How to audit your employer brand

Auditing your employer brand is one of the most reliable ways to understand how people see your organisation. 

It shows you what current employees value, how candidates interpret your messaging and where your reputation may be helping or holding back your hiring efforts. 

A clear audit gives you evidence, not assumptions, so you can make changes that strengthen your brand and improve how you attract and retain talent.

In this blog, we explain what an employer brand audit involves, why it matters and the steps you can take to review your internal and external reputation.

What is an employer brand audit?

An employer brand audit is a detailed review of how your organisation is perceived as a place to work, both internally by employees and externally by candidates. It benchmarks your current reputation, highlights strengths and weaknesses, and shows where you can improve your ability to attract and retain talent. 

An audit examines recruitment channels, careers content, social media, review platforms and internal feedback to identify the gap between your desired employer brand and the experience people actually have. 

This helps you understand whether your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is clear, consistent and credible.

Completing an audit gives you a factual starting point for improving your employer brand. It replaces guesswork with real insight, which makes it easier to refine your messaging, strengthen your candidate experience and create a workplace that better reflects your values. 

For hiring teams and senior leaders, it provides a clear view of what people think about your organisation today and where small changes could have a measurable impact.

Why audits matter

An audit provides the clarity many employers lack when trying to improve their reputation. It shows how employees feel about working for you, how candidates experience your hiring process and how your organisation is presented across public channels. This helps you identify issues early, before they affect attraction, engagement or retention.

The insight gained also supports stronger hiring. When you understand why candidates engage or disengage, which messages resonate and where your reputation may be weaker, you can adjust your approach with confidence. This makes your recruitment marketing, careers content and interview process more aligned with what candidates value.

How audits differ from employer brand building

Employer brand building focuses on shaping perception. It includes developing your EVP, refining your careers messaging and promoting your culture through content and communication. An audit is different because it focuses on understanding the present before you decide what to change.

A strong audit comes first because it gives you the evidence needed to build a better brand. It shows where expectations match reality and where they do not. This prevents you from investing in messaging that does not reflect the true employee experience and ensures your employer brand remains credible and consistent across every stage of the hiring process.

How to audit your employer brand

Auditing your employer brand gives you a clear picture of how well your organisation attracts, engages and retains talent. This section breaks down each step so you can carry out a structured review and collect insight you can use straight away.

Set clear audit goals

Start by defining what you want your audit to uncover. Your goals might include understanding how candidates view your hiring process, how employees describe your culture or whether your careers site reflects your EVP. Clear goals help you focus your review and avoid collecting data that does not support practical decisions.

When speaking to hiring managers and leadership teams, agree on the outcomes you want to measure. This could include attraction, engagement, employee experience or talent retention. A shared set of goals makes your audit easier to manage and ensures that any improvements you make have support across the business.

Collect internal employee feedback

Your employees are one of the most reliable sources of insight about your employer brand. Their experience shapes your reputation, influences retention and affects how they speak about your organisation externally. Collect feedback through surveys, interviews or small group discussions to understand what is working well and what needs attention.

Focus your questions on clarity of communication, culture, leadership, progression and wellbeing. These themes often reveal gaps between your intended brand and daily experience. Honest feedback helps you take a realistic view of your strengths and identify areas that may be limiting attraction or engagement.

Review your external reputation

Candidates often form their first impression of your organisation before they apply. Review external platforms such as review sites, social channels, industry forums and job boards to understand how your reputation appears publicly. Look for patterns in comments about culture, management, progression and candidate experience.

Take note of the tone as well as the content. If reviews feel inconsistent with the culture you aim to promote, this is a signal that your employer brand may not be aligned with experience. Understanding external perception helps you refine messaging, improve transparency and address the areas candidates value most.

Assess your careers site and job ads

Your careers site and job adverts play a major role in how candidates understand your brand. Review your content to check whether it clearly communicates your values, EVP, benefits and workplace expectations. Candidates want clarity about hybrid working, progression and culture before they apply, so these details must be easy to find.

Look at your job adverts with fresh eyes. Are they clear, relevant and focused on what matters to candidates in your market? If they feel unclear, overly long or inconsistent, they may not reflect the brand you want to present. Improving your career's content is one of the quickest ways to strengthen attraction.

Analyse competitor brands

Understanding how other employers in your market present themselves helps you see where your brand stands out and where it may fall behind. Review their careers sites, social content, role descriptions and benefits. Focus on employers who hire similar skill sets rather than general competitors.

You are not trying to replicate their approach. The aim is to identify differences in messaging, progression, flexibility or culture that may influence candidate decisions. Competitor analysis helps you benchmark your brand and refine your positioning so that it speaks clearly to the people you want to attract.

Evaluate key employer brand metrics

Your audit should include measurable indicators of how your brand is performing. Useful metrics include application numbers, offer acceptance rates, employee referral rates, time-to-hire trends and retention figures. Together, these show whether your employer brand is supporting or slowing your hiring goals.

Review metrics alongside qualitative feedback to get a balanced view. For example, a low referral rate may indicate issues with engagement, while long hiring timelines may signal that your brand is not resonating with the right candidates. Metrics help you track progress and measure the impact of any improvements you make.

Identify gaps and opportunities

Once you have gathered internal and external insight, bring your findings together to highlight the gaps between your intended brand and lived experience. These gaps often relate to communication, consistency, culture, progression or the clarity of your EVP. They provide a focused list of areas where change will have the most impact.

Look for strengths too. Many employers overlook the positive parts of their culture simply because they happen naturally. These strengths should be brought into your careers messaging, interview process and role descriptions. Clear opportunities help you shape an employer brand that feels authentic and competitive.

Create an improvement plan

Your audit should end with an actionable plan that sets out priority areas, clear ownership and realistic timelines. Break improvements into short, medium and long-term steps so your teams can make progress without feeling overwhelmed. Even small changes, such as updating job adverts or improving candidate communication, can make a noticeable difference.

Share your findings with leadership teams, hiring managers and HR so everyone understands what needs to change and why. When your improvement plan is supported across the business, your employer brand becomes more consistent and credible, which strengthens your ability to attract and retain talent.

Auditing your employer brand gives you a clear, honest view of how your organisation is perceived by candidates and employees. With the right insight, you can refine your messaging, strengthen engagement and create a better experience across every stage of hiring.

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