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Authenticity is one of the highest values of today’s workforce. 92% of Gen Z say being authentic and true to oneself is important or extremely important to them, and it shows. More than ever, employees demand their company embodies the brand they were sold on when hired.
When you hear “employer branding”, it’s easy to write it off as talent acquisition’s realm, but L&D and the rest of the HR function play just as much of a role in making that brand a reality and instilling it in company culture. Attracting employees is just half the battle. Keeping them engaged and committed to your company’s mission requires more than a list of benefits and perks on paper.
In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of employer branding for retention and ways to live your brand.
Why is employer branding important?
Employer branding is showcasing your company as a great place to work, especially to attract and retain top talent. It’s marketing your company as an experience that meets a prospective employee’s needs and desires in a workplace.
However, employer branding is not just all shiny marketing and buzzwords. While many organizations can talk the talk, some struggle with instilling the employer brand ideals into the day-to-day operations—which is where disconnect can happen, leading to staff turnover. The importance of employer branding lies in how you use it.
The difference between using employer branding for recruiting and retaining talent
Using your organization’s employer brand as part of both your hiring and retention strategy might sound like two sides of the same coin, but they serve different purposes with distinct strategies. Attracting talent with your employer brand is about painting that initial picture; it's the story you tell the world to get those amazing candidates through the door. This involves highlighting unique aspects of your team culture, showcasing successes, and sharing employee testimonials that resonate with potential hires. It's all about making that great first impression that says, "we're the perfect place for you."
On the flip side, retaining employees requires more than just a good first impression—it's about living up to the expectations you've set. This means ensuring the core values you've advertised are genuinely reflected in the day-to-day experience of your team. It involves nurturing a supportive environment where employees feel valued, engaged, and encouraged to grow within the company. Retaining talent is about consistent follow-through, empowering your employees, and providing ongoing opportunities for development. Essentially, this is why employer branding is important—it's about making sure that employees continue to feel the way they did when they decided to join, while continuously enhancing their experience as part of your team.
How to improve employer branding to focus on retention
Improving your employer brand to focus on retention factors involves carefully crafting an authentic and engaging environment that resonates with your current team. While attracting new talent is vital, keeping your existing staff feeling valued, motivated, and improving employee satisfaction overall is equally important. By leaning into your employer brand to focus on retention, you can create a loyal, committed workforce that reduces turnover and the need for active recruiting.
Here are a few areas to explore how to improve employer branding from the inside out:
1. Understand your core values
One of the first exercises in creating a company identity is choosing the core values. Over time, the company grows and changes and those initial values may not apply anymore or the original intentions may be lost.
Have conversations about it with leadership and the rest of your workforce. Do those core values still hold true? Do they still reflect the spirit and mission of the organization? Redefine values or choose new ones as needed, but make sure to clearly define what that looks like in practice, not just words on paper. Creating steps to integrate them into everyday actions and decisions is one way to improve employer branding.
2. Lead by example
Leaders’ actions speak volumes and set the tone for the entire organization. You, as a leader with influence over senior and executive leadership, need to ensure that company leaders don’t just approve the core values, but live them. It’s about walking the talk—demonstrating the very values and behaviors you and other leaders wish to see in your team.
It also comes down to leadership styles. For example, if entrepreneurial spirit is one of the core values of your organization, leaders with heavy-handed, autocratic leadership styles won’t allow that value to flourish. Providing support to help develop leaders with training and coaching on different leadership methods is a crucial part of seeing the employer brand reflected in day-to-day operations.
3. Foster an authentic culture
Creating an authentic culture in your workplace is essential in bringing your employer brand to life. Authenticity in the work environment begins when leaders and employees alike are encouraged to be genuine and transparent, creating spaces where open communication thrives. Roberta Katz, former senior research scholar at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) said “authenticity is about trust. Words and actions need to match.” This means celebrating diversity, valuing each individual's perspectives, communicating transparently, and aligning practices with the company's defined values.
4. Listen to your employees
Truly listening to your employees is one of the strongest pillars of a solid organizational culture and authentic employer branding. When you genuinely seek out and act upon employee feedback, you demonstrate a sincere commitment to addressing their needs and concerns—preventing a lot of avoidable resentment and high employee turnover rates.
“[younger generations] have shown that when an organization does not pay genuine attention to the voice of the employee, then there are other options.” Crystal Black, Senior L&D Specialist, AAA
5. Hire for culture
One aspect that’s often misunderstood by hiring managers is hiring for culture fit. It’s not just about checking boxes on skills and experience; it’s about finding candidates that fit into the heart and soul of the company—truly resonating with your company’s core values and mission. Technical skills can be enhanced along the way, but finding someone with the right personality is very valuable. Equipping hiring managers with resources to help them understand what traits to look for in someone that aligns with cultural values could include behavioral interview questions, team dynamics assessments, and objective assessments.
6. Match compensation across the board
Compensation is more than just a paycheck; it’s a reflection of how much a company values its people. When new hires come in at a competitive market rate, while current employees are left behind in the last pay grade, it sends a silent but damaging message. Employees talk—it’s natural, and when they discover salary discrepancies, especially when newcomers are getting paid more, it hits hard on employee morale and encourages those employees to move on. A transparent compensation strategy that’s competitive for both new hires and current team members is key to trust and loyalty. This involves regularly reviewing and updating salaries based on industry trends and being open about the factors that affect compensation, such as employee location, seniority levels, salary bands, etc.
7. Invest in employee development
As an HR or L&D professional, you know better than anyone that employee development is more than just budget dollars—it’s an investment in not only the future of individual employees, but the future success of your company. In a recent survey to HR and L&D professionals, they predicted a lack of growth and development opportunities will be the largest cause of turnover in 2025. And other data supports that, especially when it comes to younger generations. A study from LinkedIn found 76% of Gen Z respondents desire more opportunities to learn and practice new skills while 61% want opportunities to move up and expand responsibilities.
Demonstrating a commitment to employee development—whether it’s through learning events, workshops, educational assistance programs, mentorship, etc.—signals to everyone, both internally and externally, that your organization truly values its employees and lives by the employer brand.
8. Encourage community and peer learning
The saying “it takes a village” very much applies to workplace culture. Building a connected workplace instead of just a collection of disconnected individuals can be incredibly valuable in many ways and is a large part of creating that authentic culture that keeps employees at your company. Facilitate those connections between your employees, whether it’s a virtual coffee chat or a more structured mentoring program or peer mentor program. Learning new skills together, holding each other accountable to achieving a goal, or even just forging casual friendships are powerful connecting forces between employees.
9. Make DEIB part of the day-to-day
By weaving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging principles into every facet of your company's workflow, you'll naturally promote an environment that respects and celebrates individuality. When your diversity and inclusion strategy becomes second nature in your workplace culture, it sends a powerful message that every voice matters and every contribution is valued. From incorporating inclusive language in communications to providing equitable opportunities for growth and advancement, making DEIB a day-to-day practice reinforces your commitment to a fair and supportive environment, strengthening that employer brand for new hires and current employees alike.
Instilling your employer brand through employee connection
Building a strong employer brand isn’t just about creating a positive image that reels in new talent. It’s about practicing what your company preaches to build that image from the inside out—ensuring your employees feel valued and are inspired to work hard and stay loyal to your company.
Building connections is at the core of a strong, authentic workplace culture. Facilitating those connections is one surefire way HR and L&D leaders like you can help instill employer branding into your company’s day-to-day. Using tools like Together’s Colleague Connect, or any others in our suite of mentorship, peer learning, and employee engagement software, can take the heavy lifting off your team.
Let us help you build those employee connections; book a demo with one of our experts today.
