Employment branding 2 – Newspapers more effective than job boards?

How organisations sell their ‘employer brand’ varies widely from one company to another.

A new study by Employer Brand Institute sheds further light on how different employers approach the selling of their ‘employer brand’. Asked to name the communication mediums to market their ‘employer brand’, in 2009, survey participants came up with a wide range of options (see graph).

There seems to be a real disconnect between what’s in vogue and the reality of what people think works, and are planning to invest in. 

Social media is all the rage right now. Proponents are quick to predict the demise of job boards, when old media like newspapers are yet to completely disappear. The current reality is, a larger number of respondents (41%) plan to use newspapers, compared to 39% for job boards, to market their company. Not that I believe newspapers have a particularly bright future, it is a sober reminder that the tools which works for one company will not necessarily work for another.  There is a place for certain mediums in certain settings -  a factor of target audience, labour supply and demand, company size, culture, region, industry and time. In many instances, new and old tools can and do co-exist.

The point is, there is a proliferation of touch points for companies and talent to connect.  Rather than being swayed easily by the ‘flavour of the month’, paying attention to each possible touch points is a better option.  The global report prepared by the Employer Brand Institute is rich with insights, download it here (Thanks to Brett Minchington for the report via his Twitter feed)