I've got mixed thoughts on this article on employer brand KPIs you can adopt. It has the usual suspects (Glassdoor rating, TTF, CPH), in addition to content engagement and candidate flow. Sure, those are good metrics to know, but they aren't clean metrics. If a million people engage with your content because you offered job seeking tips, does that really impact your employer brand more than tangentially, regardless of volume of engagement? And the same can be said for diversity metrics: while it's helpful to know what roles are appealing to which gender or ethnicity, metrics imply a goal, which isn't usually how we're expected to see diversity, is it? Just keep that in mind if your boss this sends this article your way.

Sure, you might be measuring your brand awareness, but are you measuring brand equity? I've been thinking that the killer metric might be how much value does a candidate place in your brand. Are you able to offer a salary discount because everyone wants to work for you, or do you have to pay a premium to get talent in the door to overcome that brand sentiment?

My rule of thumb for strengthening your employer brand is to separate your sentiment and reach and treat them independently. But when you try and extend reach, its a rare day that you’re extending into blue ocean. So here is some great thinking on extending your market penetration, how to push others out of the way while staking your claim.

Let’s talk metrics! No wait come back! If you are thinking about metrics, there are any number of ways to approach them, and none of them are “right.” I did a few presentations where I came up with three ways of thinking about metrics all on my own, and there are many others. But to start, connecting your metrics to the funnel is a smart go-to.