CBRE is the biggest commercial real estate company in the world. But if you are not a broker you have probably never heard of it. What do they do to make their employer brand stand out from other talent pools to attract top talent? How do they measure the impact of their employer brand?
We discussed this with Debbie Celado. She is the global head of talent marketing at CBRE. She was our guest at Talent Acquisition Week, where we had a fireside conversation about how to measure your employer reputation, and why your employees are your brand for B2B.
Finding Talent Outside Your Industry
You may recall Celado as the Head of Employer Brand Marketing for Citizens Bank. She was rebuilding Citizens’ employer branding when we last spoke.
CBRE’s talent challenges are different. CBRE’s business spans every aspect of commercial real-estate, including:
- Outsourcing building services
- Renting and selling property
- Consultation in the workplace
Celado, who is a B2B company, says that “our people deliver the services we provide to our clients and are therefore our brand.” CBRE has invested heavily in employer branding because it’s crucial for success.
The biggest challenge in attracting talent is a lack of awareness among those outside the real-estate industry. Celado says, “We are either the top destination, or they don’t know who we are.”
Set goals for your EVP
Celado’s team set out to achieve three goals.
- Brand awareness is important for external branding.
- Increase the retention rate in the first year.
- Improve employee engagement across the board.
In order to achieve their first goal they worked with recruitment marketing and talent acquisition to see how they could enhance their talent differentiation. Celado says, “We had to ensure that people understood who we were, our new value proposition and how it was different from working anywhere else.”
The hiring manager should also be specific in describing the unique challenges they face when it comes to each persona. There were certain channels that were more efficient for reaching this talent pool, such as Substack and LinkedIn.
Celado’s team and she needed to examine the employee experience closely in order to achieve the second and third objectives. They worked with the CBRE EVP, onboarding and orientation teams and other partners to ensure that their talent programs were aligned.
Measuring employer brand impact
It’s one thing to set goals, but it is another to have a system in place for measuring your results. Celado explains that “we need to ensure we have robust data and analytics in order to inform our work.”
Link Humans can help. CBRE can use the Employer brand index to understand how their brand is perceived. Celado said, “Your brand is your reputation; they’re one and the same.” CBRE uses the Employer Brand Index to understand what is happening with their brand’s reputation.
Celado suggests that for brand awareness, you should look at engagement metrics such as impressions, traffic to the site, and signups. CBRE uses paid advertising to reach specific talent pools. It’s crucial that you understand the media value of these metrics and their cost.
How to Discuss Employer Branding with Business Leaders
Celado’s ability to communicate her results with leadership is the final piece in the puzzle. She explains that you must tell the story behind the data and not simply report it. Do not just report on what you did, but also explain the results. The data is only useful if you can clearly see the impact of what you did.
When evaluating metrics such as impressions and reach, it is important to understand how they produce results. We often refer to our marketing budget in employer branding as the cost per lead. Celado explains that you must give context to the numbers in order to convince leadership.
She recommends that you find out the cost of vacancies to your company. You can compare the numbers and show leadership how employer branding is paying off.
Measuring the impact of employer brand is key in a business that values people.
