From the comments we’ve received, many employers have been asking how one can measure the ROI of their employer brand activities. We addressed this topic in a Universum Quarterly article back in 2008, entitled “Boost your employer brand budget using metrics and measurements”, but I thought it would be worthwhile relaying some of the key points in this article again.

As we’ve heard from some HR professionals, getting buy-in from management and the necessary budget for their employer brand activities isn’t always the easiest thing, let alone the resources to set up a cross-departmental cooperation between marketing and HR, which we believe is vital for successful employer branding work. 

Essentially, it’s only when you’ll be able to report the returns on employer brand investments in figures and over time that you’ll be able to get the commitment from upper management and the rest of the organization.

The ultimate goals for your employer brand work should be to improve your rankings, shorten your time to fill vacancies, gain a higher number of qualified applicants, increase employee satisfaction, and lower employee turnover.

The goals and measurements to track results should be in the following areas of your employer brand:

• External perception of the employer brand (e.g. brand recognition amongst students)

• Recruitment processes (e.g. time-to-fill vacancy, cost-per-hire, employee referrals)

• Employer engagement (e.g. employee satisfaction and rate of turnover)

It’s important to make yourself heard and have the evidence to back-up your arguments. By measuring your results in these areas, you’ll be able to communicate your employer brand efforts and results easily, not only to upper management but also throughout the organization. The metrics will moreover enable you to fine-tune your employer brand activities, as you monitor and track results you’ll gain an understanding of what works and what doesn’t work.

By Christopher Van Mossevelde