Getting Better At Calculating ROI in Employer Branding

We really need to get better at talking about R.O.I. in employer branding and talent marketing. 🤦🏼‍♂️

R.O.I. is a business metric. Not a candidate one. Not a media one. Not a branding one. Not a content one. 💰

If someone asks you the ROI of something you're doing / planning then it needs to show something financial - either gains or cost savings. Anything more and you're probably explaining the 'cost-benefit' of something. This is also incredibly important but it's not R.O.I (it might include it, but it's more).

Where things often start going wrong is with the question, "what's the R.O.I. of employer branding?" It tries to capture everything and, in doing so, achieves nothing. What? All of it? Who knows? And good luck trying to work it out in its entirety. There are so many parts that to answer this question with practicality and in a way that covers everything is impossible. 🤷🏼‍♂️

And it's the 'practicality' that is so often missing in people's attempts to answer the ROI question. So, in my ongoing efforts to help elevate our ability to have these conversations more substantially, I've created this example of something I was putting together in my last role. 🧮

Is it perfect? No. Will people be able to pick holes in it? Absolutely. This is intended to be a kickstarter to a more mature, commercial conversation with senior budget holders in your organisations.

Feel free to create a draft with your own parameters, socialise it internally, collaboratively crystalise it with data your stakeholders are comfortable with, and ultimately produce a version that will stand up to the scrutiny needed within your company's specific context.

I hope this helps someone elevate the R.O.I. conversations being demanded of them as stakeholders' expectations around this topic continue to increase in the current economic climate.

Click the image below to open a downloadable document 👇🏼 📘

(𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁: Some of my document imagery has been inspired (stolen with pride), and altered from Olivier Blanchard's Social Fresh Conference 2009 presentation).