New research released by LinkedIn today reveals that thousands of UK businesses could be missing out on hiring top talent by not doing enough to promote their company’s values to prospective candidates.
LinkedIn’s global HR survey found that sharing an organisation’s purpose is now a deal-breaker for more than half of UK professionals (52 per cent) when considering accepting a job offer, and even more so for younger workers (56 per cent for 16-24 year olds). Yet despite this, the report found that only a minority of UK employers are currently promoting their organisation’s values or purpose when advertising roles or in interviews.
More than a third (36 per cent) of the HR and recruiting professionals that were surveyed said that their values are missing from their company’s website, whilst three-quarters (77 per cent) don’t mention them on their LinkedIn Company Page.
The report also found that many businesses are even failing to promote their purpose at the most crucial time - during the hiring process itself, with two thirds of employers (61 per cent) admitting that they don’t mention their organisation’s values when they interview candidates, and only a quarter (27 per cent) mentioning them in job ads.
The problem could stem from a knowledge gap - with one in ten HR and recruiting professionals admitting that they are unable to articulate their own company’s values in the first place. One in five respondents also claimed that their company’s HR and marketing functions don’t work well together - or at all - to promote the company’s employer brand externally.
Commenting on the findings, Dan Dackombe, director of LinkedIn Talent Solutions said, “UK companies risk falling into a values vacuum by not being clear on what they stand for or believe in. Today’s professionals are more informed and aware of the culture and purpose of potential employers, and are increasingly making career decisions based on these factors. Simple things like making sure your company values are reflected in job ads, mentioned in interviews, and included on your LinkedIn Company Page can help employers get noticed and make the difference when it comes to winning the best talent.”
Jeroen Wels, VP of Organisation and Talent for Unilever commented, "Our experience recruiting top talent echoes LinkedIn’s findings. We invest a lot of time and energy in making sure we communicate our values effectively and authentically so that potential new hires know what Unilever stands for, including our purpose, culture and principles. Through a robust content strategy we have been able to give a real insight into life at Unilever. Having an authentic employer brand which engages with our current and future employees is one of the key ways we can attract and retain top talent.”
This week, LinkedIn is running Employer Brand Week - a five-day programme of interactive learning and insights to help raise awareness of the importance of how companies present themselves.