Few people reading this will posit an alternative scenario to this being anything other than a hugely challenging labour market. The briefest of searches throws up an array of gloomy economic news and statistics. Adzuna have just announced that the number of vacancies in the economy fell by more than 9% year-on-year in December. And, according to the CBI, a net 22% of private sector organisations expect their output to decline between now and April.
Without over-playing my hand, worse may be around the corner. We do not fully understand the implications of both AI implementation, the NI employer increases due to impact in April and Trumpian tariffs.
So far, so bad.
What about your Employer Branding during this time? There might be both a temptation and a pressure to shut up shop, put this into hibernation and hunker down for a more benign economic climate.
However, that’s not really a serious consideration. Because even if you put the brake on your Employer Branding initiatives, your Employer Brand or reputation doesn’t stand still. Impacted as it is by markets, commercial performance, competitors, time, culture, etc.
So, there’s a balance to be achieved. How best to (at the very least) maintain your Employer Brand profile, at a time when additional investment for branding activities might not enhance your internal popularity?
Here are some thoughts.
Analyse where you are with your Employer Branding assets. How are they looking, how do they compare with the competition? Have they stood the test of time? Focus on your careers site, what sort of candidate experience is it providing? When was the last time you viewed it in the round, rather than simply adding elements to it? So many career sites have been added to incrementally over months and years, to the point where they now lack cohesion. They appear to be more a collection of elements, a patchwork quilt rather than a cogent whole. They have ceased to be and feel joined up and they risk confusing candidates.
If you think you need to enhance elements of your careers site or other Employer Branding initiatives, but are concerned about budget, focus internally on your people. Encourage them to get creative with their iPhones. Empower them to capture the essence of your working environment – the breakout area, the canteen, the reception area. Don’t go for the overly staged. The natural interactions of your business aren’t rehearsed. The culture isn’t out of a jar, vacuum sealed. The photos and videos won’t be winning any awards, but they may just capture what your organisation and its people are all about. You won’t be spending too much money, but you will be promoting the fact that your Employer Brand is a product of your people. But don’t forget to seek permission!
Look to recycle and re-purpose. If you’ve invested in a vaguely recent glow-up of your careers site, there’s bound to be assets, photos and videos that didn’t make that particular cut. But they might be more relevant to today’s market and landscape. That way, you’re keeping things fresh and topical, whilst avoiding awkward conversations with your CPO.
“As ever, we are in some challenging economic times. But organisations still need to attract good people, and effective employer branding isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity and has been for some years. For me it doesn’t need to be big budget, candidates still appreciate authenticity, openness and honesty. Better to be clear about your message and re-use/re-cycle assets than spend lots on it – but to do that, organisations need to put some thought into who they really are. And that means who they are today, not who they were in 2021. If you’re asking people to join you in the next 3-6 months, your Employer Branding needs to be pointing forwards not several years behind”, Martin Dangerfield, CEO, immersive.
There is definite merit in looking inwardly and making the most of the resources within the organisation, but that doesn’t mean that your external partners aren’t part of your solution. Stay close to the market. The last four years have seen massive swings in economic and employment sentiment. Who foresaw such a frenetic and competitive labour market in 2022, so soon after a global pandemic? And the subsequent inflation and interest rate-influenced slide thereafter? That means keeping in close dialogue with your talent suppliers – they will be engaging with a wide range of different businesses, in varying market sectors. The quantitative and anecdotal feedback they possess shouldn’t be underestimated.
And such external indicators aren’t limited to your partners and suppliers. Although numbers may be lighter than they were, you’ll still be engaging with candidates. What are they saying? What does the market feel like to them? What are they hearing from other employers? Perhaps more relevantly for your Employer Brand, how does their perception of you vary from the key people messages you’re trying to communicate? Has your Employer Branding ceased to land effectively with its target communities? Is it addressing issues no longer of relevance to the market and to candidates?
Let’s stick with this theme of validation. Make sure you are spending time with your internal audiences. Your organisation may well be experiencing challenging times, but that only makes it more important (to them and you) that you listen to the hearts, minds and voices of your employees. The people experiencing those challenging times. What do they think of your current Employer Branding messaging? Does it still feel relevant and accurate? Or is it last year’s narrative? One which sounds a little tone deaf? One you’ve moved on from. The more such people feel involved with your Employer Brand, the more sense of empowerment, mission and contribution they will experience.
The market intelligence you’ll pick up internally is also hugely valuable. Does your organisation have a growing engagement challenge? Is retention starting to become an issue? What is the competition doing – are they starting to target your people?
“The HE sector as a whole is facing many challenges. The key for us is supporting our colleagues through those challenges and looking after colleague wellbeing. Looking after our colleagues through turbulent times will be central to retaining great people and remaining a great place to work”, Julie Griggs, Deputy Chief People Officer, Open University.
And recruitment is a competitive sport. You do not hire in a vacuum. It’s important to understand what your TA competitors are doing. Have they begun to re-invest in their Employer Branding activities? Has their careers site benefited from a polish? It’s easier to make the case for Employer Branding funding if those around you are doing something similar.
“From the recent benchmarking exercises we’ve undertaken for our clients, it’s clear that despite the challenges, a number of their TA competitors have invested in their employer brand. It’s been quite marked in certain sectors, how some organisations appear to be taking a lead and have launched revamped career sites and are using new messaging and collateral in their attraction campaigns. Of course, that could be a legacy of work that started 12 months or more ago when the market was somewhat different, but it would be very interesting to know how they fare currently and in the coming months”, Mike Heal, Managing Director, WDAD Communications.
Whilst it can be easy to focus on the negatives of AI, there are and will be plenty of efficiency gains. My research suggests that TA teams are using AI sporadically – it is more applicable in terms of candidate engagement, scheduling and communication than some other applications. But, as the sudden and dramatic market entry of DeepSeek this month suggests, AI will only become more prevalent and more cost effective.
I hope too that it goes without saying how important the case you continue to make internally for Employer Branding. What has this investment delivered internally? What has been the return on investment? What has it enabled? How much third-party agency spend has it saved? How has it contributed to engagement and retention? It’s hard to think of a more important time to make the economic case for your Employer Brand.
We’ve talked about the importance of internal resources, and it’s important that Employer Branding teams don’t become insular. Research I conducted last year pointed to closer TA links with teams such as internal comms and marketing. It’s important right now that TA and other areas collaborate, sharing intelligence and relevant assets. The messaging you deliver to internal audiences should share a lot of DNA with the messaging you land with external communities.
The Employer Branding activities of many TA teams will be under the microscope like never before. But hiring rarely shudders to a complete stop. Your business may be shedding headcount in some areas, but it’s likely to be adding it elsewhere. The message you take out to market remains important. It’s about the balance you wish to achieve.
I hope some of these thoughts have some relevance within your own organisation. It would be great to hear your own take on how to achieve balance in challenging times.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 