer
brand outside of talent acquisition
1. Marketing
2. Corporate Communications
Source: The State of Employer Branding, 2012
lnkd.in/stateofeb talent.linkedin.com

5. Five steps to a strong talent brand
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5
Get buy-in Listen and Craft your Promote Measure
learn approach and engage and adjust
• Start at the top
• Share compelling
data
• Bring partners to
the table
talent.linkedin.com

6. Step 1: get executive buy-in
Start at the top Arm yourself with data Bring partners to
the table
• Get your CEO and • Universal facts on the
exec team to support business impact of your • Examples: HR,
and contribute to your talent brand. Communications,
talent brand efforts • LinkedIn insights on your Marketing, IT.
company’s social presence, • Create a cross-
e.g. - functional talent brand
• Number of employees task force.
with profiles.
• Aggregate number of
connections,
• Recruiting metrics on
where you’re losing talent
or struggling to hire.
talent.linkedin.com

7. Persistence and small wins pay off
SAIC turns to data to
ease concerns
Challenge: Leadership feared that competitors
might poach employees more easily if they joined “I probably delivered the same
LinkedIn. deck 40 times, sometimes to the
same audience. You will feel like
Approach: Presented the unchanged pre- and a broken record but it doesn’t
post-attrition rates to leadership. sound like that on the other end.”
Result: Leadership bought in to the network, built Kara Yarnot
SAIC
their own profiles, and even became active
themselves.
talent.linkedin.com

8. Five steps to a strong talent brand
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5
Get buy-in Listen and Craft your Promote Measure
learn approach and engage and adjust
• Start at the top • Audit existing
materials
• Share compelling
data • Do your research:
who, what, when,
where & how
• Bring partners to
the table
talent.linkedin.com

9. Step 2: Listen and learn
Perform an audit from the shoes of candidates and employees
• Official & unofficial channels
Who What When Where &
how
• Internal and external • What attracts talent? • Regular cadence • Focus groups
• Include real-world • What keeps them • Change in strategy • 1-on-1 interviews
views (e.g., there? or leadership
candidates who • Surveys
• What to improve? • Decline in hiring
declined offer) • Suggestion boxes
results
Where are the inconsistencies between what you say and what they think?
How does the feedback vary by audience?
What are the biggest issues you need to address?
talent.linkedin.com

10. Listening can make all the difference
Strategic annual survey use
Challenge: Keeping employees engaged
in a connected world.
Ellie Approach: Through annual survey,
JPMorgan asked what employees need/
Shephard want in order to stay. Top answers:
Global Recruiting
mobility and development opportunities.
Program Manager,
Vice President
Result: Launched extensive internal
mobility program.
• In 10 months, internal hire rate rose
by 5% (they fill 75K positions/yr)
• Ranked #1 in Europe and #2 in the
US in Vault’s 2013 Best Places to
Work for Internal Mobility rankings.
talent.linkedin.com

11. Five steps to a strong talent brand
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5
Get buy-in Listen and Craft your Promote Measure
learn approach and engage and adjust
• Start at the top • Audit existing • Be real
materials
• Share compelling • Be personal
data • Do your research:
who, what, when,
• Be brave
where & how
• Bring partners to
the table
• Be consistent
• Set your goals
talent.linkedin.com

12. Step 3: craft your approach – right brand, right
success metrics
REAL Promise what you can deliver
CONSISTENT Danielle Bond, CMO
Challenge: Talking about work-life balance at a
PERSONAL professional services firm.
Approach: Shifted focus from work-life balance to
“flexibility” - just as valuable to employees but much
more realistic.
BRAVE Result: Believable talent brand, internally and externally.
talent.linkedin.com

13. Begin with the end in mind
Sample goals for your talent brand program
• Increase offer acceptance rate by X%
• Reduce attrition by X%
• Improve employee survey ratings by X%
• Increase baseline familiarity with your talent brand in external surveys by X%
• Double the number of employees with an optimized social presence
• Increase Talent Brand Index score by X% relative to key talent competitors or
for high-priority functions/regions
talent.linkedin.com

14. Five steps to a strong talent brand
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5
Get buy-in Listen and Craft your Promote Measure
learn approach and engage and adjust
• Start at the top • Audit existing • Be real • Upgrade profiles
materials (yours/team’s)
• Share compelling • Be personal
data • Do your research: • Leverage your
who, what, when, employees’
• Be brave presence via
where & how
• Bring partners to Work with Us
the table
• Be consistent
• Brand via Jobs
• Set your goals • Build out your
hub – Company
and Career
Pages
• Use targeted
status updates
and APIs to
engage
talent.linkedin.com

15. Step 4: promote and engage, following these rules
8 golden rules to promote and protect your talent brand
Look in the mirror. Make your culture shine.
01 Make sure that what you do (and don’t do) is 05 It’s never just about jobs. Focus on your people –
what you’d like employees to emulate. their stories and emotions.
Empower your employees. Go viral.
02 Lay out the goals and show them a clear, easy 06 For amplified results, find creative ways to get more
path to action. people talking about your company’s great culture.
Inform your leadership. Be visual.
03 Use data to gain support, ease concerns, and 07 Bold and colorful images, graphics, charts, and
help explain your choice of platforms. videos can bring your brand to life.
Target your messages. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
04 The more relevant your message is to a particular 08 Show that your efforts are scalable and sustainable
audience, the greater its impact will be. on one platform before moving on to another.
talent.linkedin.com

16. Consider your candidate’s experience
across LinkedIn and beyond
On the LinkedIn
In their Inbox
Homepage
Erica Robertson When they
Software Engineer
When they network with your
search for jobs ACME Systems employees
When they
Via Mobile research your
LinkedIn App company
talent.linkedin.com

17. Start with your own profile
Engaging, friendly Descriptive
picture headline
Who wouldn’t want to that goes beyond
work with Brendan? the title
Links Other features
to branded we like:
destinations
• Core skills,
endorsed by
your network
• Volunteer
Killer summary experiences
Written in the first • Just enough on
person, oozing with prior positions
passion to build
credibility
talent.linkedin.com

18. Leverage your employees’ presence on LinkedIn
HELP THEM SHINE BENEFIT FROM PROFILE TRAFFIC
with Work With Us ads
Dell trains global employees at scale
• “SMaC University”
(Social Media and Communication)
• Global certification program with
structured classes
• Strong exec support
• 5,000 trained since mid-2010
UTI takes a brown bag approach
• Took a low-budget, grassroots approach
• Got exec buy-in to host brown bag
lunches for hiring managers
• Helped employees overcome anxieties
about what to say on profiles
Clickthrough rates 20x
industry average
talent.linkedin.com

19. Craft job posts for passive AND active
candidates
SCIENCE
Avoid overly-creative job titles.
Tie the job to your LinkedIn Company Page.
Give high-priority positions extra oomph
of job applications on with Sponsored Jobs
50% LinkedIn are via paths
other than search ART
Use your job post as a talent brand vehicle.
Showcase the position’s impact.
Try a conversational tone.
talent.linkedin.com

20. Create a strong hub via Company and Career
Pages
Think visually.
Use bold images to give a real-world
glimpse into your organization.
Think digitally.
Whatever you say, keep it brief. online,
where attention spans are shorter.
Think video.
You’ll be able to engage candidates more
deeply if they hear real people tell their
own stories,.
Think customized.
Adapt your content to viewers based on
their LinkedIn profiles. Target based on
job function, industry, geography, etc.
Make sure your Career Page has a clear owner!
talent.linkedin.com

21. Spark the conversation, on and off LinkedIn
Leverage targeted status updates Use APIs to make your career
site more social
71%
of company followers on
LinkedIn are interested in
career opportunities at
companies they follow.
Mix it up
Share jobs, relevant news about your company, employee interviews etc.
Have a plan
Sketch out what you’ll say in advance and build a dialogue with your followers.
Stay on brand
Remember the messaging you’re trying to get across and incorporate it.
talent.linkedin.com

22. Five steps to a strong talent brand
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5
Get buy-in Listen and Craft your Promote Measure
learn approach and engage and adjust
• Start at the top • Audit existing • Be real • Upgrade profiles • Use Talent Brand
materials (yours/team’s) Index to prioritize
• Share compelling • Be personal
data • Do your research: • Leverage your
who, what, when, employees’
• Be brave presence via
where & how
• Bring partners to Work with Us
the table
• Be consistent
• Brand via Jobs
• Set your goals • Build out your
hub – Company
and Career
Pages
• Use targeted
status updates
and APIs to
engage
talent.linkedin.com

23. How Talent Brand Index works
Talent that is interested in you as an employer
Researching company and
career pages
Talent Brand
Engagement Following your company
264,362 members Viewing jobs and applying
Talent Brand Talent that’s familiar with you as an employer
Reach
Viewing employee profiles
1,873,354 members
Connecting with your employees
talent.linkedin.com

24. How Talent Brand Index works
What percent of people who know about you show an interest?
Talent Brand Talent
Engagement
Talent Brand Talent Brand
= Brand
Engagement Index
Reach
264,362 members
Benchmark your score, e.g. v.s key competitors
Talent Brand
Reach
1,873,354 members
talent.linkedin.com

25. For advanced tips, see the playbook
lnkd.in/gettheplaybook
talent.linkedin.com