Despite skills shortages, only 40 percent of surveyed companies see employer branding as a useful tool for lowering staff turnover and enhancing employee loyalty. Less than 40% seek help from communication agencies on regular basis to address employer branding. Top three employer branding tools are social media, career sites and events.

According to new research released today, the majority of companies are investing in employer branding to attract employees rather than retain them. In fact, less than half (40%) use employer branding techniques to help retain their employees.  This seems to be a short-sighted approach in the light of skills shortages and the need to reduce staff turnover and increase staff loyalty and advocacy.

Attracting before retaining and at low cost
The survey was conducted in 13 countries in the EMEA region by the Worldcom PR Group, the world's largest independent PR partnership.  It shows that in sectors like IT, that suffer from skills shortage the most, 83% of companies use employer branding to try and solve their recruitment issues. All of them use social media and online advertising to attract staff but less than half (40%) focus on building retention and loyalty.

Furthermore, less than 40% of companies seek help from communication agencies on a regular basis to address this issue. This shows that many may be missing out on making their budget work harder by using employer branding in other ways than just recruitment. With the right advice it will be possible to move beyond focusing on a glossy image to creating a culture worth joining. This indicates that companies could be missing out on getting a better and more sustained return by using employee engagement initiatives to activate their workforce to be brand ambassadors in their recruitment efforts.

Crispin Manners, Worldcom’s specialist in employee engagement and loyalty, said: “This research shows that it’s time for a rethink when it comes to employer branding. The money invested in employer branding may be wasted as it is focused on attraction rather than on creating a culture of engagement and involvement that not only makes people want to stay but turns them into advocates that attract other people to join.”

Google and Starbucks seen as the standard bearers for employer branding
The research also shows that employer branding is on journalists’ radar. In fact, 90% consider it a topical issue. Companies seen as the leaders in employer branding are Nokia, Google, Starbucks, GE and smaller player like Prezi.  This shows there is an opportunity for companies to communicate their employer branding efforts, given they are not limited to simple recruitment practices.