It’s official: a poor employer brand reduces the number of prospective job candidates by half. 

The statistic emerged as part of LinkedIn’s findings in their recent Winning Talent report, published earlier this week. 

Along with a reputation for having poor job security, dysfunctional teams, and poor leadership, the top 5 reasons why a candidate would not consider employment with a company included "if existing or former employees of that company had negative opinions of the company," and "if the company had a poor reputation among industry peers."

And if you’re thinking of compensating for a less-than-stellar employer brand by offering a little extra cash to sweeten the deal, you can think again.

The 53% of workers who said they would completely rule out accepting a job offer from a company with a poor employer brand, also stipulated that no amount of money would sway their decision. 

While I might be inclined to take that particular statement with a pinch of salt (really? noamount of money?) what can’t be argued is the overall importance of a strong employer brand in a company’s ability to attract and retain talent. 

Indeed, 83% of talent acquisition leaders agree that it’s a "critical driver of their ability to hire top talent."

So why, then, do only one-third say they regularly measure employer brand in a quantifiable way? 

Is this down to recruiters merely paying lip-service to the importance of employer brand? 

Or is there something else at play here?

Turning Awareness into Action 

In its 17th Annual Global CEO Survey, PWC found that while 93% of CEOs say that they recognize the need to change their strategy for attracting and retaining talent, a staggering 61% haven’t yet taken the first step. 

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the paralysis is predominantly due to a lack of information at leadership level about new recruiting. 

Much has been written and said about the changing face of recruitment, and the shift in power from employer to candidate. What’s needed now is more on how to turn that awareness into action — action that will allow the internal recruiter to become significantly more efficient and effective.

In this age of inbound, that means leadership getting on board with recruitment marketing and giving it the resources it needs to generate results.

A Strong Employer Brand is Only Half the Battle 

A strong employer brand is a powerful weapon to have in the battle for the best candidates — but when used in isolation, it's not enough.

The ability for an employer brand to affect change in a company's recruiting efforts comes when that brand is captured and delivered in the form of original content that facilitates permission-based engagement with candidates.

In a way, LinkedIn’s findings are simply confirming —in quantifiable terms— what we already knew: that a poor employer brand is a serious obstacle for any company looking to hire. Where this information becomes useful, is when it triggers a larger conversation and a move to educate decision-makers on the measures they need to take to first improve, and then leverage their company's employer brand in a way that resonates with the modern candidate.