You’re already investing in employer branding. You do videos about what employees love about your culture, you post about company volunteer activities, and you welcome new employees in social media. 

You do this because you know:

• • 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand even before applying for a job.
  • Companies with a strong employer brand see a 43% decrease in cost per hire.
  • A strong employer brand reduces the likelihood that a new hire will leave within the first six months by 40%.

But are you fully leveraging one of your most important assets? Your executives!

One reason job seekers spend so much time researching companies before they apply is that they want to understand what it is like to work for you.

They want to hear employees talk about how much they like working at your company. But they also want to see for themselves who your executives are – how they think, how they manage, and how they interact with employees.

You can create transparency into that work environment by building personal brands on LinkedIn for your executives.

Here are the three components of building a strong leadership brand to support your employer branding:

Tell Executive Stories

Give each executive (especially those who are hiring) a LinkedIn profile that showcases their personality. Have them talk about their “why,” their vision for their team, and the journey they traveled to arrive where they are today.

You can tell stories in blog posts where the executive talks about their management philosophy. Are they a servant leader? A Stoic? 

With LinkedIn updates, you can provide insights into a “day in the life” for that executive.

Show Executives Communicating

When executives are active on LinkedIn, it shows that they know how to leverage social media to communicate. They look current and relevant. Job candidates can see that your leaders are able to meet employees where they are and communicate in an open and transparent way.

Social engagement also shows that your executives are accessible, open to feedback, and able to deal with the real world, without hiding behind layers of corporate bureaucracy.

Walk the Talk

Your company probably has diversity and inclusion initiatives. You might be trying to hire more female engineers or increase racial diversity across the company. When executives interact with diverse leaders, peers, and employees in social media, it shows that DEI goals aren’t just on paper — they are lived out by people who make decisions in the company.

Leaders who sleep out for homelessness or live sustainably show their commitment to social responsibility. Executives who demonstrate work-life balance attract employees who want a healthy workplace.

Employees — and prospective employees — see this engagement and culture, and they know that they can thrive in your environment, and this is a boss who supports them.

Invest in Transparent Leadership

Your executives are amazing people – true thought leaders, brilliant, insightful, and hard-working. When you make their strengths and vision visible on LinkedIn, you are able to use their star power to attract more people like them.

Provide executives with the support they need to be active on LinkedIn, and they become powerful assets that give you a significant and sustainable competitive advantage in hiring.