Employer branding is the strategy through which a company builds and communicates its identity as an employer: inwards to its employees and outwards to talent and the wider public. It is far more than the image you use to attract or retain good people.
(Before we go on: in Slovenia we use the terms ‘znamčenje delodajalca’ or ‘gradnja blagovne znamke delodajalca’ for employer branding. We are fans of beautiful expression and enriching the language, but please don’t hold it against us this time if we stick with the original English term, since it is still much more widespread in professional and HR literature and practice.)
Employer branding isn’t a new careers page on which you praise the working atmosphere at your company to the heavens when introducing yourself to potential new hires. Nor is it just a nice video from the office, especially if it stands alone and isn’t part of a more developed communication strategy, where videos have their role, purpose, script, and execution plan.
Employer branding is your brand promise and at the same time your reminder of how to live, in everyday work, all the rules and values you want to put on display.
It affects every key business indicator: not only attracting and keeping HR talent, but also productivity, service quality, customer satisfaction, and ultimately revenue.
Employer branding cannot be the HR department’s project alone. It is the meeting point of ideas, responsibilities and authority across leadership, marketing and internal communications, and the heart of company culture.
Below are 5 points on how to lead employer branding strategically, with examples of good practice and concrete steps for execution.
1) Employer branding = the brand promise inside (and out)
Good brands have a unified story: what they promise to the market is also backed by the experience of their employees. Patagonia, for example, has been building its brand for years on responsibility to people and the environment. The same principles live in the company’s policy, in the behaviour of employees at every level, and in leadership. The result isn’t just strong PR. It is a community of employees who become genuine ambassadors.
What to do?
Define your EVP (Employee Value Proposition) in language that is real and measurable: ‘What do I genuinely get, give and achieve here?’ Align the EVP with your brand promise, so you don’t end up communicating two different stories.
2) The candidate is your ‘customer’: the candidate journey is as important as the customer journey
Companies with strong employer branding plan the candidate experience as carefully as the customer journey. HubSpot, for instance, with its publicly published ‘culture code’ system, transparently lays out values, expectations and the way they work. The result is a steady stream of relevant applications to job openings, because people know what they are stepping into. The same goes for clear role descriptions, a predictable process, and respectful communication.
What to do?
Map and describe the candidate’s journey from the first contact with the company to entering the work environment and onboarding. Remove the friction (unclear deadlines, silence or waiting between steps, too many rounds of selection). Where possible, publish salary ranges and expectations, because trust starts with transparency.
3) Leadership is the first (and most powerful) ambassador
Culture shows itself most clearly through how leaders take decisions, communicate priorities, and recognise work. LEGO, when introducing hybrid work, clearly set the principle of ‘people before processes’ and backed it up with leadership habits, not just appealing slogans and office posters. Microsoft’s approach to growing a specific way of thinking and working in the company has likewise gone beyond a slogan: it has become a way of leading and deciding.
What to do?
Agree on three leadership traits that support your EVP (e.g. feedback, clear priorities, visible recognition). Measure them in one-on-one conversations and internal surveys, not only in annual reports and company presentations.
4) Consistency beats campaigns: employer branding is built in processes
Employer branding isn’t a campaign, it is a routine: onboarding, mentoring, learning, internal mobility, ways of deciding. All of this has to become part of the regular fabric and processes. The most telling experience comes on ‘tough days’: when deadlines are tight, when revisions pile up, when something goes wrong. That is when you see whether employer branding lives in practice.
What to do?
Set up 3-5 minimum standards for the HR experience (for responses to candidates, a mentoring framework, ground rules for internal project communication). Let the guiding principle be ‘fewer promises, more repeatable practice’.
5) Measure EB as a business investment, not as likes
What you measure, you can also improve. Alongside classic metrics (time to hire, cost per hire), track softer indicators too, such as absenteeism (the number of work absences), first-year turnover, internal moves, the share of referrals, and the quality of your own talent pool and applicants to your openings. Connect this with business indicators (speed of execution, customer satisfaction, output quality).
What to do?
Set up a system that brings HR data and business metrics together. Periodically (for example, quarterly) analyse the connections and look for the answer to the question of how changes in employer branding affect work quality, project deadlines, and client results.
Employer branding is a strategic mechanism for growth: it attracts the right people, lowers turnover costs, improves project execution, and strengthens market trust. Once it takes hold in leadership, processes and communication, it becomes an advantage your competition will copy.
If you want to set up employer branding as a business strategy and not just as a nice extra for PR, we will be happy to talk. At Pakt, we connect strategy, communication and culture into a single story.
