In fact, evaluating a candidate for fit is more important, to the vast majority of organizations, than technical knowledge.  At the end of the day, who wants to work with a brilliant Analyst when he/she is not able to work well with peers or rubs clients the wrong way?  Industry experts may believe both organizational fit and technical knowledge are equally important.  But without appropriate organizational fit, the technical knowledge a candidate possesses is worthless. They simply won’t adapt to the firm’s environment, policies and procedures.

Many interviewers jokingly discuss the candidates they can’t get answers out from. To the interviewer, these candidates lacked the communication skills and personal confidence needed for a successful interview.  But looking at it more closely, was it something off of their “list” of requirements that the candidate didn’t measure up to?  Or, was it that innate feeling that one has, similar to dating, that this person wasn’t the “one?”

From a scientific perspective, organizations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, hiring consultants to help them develop their visions, values and organizational culture.  From these, the Talent Acquisition function clearly establishes a set of metrics that helps guide interviewers around the key attributes they should be probing for.

When I was in Campus Recruiting, at Lehman Brothers, there were established key areas, which we measured each candidate on.   From leadership to analytic skills, the key components of our undergraduate program were very black and white.  Or, were they?  With a pre-defined set of metrics, we were able to ensure that each and every candidate (Summer Intern to Full-Time) hire was uniformly evaluated.  Because of this, decision meetings were very clear cut, and it was very evident who was a hire and who was a decline….yeah right. If only!

Merging the black and white (technical knowledge) metrics, with the grey area of cultural fit, you get hues from midnight black to heather grey, and every possible shade in between.  The art behind successful decision meetings becomes apparent when it is no longer a question of candidate skill.  As one Managing Director put it, “no way am I putting this guy in front of my client!”  So, what’s the deal?  Did the candidate make a major gaffe during the interview?  No, it was not as easy as that.  It started to become a question of fit.

Lehman Brothers, in its heyday, prided itself around the motto “Where Vision Gets Built.”  So, what was it that didn’t fit per se?  This is where decision meetings came to a fork in the road.  Every interviewer may agree on the established technical knowledge a candidate possesses.  However, there could be a split regarding fit.  What is important to know, is that HR can be key to ensuring fair discussions around these “grey” areas.  Talent Acquisition ensures that discussions around diversity to the difficulty level, of each interviewer are looked at, when solidifying final decisions.  Moreover, questions regarding candidate honesty, approachability, attitude and entrepreneurial abilities are further discussed within the decision meetings.  Interviewers are further evaluating the “soft skills” a candidate possesses.

On the flip side, candidates should also care about fit. For example, take LGBT job-seeking professionals. They worry about “coming out” during their interviews.  Would you really want to work somewhere that had an issue with who you are?  Of course not! At the same time, you don’t have to “come out” to an interviewer. You can evaluate fit but doing research on the company–talking to current employees, evaluating affinity programs, looking for domestic partner benefits, etc. It’s a balance of being yourself and doing your research.  Art and science, head and heart.

When it comes to decision meetings, organizations and candidates need to own their individual pieces of the puzzle.  When each party knows there is a “match” it’s just like dating. You use your head and your heart to find “the one.”

Washington Post reporter Sarah Halzack will lead a panel of executive HR leaders to address some of these issues.  Halzack, a Capital Business Reporter and Web Editor for the Post, has a unique perspective on the area’s talent market. In advance of RecruitDC’s May 23rd Spring Conference, I sat down with her to talk talent, reporting and her own unique job.

Susan LaMotte: How did you land at The Washington Post? And tell us a little bit about your beat and the topics you cover?

Sarah Halzack: During my senior year at George Washington University, I worked as a research assistant for Laura Sessions Stepp, a journalist who was then working at the Washington Post and was in the process of writing a book.  When I graduated, she pointed me to apply for a job at the Post as a news aide, our most entry-level position. At that point, I was still somewhat unsure about what I wanted to do for my career; I had majored in journalism, but had only done internships in media relations. But as soon as I began working in the newsroom, I knew that I was exactly where I wanted to be.  I loved the energy of the place and I loved being surrounded by such bright and curious people. Currently, I am a reporter and Web editor with our Capital Business publication. I cover employment and workplace topics. That includes anything from how the labor market looks and what it says about the broader health of the regional economy to more HR-specific topics such as talent attraction and retention, compensation and benefits/rewards.

SL: I’m so glad the Post continues to dig into these topics especially since we spend so much time talking about politics in DC. Now, business journalism isn’t as contentious as politics, but what have you learned about staying objective?

SH: Fairness is at the core of what we do in any department of the newsroom. I think the best way to achieve it is by thinking about a story from all 360 degrees and making sure you’ve been thoughtful and deliberate about what information you’ve included, what sources you’ve talked to, and whether you’ve given all the stakeholders a fair chance to comment. And I think it’s helpful to not make assumptions in reporting.  That helps ensure that you arrive at the most objective framework for your story.

SL: I think that’s good advice for business leaders too. We tend to have preconceived notions about solutions or even who to hire for a specific role! The 360-degree approach is something we could surely learn from. From the reporting you’ve done for the Post, what are some of the business trends you’re seeing in our market?

SH: As we noted in the most recent edition of Post 200 (The Washington Post’s annual report on the area’s top businesses), it seems that many of the biggest businesses in the Washington region got a little bit smaller last year.  That manifested in different ways: Some shrunk real estate footprints, some reduced headcount, and others spun off business verticals. And so it seems that this year will be about adjusting and adapting to those consequential changes.  As for the local job market, the unemployment rate is ticking down slowly.  However, we are not adding jobs in the professional services sector at a fast enough pace to rev the engine of economic recovery.  Lately, our biggest job creators have been the health-care industry and the hospitality industry.  However, these are sectors that don’t tend to pay especially well, so that could weigh on income growth in this region.

SL: As part of preparing this year’s Post 200, you talked about talent as a primary issue for many CEOs. What particular concerns and challenges do you find them to be facing right now?

SH: As I talk to folks in the local talent industry, a few themes emerge.  Some say that talent retention is a difficulty, particularly amid this climate of tightened budgets that might not allow as much room for compensation increases.  I also hear often that certain jobs remain hard to fill because they can’t find workers with the right skill set.  I’ve heard of and reported on lots of different ways of dealing with this—building talent pipelines with local colleges, creating internal training programs, or recruiting from unexpected places. For example, I reported last year on Merrill Lynch’s Washington office and how they are recruiting veterans, accountants and lawyers to work as financial advisers. In another story, I wrote about how Vocus was hiring a food truck for a day and giving out free pizza to lure people to apply for jobs. In other words, it seems many talent professionals are looking for outside-the-box ways to get the best people to come to their organization.

SL: There has been a great deal of conversation in our industry about a talent shortage versus a shortage of certain skills. But that’s just one of many key topics we’re talking about right now. It’s a crowded platform of challenges and I know we’ll delve into then for our panel.  Now, like many journalists, I’m sure story ideas are constantly crowding your mind. What do you do outside of work to clear your head?

SH: I perform with a professional contemporary dance company called Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co.  We rehearse in the evenings and on weekends and perform throughout the Washington area.  It feels great to get up and do something physical after being behind a desk all day!  And dance calls for a different type of creativity than I use as a journalist, so that is refreshing as well.  I’m also a big fan of yoga. 

SL: Me too. We lead such crowded lives I find yoga a great way to eliminate all that noise if only for a hour.  And with all that you do, we appreciate you taking the time to join us at RecruitDC.  We look forward to hosting you and our panelists on May 23: 

-       Melody Jones, Chief Administrative Officer, CEB

-       Angela Mannino, SVP Human Resources, Inova Health System

-       Jeff Perkins, Chief People Officer, NPR

-       Bridgette Weitzel, Vice President, Organization Development & Chief Talent Officer, BAE Systems North America

Recently, I got this InMail on LinkedIn:

Subject: quick question…. 

I am a Tech recruiter from [company redacted]. I am representing an especially gifted Lead Software Engineer with a Master’s, who recently moved here from the Silicon Valley. He currently works for innovative media titan [company redacted] and previously led teams while at [company redacted] and [company redacted], respectively. He is more than proficient in several languages, but specializes in custom mobile, web, and software application development as well as Amazon Web Service and API management. His high quality code has scaled and supported over 600K in Daily Active Users in the past but his objective in his next role moving forward is to introduce and evangelize the process of continuous technological integration. He will prove an immediate and tangible asset to any Tech environment. If you are looking to do any hiring these days, let me know and I can send you his resume right away. I promise I will not waste your time.

But here’s the thing. You just did. I’m not a recruiter. I don’t have any open tech positions. So the 30 seconds it took to read your InMail was a waste of my time.  And I certainly wouldn’t connect with you or recommend you to anyone (and I know many recruiters in the space) given your approach. Now, I’m from Philadelphia. And I’m Italian. That means I’m brutally honest. I could have hit delete, but instead, I sent back the following response.

I appreciate you reaching out but mass messages don’t work. Here’s why: my company wouldn’t be hiring someone like this or any tech professionals quite frankly. You do yourself and the profession a disservice by recruiting this way.

And his response?

I disagree but thank you for your feedback Susan.

I’d love to know why he disagrees but I’m not wasting any more of my time. Whether you’re a recruiter, marketer, job seeker or you’re selling tech software, this approach is flat out wrong. As a candidate, I don’t want to be mass marketed. Do you?  And as a recruiter, I don’t want my tech talent to come from a Costco-style approach. I want a boutique store that takes the time to cater to the right kind of shoppers–not one that’s selling Chico’s to 15-year old boys.

This recruiter is only 4.5 years out of college–and normally I wouldn’t fault someone who is still learning. But his terse response shows me he’s not looking to learn. And the firm he works for clearly isn’t coaching him. That firm has been around since 1999. So that means some people are buying (and teaching) what he’s selling.

So tech talent shoppers, buyer beware. Don’t buy what this guy, and many others like him are selling. I won’t throw him or his firm under the bus here, but I will tell anyone who contacts me individually not to work with this firm. Ever.

The recruiter that doesn’t take the time to build meaningful and targeted relationships isn’t going to look out for you. It’s a sandwich board or apartment leasing sign-flipping strategy. And do you want to fill your skilled jobs this way?  I sure hope not.

Your latest junior developer? Not a rockstar. This is news to many of our start-up and high-growth clients who are just looking for a hip way to say they want the best talent. Stop doing this. Now.

I’m talking to you: a search for “rockstar developer” brought me 24 job ads with this meaningless moniker.  Search for just “rockstar” and you get over 1,600 gems.  Hey, I’ve taken the quiz to see if I have what it takes and I don’t. I rated “Roadie.” But none of you punks do either (except you punk rockers, maybe you do.)

The bottom line is you’re not going to get the right talent if you’re looking for rockstars, ninjas, brilliance, special forces or any other breathless pie-in-the sky terms. No one you know marries the girl on the cover of Maxim. And there’s a reason.

You’re not looking for amazing in one, and only one way.  And if you think you are, you don’t know your own company well enough. Finding talent is an exercise in self-reflection first. And by that, I mean the organization.  Look inward–who are you? What makes you different? What are the commonalities among your employees who are both high performers and stick around?

It’s easy to find someone who can develop code or create a marketing strategy. What’s hard is finding one who can do it:

• in your industry
• for your company
• on one specific team
• dealing with a specific project or set of projects
• playing a certain role on that team
• within a specific culture
• working for a specific leader

Then, it becomes harder. Much harder. Especially if your job description just wants AMAZING.  No one person is amazing. But there’s a person who’s amazing for you. (Yes, this sounds like dating advice. Hear me out, here).

It’s not just about the task at hand. It’s about the set of criteria and factors that make a job unique. I love the conversation here about rockstar developer versus cowboy coder, but it’s so much more than just a descriptor.  It’s a recipe where a set of ingredients are all required for the end result to be tasty and worth cooking. Again and again.

Think about it from a job seeker’s perspective. When you’re brought in for an interview, it means they already think you have the skills needed to do the job. Now, it’s about the fit. The same goes for the company. If you describe your job in vague terms like “rockstar” you’re going to get a vague set of candidates that respond. They may be able to do the job but they’ll have no idea whether they fit any of the other elements of success.

How to fix this? Simple. Encourage self-selection. The more you honestly share about all of the factors of the job, the more likely it is you’ll get candidates that fit all of those aspects. Oh, and then you can actually interview and look for them. Be honest, be authentic. But most of all, be clear.

It doesn’t have to be a thesis–you can be clear and straightforward in a few short paragraphs. You can also weave your culture in like Woot does. Hilarious, but for a reason. If you don’t find it funny, you won’t be happy there. If you think the crossword puzzle on the Zappos application is annoying, same deal. I also like Logik’s honesty.

Talent is the single most important ingredient to growing a business. Let me say it again. The most important. I don’t care if you have the most innovative, efficient, value-add piece of technology the world has ever seen. If you don’t have the right combined team to take it to market, you will fail.

Entrepreneurs take note. Take some of that VC money and invest it in a real, grown-up talent strategy. You don’t want real rockstar developers (the ones with talent + longevity) to talk about you like this.

Ever find yourself running to post a review on Yelp, TripAdvisor or OpenTable? And when you do–you’re always talking about the experience. That’s why marketers live to transform the brand experience. It’s an operational exercise.  You want to look at every step of the process, get feedback and then look at it again. You want to think big too–how does the experience make the customer think and feel? Would they come again? Is there loyalty there? Would they recommend you to a friend?  Marketers live, eat and breathe all of these things. And so should talent acquisition leaders.

Enter the Candidate Experience Awards. Designed to showcase companies delivering the best in the experience job candidates receive, the Candidate Experience Awards provide insight into an often overlooked part of the talent process–the experience.

I’m lucky to be joining a great collection of HR professionals as part of this year’s Candidate Experience Council.  As the Council elevates the importance of candidate experience, we’ll be encouraging your organization to apply–because get this–it’s not about the award. It’s about the experience. “The CandE Award process is a competition, but it is also designed to provide every organization that chooses to participate confidential and specific feedback on how they can improve their candidate experience.” Winner or not, you’ll get valuable feedback you can’t always attain from inside the organization.

Whether you’re hearing about this for the first time, or sighing and thinking “Is this really worth my while?” We say yes. Want to know more? Ask me or any of these fine folks joining me on the Council:

• Chris Brablc, online marketing manager, SmashFly Technologies
• Anna Brekka, senior director, Recruiting Trends
• Linda Brenner, founder and managing director, Designs on Talent
• Master Burnett, director of Strategy, BraveNewTalent
• Peter Clayton, founder, senior producer and host, TotalPicture Radio, Jobs in Pods
• Kelly Dingee, Strategic Recruiting Manager, Staffing Advisors and blogger, Fistful of Talent
• Kris Dunn, partner and CHRO, Kinetix RPO and founder, Fistful of Talent and HR Capitalist
• Andrew Gadomski, founder, Aspen Advisors
• Ben Gotkin, principal consultant, Recruiting Toolbox, Inc.
• Kevin Grossman, founder/author of Reach-West and volunteer for Hirewire
• Lance Haun, editor of SourceCon, ERE Media
• Carmen Hudson, principal consultant, Recruiting Toolbox, Inc.
• Jennifer McClure, speaker and consultant, Unbridled Talent
• Joe Murphy, vice president and co-founder, Shaker Consulting Group
• Steven Rothberg, founder, CollegeRecruiter.com
• Josh Schwede, vice president of Business Development, HireVue
• Sean Sheppard, vice president of Sales, TalentCircles
• Susan LaMotte, principal consultant and founder, exaqueo
• Bennett Sung, independent consultant
• William Tincup, founder, Tincup & Co., industry blogger and co-host of DriveThruHR
• John Vlastelica, managing director, Recruiting Toolbox, Inc.
• Bryan Wempen, chief strategy officer, PeopleClues and co-host of DriveThruHR
• Sarah White, founder and CEO, Sarah White & Associates
• Eric Winegardner, vice president, Client Adoption, Monster Worldwide

On the heels of today’s jobs numbers, you won’t want to miss this.

Read, download and share:  State of The Workforce.

As the economy continued to tank in 2011 and 2012, employee engagement dropped with it. Down economies often impact organizational loyalty in a negative way and Mercer’s 2012 report confirms that. According to the report, 24% of organizations are reporting lowered engagement up from 13% just two years ago.   And while organizations continue to invest in employee engagement, or some form of loyalty strengthening activities, popular HR analysts and bloggers are challenging the notion of engagement score value.

Companies do care about employee feedback: 96% of Fortune 100 companies and 65% of mid-sized companies use some sort of employee survey. But is fighting for increased engagement scores a good use of executive time and attention? And are increased scores really that valuable to your business?It’s data that’s valuable. But it has to be the right data. Data that provides insight. Data that’s proactive.  Imagine if you had a sense of when your best talent was restless and contemplating leaving – Turnover, particular involving key talent, costs employers billions of dollars every year. There are a variety of ways to consider and calculate the costs – recruiting fees, training/onboarding, lost productivity, hidden costs, burnout – it’s a cyclical problem that many organizations face.

The HR profession’s answer to this challenge hasn’t changed much over the years. We create annual employee surveys and performance reviews to measure individual performance and collective themes and trends across our workforce.  These procedures are often ridiculed by staff as a ‘check the box’ exercise, and in many organizations are meaningless unless truly championed by leadership and bought into by the organization.

There are exceptions of course. Organizations that are truly performance-driven are often successful because they have leaders and line managers that are constantly checking in on their teams, identifying and addressing challenges and celebrating wins as they happen, using incentives, and openly and honestly confronting challenges head-on.

So why is it that the HR community has seemed to settle on an annual or bi-annual assessment? A great deal can change in a year. The world of work has evolved. The goal for many employees is no longer 20 years of service and a nice watch, particularly for Gen Y talent. Employees want to be challenged and make an impact. They want to be recognized – and they’re less likely to hold onto a job where they don’t feel satisfied, and job dissatisfaction costs companies talent.

In today’s workforce where job mobility is becoming the norm, it’s even more important for organizations and leaders to regularly assess the mood and culture of their organization, and take steps to address issues before those issues send talent out the door.  The problem is, reactivity is a hallmark of old-school HR organizations.  They use exit interview to assess talent misses and performance reviews to address issues that have already been festering for 12 months. And by the time the leadership team has enough meetings and gets enough buy-in to act, the issues could be years old.

That’s why we were interested in taking a look at a new tool focused on real-time, proactive data: Tiny Pulse, the latest creation of serial entrepreneur –David Niu. 

The premise is pretty straight-forward. You create an account and answer some baseline questions related to how you feel about and inside your workplace.  Then you invite your employees to join. They create a profile and begin receiving weekly ‘pulse check’ surveys where they answer the same question and have an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback. Then employees begin receiving weekly TINYpulses with just one culture or performance related question each time. TINYpulse’s questions vary from “On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you at work?” to “What drives you crazy here and decreases your productivity?” Employees can also provide ‘virtual suggestions’ in their weekly surveys, essentially creating a virtual suggestion box for employee feedback

The administrator views all of the anonymous feedback, as well as week-over-week trends in answers in a reporting dashboard. This repetition of questions, along with the stock monthly question ‘How happy are you?’ allows the admin to identify trends and potential trouble spots early. Like many engagement surveys, you can also benchmark your performance against other companies using the same questions.  You can also publicly recognize colleagues through the “cheers” function.

There are some limitations–at this time you’re not able to create your own questions, which may be a limiting factor if you’re looking to gather feedback trends in specific areas or known trouble spots for your organization.  But Tiny Pulse is an intriguing platform that represents new approach to the outdated annual employee survey.

Regardless of the tools used, the question hinges back to the importance of data. Proactive feedback represents a fundamental shift in assessing employee morale and feedback early and often.

Think about it like this: the FAA grounded the Boeing Dreamliners after several major incidents from Boston to Japan. A reactive review is taking place before they’ll be allowed to fly again.  Imagine if regular data was collected on performance at every step along the way from design to development to launch. Could the incidents have been prevented? Maybe.

The idea is we’re a reactive society. We say we care about feedback and engagement but we rarely take action unless it’s reaction. With proactive feedback, you can identify triggers to potential issues before they happen. And address them in advance. Think that would engage your workforce? You bet.

Employer Brand International’s (EBI) 2012/2013 Global Research study found that 39% of companies plan to increase their investment in employer branding initiatives in 2013. The important consideration in this statistic is just how much of this investment will add value and how much will be wasted. For many companies it may lead to an outcome that many marketers are only too well aware of: half of their investment is wasted, they just don’t know which half!Making the case to measure return on investment of employer branding isn’t the hard part. Figuring out what to measure is!  EBI’s 2011 global study  found that retention rate (thirty-eight percent of companies surveyed use this metric) is the most common metric used to measure ROI of employer branding. Thirty-three percent use employee engagement, twenty-nine percent quality of hire, twenty-seven percent cost per hire and twenty-six percent use number of applicants. So which metric(s) should you use?

The key to which metrics you use to measure your ROI is to align the metrics with your business objectives. There is no point measuring the number of applicants if you are recruiting astronauts to send into space. If you are hiring for a new local store opening or an upcoming busy summer period you may focus your spend on employee referrals if your previous research has shown that employee referrals result in the best performing employees.

Your employer brand metrics should be reliable and predictive. If you can identify the drivers of employer brand value and focus your investments on these activities aren’t you more likely to receive the ongoing support of Executive to invest in employer branding? Following an employer brand strategic audit in 2012, a large Danish employer found they were spending sixty percent of their employer branding investment on University activities but only five percent of new hires were being recruited from this channel. Sure enough, investment was re-allocated to channels which were producing the best hires and this is where understanding what to measure can drive value!

EBI research shows the employer brand strategy is driven by the human resources department in 36% of companies and in 30% the responsibility is shared amongst more than one function. Based on this statistic it would be reasonable to expect that measures that have commonality amongst all departments contributing to the employer brand strategy are more likely to get closer to the true ‘employer brand value creation’ goal.

The link between creating employer brand value and financial (e.g. cost per hire, profit per employee, staff turnover cost) and non-financial measures (e.g. employee engagement, employee loyalty, employer brand awareness) is variable and must be evaluated on a case by case basis and re-evaluated over time as the strategy evolves. For example, your new recruits out of University may place less emphasis on face-face contact in the recruitment process and a key driver of whether they choose to work for you may be the time to hire. If your recruitment processes are lengthy and result in a poor candidate experience whilst your competitor understands the needs of the target audience better you may find yourself regularly missing out on the best talent.

Employer brand leaders should think like researchers and employ tactics to better understand their workforces.  Conducting feedback and discussion group sessions and interviews with current and future employees will assist you to better understand what measure is driving the emotions behind why employees chose to join your company, why they stay and what would make them leave.

For example, let’s say you’re the small chip maker Xilinx. Last fiscal quarter you brought in $510 million in revenues. Compared to chip giant Intel, who raked in $53 billion last quarter, you have a small market share and share of voice. How do you compete against Intel for talent?

First, you need to understand your audience.  You need to learn what matters to your prospects. You need to market your employer brand and be clear on what differentiates your employment experience from your competitors and use the channels that will extend your market reach.

Then you need to be clear on what you are going to measure. How many prospective employees had heard about Xilinx before your efforts began? What is your level of employer brand awareness now? What is your market share and share of voice?  Measures like these can help you compete against the larger companies who can outspend you with their bigger marketing and communications budgets.

As you’re evaluating these measures, take a holistic look at your brand. Imagine a scale that starts on the left with the broad, big picture of your brand to the outside world, all the way to the right with specific, high-performing employees that best emulate your employer brand.

Start from the outside looking at broad trends:

• Where do you communicate your EVP(s)? (i.e. which channels do your target audience use?)
• What is the level of employer brand awareness?
• How attractive is your employer brand with your target audience?

Then move toward the inside focusing on your target audience (candidates):

• Is your target audience engaged or interacting with your communications?
• Are they taking the desired action? (i.e. joining your online talent community)

Finally, look inward at your current employees:

• Do they understand how to communicate EVP messaging effectively?
• Can they communicate your EVP(s) through their actions and behaviours?
• Are they acting as brand ambassadors, would they recommend your company as a great place to work?

Depending on how you perform against these measures, it is important to assess and understand which measures drive employer brand value in your company (remember there is no one size fits all set of metrics, so don’t just copy your competitors metrics). That said, jumping into measurement isn’t the first step-you have to first align your metrics with your objectives.

Alignment of measures to objectives

For those of you who have children, you might have a wall in your house where you use a pencil to chart their growth.  As any parent with a ruler knows, measurement isn’t static. Before you know it, your baby boy is taller than you are.  Employer brand measurement works the same way. You won’t always trend upward, but you will change, driven by factors such as external market conditions or internal product development, innovation or employee engagement.

This means it’s essential to make measurement a standard and cyclical part of your strategy depending on where you are in the evolution of your employer brand strategy.  For example, if you’ve developed and launched your employer brand strategy in year one, you may be measuring employer brand awareness and/or alignment between departments responsible for the strategy. In year two, as you become more skilled at engaging with your target audience you may track conversion rates of your Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter followers who become members of your online talent community where they can receive more targeted communications based on their profile.

We all know the value of data, but what’s important here is the value of data over time.  Employer brand value is best measured as it is enhanced over time. That’s why corporate sustainability has become such a hot topic in business as companies are fast realising the impact on business performance through low levels of engagement and high staff turnover. This is one of the reasons why the practice of employer branding has a bright future.

It doesn’t matter whether you have been managing your employer brand strategy for three years or three minutes, below is a nine point action plan you can share and discuss amongst those responsible for your employer brand strategy to improve your measurement and ROI.

1) Clearly define your employer branding objective(s)
Attracting and retaining the best talent may be a logical objective. The definition of clear objective(s) is critical as it guides the allocation of resources. Conducting a strategic audit of your employer brand is a good place to start to define your objectives and identify where your investments are best focused before you start spending big on creative and communications.

2) Understand the key drivers of achieving your objective
This should be part of your audit process as well and may require revisiting the survey data you invested heavily in and now makes a great bookend on your bookcase! If you can identify the cause and effect of how you attract and retain the best talent, you can focus your efforts on these activities. If your research tells you your hiring manager satisfaction produces the best hires or the quality of your induction program results in the most effective sales people then you can start to implement your employer branding activities with a higher level of predictability.

3) Develop an employer brand scorecard
Your scorecard should identify the financial and non-final measures that drive employer brand value. It should allow you to track and report on those measures most likely to impact on achieving your objectives.

4) Allocate responsibility for the measure(s)
The responsibility for reporting on the performance should rest with the employee(s) responsible for the employer branding activity. thirty-six percent of human resource departments are responsible for the employer brand strategy. However thirty percent of responsibility lies in more than one department so it makes little sense for a HR leader to be responsible for measuring employer brand awareness if marketing is responsible for the external communication activities to extend the market reach of the company’s employer value proposition (EVP) communications. Ensure everyone is on the same page!

6) Obtain baseline data on your workforce
Measures are nothing without a baseline understanding of your audience. Start by gathering data on your current workforce to obtain a solid understanding of your target audience and who they are. Seek information on hobbies, commuting patterns, family situations, interests and behaviors. Go beyond demographics and search for patterns amongst subsets of employees. Your most talented young employees may all share an interest in gaming so use that to your advantage rather than send them to a full day of training on a topic unrelated to their interests!

7) Dispel assumptions
Share the data with your leaders and dispel assumptions they have about the typical employee. Break down employee likes and dislikes. Share intuitive data about commonalities you found amongst ‘A level’ talent. Create new personas that are data-based and not assumption based.

8) Listen closely to employee feedback and observe behaviors
Pay close attention to the channels your current employees use and map marketing strategies to their preferred channels. This will ensure you have tactics to allow for a deeper, richer perspective into how well your employer brand and EVP strategy is resonating with employees.

9) Evaluate your progress
Business conditions aren’t static, nor should your measures be! They’re ever changing and more valuable when measured over time. Make comparisons and don’t be afraid to report failures-they’ll drive change and show you’re paying attention to your investment.

10) If all else fails…
If you are unable to convince your executives to invest in employer branding, consider the human element. In early 2012, AdAge found only three mentions online for the search terms “I love Dow Chemical.”  How many people love your brand? That alone can demonstrate how far back in the pack you are. Genuine feelings about a brand matter-don’t forget the power that human love (or hate) can bestow on your brand success.

In most cases it’s a clearly defined strategy and successful implementation (and a lot of hard work and collaboration) that comes to back to these few (but value creating) words, ‘I love working for <enter your company’s name here!>

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This article was co-written with Brett Minchington, Chairman/CEO of Employer Brand International. Brett is an international strategist, corporate advisor and author on employer branding who has trained thousands of leaders in more than 45 cities around the world. You can follow him on twitter @brettminch or at www.brettminchington.com.