NH237 Consulting and WDAD Communications - Research on the future intentions and challenges facing the UK’s employers

Key emerging points The opportunities for the Employer Branding profession have never been greater and neither have the challenges 3 • E mployer branding activities and messaging needs to be mindful of our shifting economy and labour market - the ONS reported a 16% increase in Q1 vacancies, the steepest level of job creation in four years; • 4 9% of our survey are anticipating an increase in Employer Branding spend, and another 44% feel their spend will remain the same; • 6 4% feel there will be a significant amount of focus on their Employer Brand over the next 12 months fromwithin their organisations; • 5 8% see more investment in and focus on D&I within their Employer Branding initiatives; • J ust 22% feel they will not be challenged by either retention or recruitment issues this year - the rest will be; • 7 0% have EVPs a year and more old. What people expect from an employer has changed exponentially over the last 12 months. Can a two-year old EVP point the way forward? • W ith significant numbers wanting their EVP to be both more inclusive and more differentiated - how achievable is such a balance? • J ust 7% do not feel their employer and consumer brands will not become more closely aligned over the next 12 months. The profile and importance of an Employer Brand has grown over the last year - but who will own it? • 3 4% felt the key challenge facing their Employer Brand was around consistency of message - how can practitioners emphasise the importance of internal message alignment? • I t feels much easier to control fixed elements of the Employer Brand journey - ATS, careers site and messaging - over the experiences a candidate will encounter. There is so much about an Employer Brand that is out of the control of practitioners - much of their challenge is around internal persuasion and education. • J ust 10% feel they have at hand Employer Branding metrics capable of influencing senior leadership; • D elivering responsive employee stories in an agile fashion remains a key challenge for the function, particularly at a time when sentiments and markets move so quickly; • T here appears a current chasm between Employer Branding messages and those relating to culture and internal communications.