ResearchGate

Guidebook:
Building Your
Employer Brand
in Academia
Employer Branding Guidebook Introduction 2

Boost your visibility and reinforce

your reputation to hire the research
talent you need.

ResearchGate
Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 3

Chapter 1
An introduction to
employer branding

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Employer Branding Guidebook
Whether it’s as a
researcher or an
organization,
reputation matters.
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What is employer branding?
Employer branding (EB for short) is how you are
seen as an employer by past, present, and future
employees. It’s your organization’s personality and
value proposition knitted together into one
seamless narrative. It’s how you convey the overall
experience of your workplace, as well as your
specific research environments, in a clear and
engaging manner — across multiple channels.
Why does it matter?
In a competitive talent market, reputation is a
foundational building block in your employer
offering. As a cornerstone of your institution's
image, reputation has the power to sway
candidates' decision-making.
Without it, talent attraction could be harder over
time, and your recruitment process might be
longer and more costly.
An introduction to employer branding 4
It’s not just hype
To help drive your organization forward, you need
talented, engaged employees, and employer
branding can help influence this. Employer
branding is linked to everything from pay to
organizational culture, from facilities to
work-from-home options, as well as development
opportunities in and out of the office. Employer
branding encompasses great people practices.
There is a new norm
Employer branding might also be necessary to
stay competitive. 72% of recruiting leaders
worldwide agree that employer branding has a
significant impact on hiring, with 59% of
recruiting leaders worldwide investing more in it.
Employer branding as a strategic tool can be
utilized to reinforce your institution’s research and
employer reputation, giving you the edge needed
to attract talent.
Employer Branding Guidebook
How can employer
branding help?
Branding is essentially storytelling. It’s about
broadcasting the right messages so that they
resonate with the people you want to reach.
Showcasing what makes you different can help
amplify your reputation and encourage people to
think positively about you as an employer.
Think about your competitors and how they
sell themselves. It could be what’s giving them a
leg up in their recruitment strategies, allowing
them to hire top research talent for their teams.
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5
EMPLOYER BRANDING KEY STATS
72%
of recruiting leaders worldwide
agree that employer branding has
a significant impact on hiring
Done well and consistently, employer branding
can make all the difference in your recruitment
59%
of recruiting leaders worldwide
and retention strategies. Candidates’ positive are investing more in their
perception of your institution as a good place to employer brand
work is twice as likely to have an impact on job
considerations than a strong overall brand. Those
75%
who are not actively investing in employer
branding might increasingly find it harder to
recruit and retain the most qualified staff —
of jobseekers consider an
versus organizations that have an effective employer’s brand before even
strategy in place. applying for a job
Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 6

Chapter 2
What are the
functional benefits of
employer branding?

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Employer Branding Guidebook
01
Stand out from the
competition
Reinforcing reputation doesn't happen overnight.
By confidently articulating your institution’s story
and building its brand over time, you can help set
your institution apart from your competition. With
compelling messaging on your employee
benefits, and by showcasing the successes your
faculty and research programs have achieved, you
can grow your institution’s reputation.
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02
Streamline your
procedures
Employer branding lets you streamline your talent
marketing. When maintained, you can learn
which type of messaging appeals to which type of
audience. In the mid- to long-term, you can save
time and money by measuring which type of
branding is most effective, and adapting to create
and disseminate the highest impact messaging
for your target audience.
What are the functional benefits of employer branding? 7
03
Strategic cost
benefits
Not investing in employer branding could end up
being expensive. Some of these costs might not
be immediately apparent, but they can be
measured over time by monitoring metrics such
as employee turnover, the volume of applications
per job opening, and job offer acceptance rates.
Your organization might incur a long-term loss by
not committing to employer branding.
Employer Branding Guidebook What are the functional benefits of employer branding? 8

EMPLOYER BRANDING KEY STATS

Data validates the

value of EB 86%
of workers would not work for a
For both active and
passive candidates
brand with a poor reputation

If you don’t have access to these figures for your What’s more, employer branding can also inspire
own organization, consider some of the following those not actively looking for a new job to apply.

statistics. LinkedIn research shows that employer
branding can cut recruitment costs by 50%, and
generate a 1-2x faster time-to-hire — thanks no
reduction in recruitment costs
doubt to the 50% increase in qualified applicants.
Furthermore, US data indicates 86% of workers
would not apply for, or continue to work for, an
employer that has a bad reputation with former
staff or the general public.
50%
We know from our own data that more than 50%
of researchers prefer to learn about open positions
while they work or browse online, while 78% of
with employer branding researchers are open to new opportunities even
if they're not actively searching. When you also
consider that 91% of candidates are open to
relocation, and 70% of those to international

78%
of researchers are open to opportunities
— even if not actively searching
relocation, then suddenly the math adds up:
organizations that actively invest in employer
branding are able to reach prospective candidates
at all stages of the recruitment process.

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Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 9

Chapter 3
But is employer
branding right
for scientists
and researchers?

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Employer Branding Guidebook But is employer branding right for scientists and researchers? 10

In the academic job

Reinforce your reputation Save on costs
Your faculty has research highlights and achievements Investing in employer branding of course takes some

market, each that should be proudly celebrated. By proactively

showcasing your accomplishments, you're telling the
time and money, as everything from job ads to
recruitment materials need to reflect your identity. But it

institution competes story of your institution, its members, and its research
goals, which helps you frame your institution's reputation
can generate a long-term ROI by speeding up processes,
reducing time to hire, and improving visibility.

for the best talent
A competitive job market means every institution
must do their best to attract the right candidates
for their vacant positions. With a strong presence
visible online before the recruitment process
starts, candidates are more likely to engage with
your organization when they're ready to explore
within the scientific community. Developing your
research reputation can help your institution stay top of
mind, and assist in boosting regional and global
rankings.
Communicate your purpose when it counts
The importance of the work done by the academic
community is clear. This means that you need to make
sure your audience knows that your mission as a research
organization is necessary and valuable. Speak to their
Secure funding for your research
Organizations want to hire the best and brightest
researchers, as they’re the ones who will drive new
discoveries. They may need to secure research funding
which can be dependent, among other things, on the
reputation and ranking of the institution. By helping you
reinforce your institution's reputation, employer branding
can set in motion a virtuous cycle that gets the funding
and people needed for your organization’s research.

new employment options. values and interests — as researchers, and as people

driven by purpose.

To reach the people you need — both now and in

the future — you need to say the right thing at the
right time. ResearchGate’s Employer Branding
Solution can help you do this. The benefits to you
are clear:
Attract new talent
78% of researchers say they might be inspired to apply for
a job, even when they’re not actively looking, and this is
no different. Improving how you’re perceived overall
might improve the quality and quantity of those who
apply.

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Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 11

Chapter 4
How can I do it
right, without
costly overhead?

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Employer Branding Guidebook How can I do it right, without costly overhead? 12

How can I do it right, Rolling out employer branding requires commitment, but it can be done
cost-effectively. First, certain potential challenges need to be considered to
without costly overhead? ensure the success of your strategy.

Unity Uniqueness Consistency Voice Actuality

Everyone across the What are your key
business must be united in messages and unique
order to drive success. selling points? Know what
Authentic, impactful you want to say, as this will
influence the audiences
employer branding comes
you reach and which
from the inside-out.
channels you prioritize.
HR and Communications
must work together to
create compelling
messaging. Because
employer branding should
always be ‘on’, ensure it is
consistent and works for all
aspects of your brand.
Authenticity is vital, so What you say needs to
don’t pretend to be match up with what you
something you’re not, as do — ensure employees
this will be discovered by
are engaged and live up to
candidates later on and
the standards you set.
can create a negative final
impression.

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Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 13

Chapter 5
Your employer
branding checklist

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Employer Branding Guidebook
What should your next steps be?
Be bold
Don’t be afraid to sell your organization and why it stands
out. Don’t just focus on perks, but talk about the culture, the
people, and your values.
Define your employer value proposition
Get a reaction from potential jobseekers by demonstrating
what makes your institution an attractive place to work. This
could be more important to employees than salary.
Benchmark
You probably know where you sit in the market, but do you
know how you’re perceived? Conduct internal and external
research to understand your reputation and find out what is
and isn’t working.
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Your employer branding checklist 14
Don’t forget your current employees
Potential candidates will want to find out more about what
your organization is like from your current employees. Share
testimonials and ask them to leverage their positive work
experiences on their social media channels or professional
networks. Remember, the best recruitment marketing and
employer branding comes from within your organization.
Write strong job descriptions
Draft these to appeal to the people you want to attract —
make them engaging, exciting, and easy to read. Don’t get
too technical and focus on too much detail. But also don’t be
afraid to engage candidates early about pay, as this will be a
big determining factor as to whether they apply or not.
Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 15

Chapter 6
What’s the return on
investment, and how
can I measure it?

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Employer Branding Guidebook
METRICS FOR MEASURING THE The data speaks for itself with employer branding.
EFFICACY OF EMPLOYER BRANDING That’s why more than half of recruiting leaders
worldwide have a proactive employer brand
strategy.
01 Retention rates
There are various ways to measure or monitor the
02 Cost per hire success of employer branding. This can help you
calculate a return on investment. This can be
03 Job acceptance rates done via KPIs, qualitative and quantitative data, or
dashboards that pull all this information together.
04 Quality of hire
Beyond these data points, you can also align your
recruitment goals with those of the rest of your
organization to highlight the influence your
employer brand has on profitability and
performance.
However you choose to measure it, it’s important
to remember that an employer brand takes time
to make an impact. That doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t evaluate your messaging as you go,
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What’s the return on investment and how can I measure it? 16
adapting in order to optimize it. But you should be
patient as your brand takes shape and your
messaging starts to reach the right people.
Employees are the most important part of an
institution. They collaborate to accelerate
progress and build your organization’s reputation
for research excellence.
They’re also an important part of an effective
employer branding strategy. Properly nurtured,
employees will feel inspired to serve as advocates
and ambassadors for your organization — not just
employees that clock in and out.
Employer branding should be a key part of your
long-term strategy because the people at the
heart of your organization will always matter.
Employer Branding Guidebook What’s the return-on-investment and how can I measure it? 17

Five key takeaways for

employer branding in research

01 02 03
It helps you stand out You can generate great Reinforce your reputation
from the crowd value for little cost with compelling stories

04 05
It’s a chance to show off It’s a long-term game,
your personality, purpose, so don’t be misled by
and values short-term results

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Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 18

Chapter 7
Anatomy of an
Employer Branding
campaign

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Employer Branding Guidebook Anatomy of employer branding campaign 19

Native Ad in the
sidebar directs to
Institution Post

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Employer Branding Guidebook Chapter title here 20

Chapter 8
What is
ResearchGate?

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Employer Branding Guidebook
ResearchGate
connects scientists
With more than 20 million registered members,
ResearchGate is the world’s most visited platform
in science worldwide.
Our members include 79 Nobel Prize winners and
come from 193 countries. With 3 billion annual
page impressions, we’re the global go-to
destination for scientists, institutions, and
businesses to connect with the people, research,
and resources they need to do their work.
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What is ResearchGate? 21
Employer Branding
in research
ResearchGate can help you build your brand by
promoting your organization — helping you
recruit more efficiently and effectively.
You can promote your mission, culture, research,
resources, events, and people — while reaching
new audiences in our research network.
Sophisticated advertising tools connect you with
scientists across specific fields of research,
locations, and career levels. These customized
solutions will help you hire the best scientists.
As awareness of your organization grows, so do
the benefits — we invite you to work with us
today so you can start boosting your employer
brand among the audience you need to reach.
Employer Branding Guidebook Contact us 22

Build the best teams in science and

research. Contact ResearchGate
today for an employer branding
consultation.
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