LinkedIn just released its 4th Annual Report on talent acquisition, and it’s full of valuable recruiting lessons. Among the most important takeaways is the increasing importance of your talent brand, which can make a significant difference in talent nurturing.
What Is a Talent Brand?
The talent brand is a marketing concept applied to recruiting. A brand is what consumers think of when they see your product – the feelings they associate with it. Expanding on that concept, a talent brand is “what talent thinks, feels, and shares about your company as a place of work.”
Why Does It Matter?
If you want to attract quality talent to work at your company, having a good talent brand is absolutely crucial. Research shows that a strong talent brand reduces the cost of hiring by 50%, and turnover rate by 28%. Not surprisingly, the annual report shows that 77% of recruiters say that their talent brand has a significant impact on their ability to hire great talent.
The report also predicts that the concept of a talent brand will become even more important in 2015, suggesting the increasing need for your company to evaluate and improve its own.
How Do You Improve It?
Fortunately, if you’re an average U.S. company, your brand is already above-average when compared to companies in other global economies, both in terms of having a proactive strategy and prioritizing that strategy. But how do you make improvements?
According to the report, your single biggest tool other than your website should be a professional network such as LinkedIn. No less than 63% of recruiters named this option as the most effective channel to grow your talent brand in 2014, a 34% year-over-year increase. Personal word of mouth and social media networks round out the top 4.
In short, it may be time for you to seriously look into your talent brand, and how it can help in talent nurturing. Contact us for more help on this and other recruiting strategies!
