In my first in-house employer brand role, the most frustrating conversations with my manager were always about the same thing – metrics. We were building an employer brand from scratch, something new for both of us, and we couldn’t agree on what to measure and what to prioritise. We started referring to it as ‘the M word’ because the topic often triggered an argument (don’t worry, we had a great working relationship and are still friends to this day!).
As a new team, we were under pressure to prove ourselves and show that our hard work was paying off. Stakeholders wanted to see data, and they wanted to clearly understand how our results were benefiting the business.
We often talk about employer brand as a feeling; or how it feels to work for an organisation, which can make it extremely challenging to measure. You can know that your employer brand is having a positive effect, you can feel that it’s making hiring easier, you can sense that candidates have a more positive, or more realistic perception of your brand, but how can you show that as a data point?
It’s very easy to get lost in numbers – time to hire, number of applicants, social media followers, comments, likes and shares, website traffic, PR mentions, candidate NPS, SEO ranking – the list goes on. What should you be measuring and how do you know what success looks like? Are you leading or lagging, heading up or falling back?
Enter the new TMPW Outthink Index
Our industry first tool can fuel productive conversations about Employer Brand measurement. It provides a snapshot of how an organisation is performing across nine key areas. It’s based on data pulled from multiple sources and presented in a simple way so that you can see how your employer brand stacks up. The best part is that it provides an industry benchmark. You can immediately see what the average is for your sector and even compare yourself to specific competitors – telling you today’s story and allowing you to track your progress for years to come.
Understanding how your employer brand is performing across these different areas can help inform where you need to invest to drive improvements. Once you have identified your priorities, you can create actionable steps to optimise your employer brand and tackle it criterion by criterion to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
The TMPW Outthink Index has been developed by a team of experts at TMP Worldwide with decades of experience. If you’re not sure where to start your conversation about employer brand measurement, speak to us here for a complimentary audit. Allowing you to gain invaluable insight through the eyes of your candidates and beyond.