Every company can build a strong employer brand and attract the best talents. Read how to get started - or to learn something you didn’t know yet.

As talent scarcity persists, employer branding is more important than ever for companies of all sizes - if not the most important factor - in attracting talent. Anyone who believes that only large companies can afford employer branding should rethink their opinion. In practice, employer branding is a tool that is also ideally suited to small and medium-sized companies. It is more important to present yourself as an authentic and self-confident company and ensure employee satisfaction than to develop large and extensive marketing campaigns.

What is important to your talents

With the current shift in priorities from the Great Resignation or Great Rotation towards security and stability, the needs of talents have changed significantly. In 2024, salary has moved to the top of the list for attracting and retaining talent. Due to the rising cost of living, talents also need and expect inflation compensation. According to the latest findings of the Randstad Employer Brand Study (REBR), not receiving any recompensation is even a reason to resign.

Retention and commitment

The increased need for financial security means that employees stay longer per se. If you manage to ensure that your talented employees not only stay, but also become ambassadors for your company, you have already realized the importance of employer branding. But more on this in the following tips.

10 tips that will help any company advance in employer branding:

  1. Build a local brand - talent is often looking for jobs close to where they live.
  2. Find out what is important to the talents you would like to hire and what expectations potential employees have. The Randstad Employer Brand Study shows you the latest developments. Click here to read the study.
  3. Where does your company fulfill the needs of the talents you want to attract? Stay authentic and emphasize your strengths.
  4. One of the most important factors for a good employer brand is diversity within the company. In 2024, one in four employees still feel that they belong to a minority and therefore feel disadvantaged at work or in the workplace. Building an inclusive employer brand is therefore more important than ever. Find out how that works here.
  5. A positive working environment is extremely important for your employer brand to shine.
  6. Make sure that your employees become ambassadors. You have achieved this when your employees independently invite their friends to work for you too.
  7. Remember that all employees are potential ambassadors - including interns and freelancers.
  8. Make yourself visible: Build up your communication and present relevant content to the talent you want to attract. Use various communication channels and social media in particular. Evaluate the competition or brands you like to learn from them. Communicate all the time, not just when you are looking for new talent.
  9. Think long-term and build a presence at career fairs, vocational schools, colleges and universities, etc.
  10. Regularly check your reputation as an employer. On employer review platforms, with people who leave the company or in the community - find out what you do well and what you don't and optimize your employer branding strategy accordingly.

Randstad Employer Brand Research, REBR

Since 2013, Randstad Switzerland has conducted the annual Randstad Employer Brand Research, a study that surveys 5’000 Swiss employees and is therefore one of the most important studies for employer branding in Switzerland. Every spring, we recognise the most attractive Swiss employers among the 150 largest companies (number of employees). Is your company not there yet? In the Randstad Employer Brand Research you can find out how these brands manage to attract talent so successfully.