From transaction to interaction: 5 employer branding trends for 2024
Community
Although studies point to the fact that the most attractive employers are offering higher salaries, bigger opportunities and more flexible working conditions, this doesn’t paint the entire picture. Below the surface, we’ll find that, sure, people want pay and perks (who doesn’t?), but what they really seek is a shared sense of identity.
Research shows that the top reasons people quit their jobs are, first, not feeling valued, and second, not feeling a sense of belonging at work. 2024 will be an opportunity for employers to foster a renewed sense of community - meaningful interactions, not just transactions. And with hybrid and remote work the norm, having a strong community is proven to have significant business impact.
Differentiation
Most brands rely on having similar inspiring purposes to fuel their employer value propositions, but how are they actually bringing that purpose to life? Focus-areas relevant a few years ago, like employee well-being and flexible working conditions, have become baseline expectations.
2024’s top employer brands will go beyond the performative, closing the gap between their actions and employees’ expectations. People are worried about the future and want to work for companies that are actually doing something about it.
Personalized growth
The pandemic prompted several people to reflect on and re-evaluate the work they do (hello, Great Resignation, quiet quitting and now, conscious quitting). Put short: people are feeling unfulfilled. Studies show that fulfillment at work is just as important as higher pay when people consider a job change.
2024 invites a holistic and individualized approach to professional and personal growth; a time for organizations to start embracing employees’ passions inside and outside of the office - to create work environments where people can be their full selves.
AI applications
This year has seen several companies invest in data-driven tech to make their recruiting and talent management processes more efficient. However, data only tells one side of the story. The other is about creating a framework to convert the data into actionable insights. The next step? Generative AI applications. Imagine more personalized and immersive employee- and recruitment experiences, chatbots and virtual reality entering 2024.
Capabilities before expertise
Speaking of AI, what you know today might not be useful in 5-10 years. As the need for different competences is moving at a faster pace than ever before, companies have started to adopt skills-based hiring practices. Instead of looking for the “perfect” work experience or grade point average, companies are prioritizing a variety of skill sets and capabilities.
Enter: The emerging generalist, the people with a broad range of experience, training, and thinking that make them well suited to tackle the challenges of rapidly evolving workplaces. Predicting that this hiring trend will continue, 2024’s employer branding will represent and include a broader spectrum of people - different skills, backgrounds and experiences.
Hannah Magnusson, strategist at Spoon.
hannah.magnusson@spoon.se