How to craft an employer brand that resonates

Employer branding is too often confused with marketing gloss. A slick careers page, a beer fridge, and a few #LifeAtCompany posts don’t cut it anymore.

Today’s candidates are savvy. They look past surface-level perks and judge you by your culture, your transparency, and how you treat employees in reality. 

The stakes are high. LinkedIn research shows 75% of candidates consider an employer’s brand before applying.

This article looks at what candidates actually value, how SMEs can compete with bigger players, and how to align your brand with reality so it builds trust rather than suspicion.

Flashy perks don’t define your brand

Too many companies equate employer brand with perks. Free lunches, ping pong tables, and yoga sessions make good Instagram posts but they don’t move the needle on retention.

What matters more is how people feel about working for you:

• Do they believe in the mission?
• Do they feel respected and supported?
• Do they see opportunities to grow?

Perks can sweeten the deal, but they won’t fix cultural cracks. 

If anything, they can backfire, and employees can see them as a distraction if pay, progression, or leadership fall short.

An employer brand is built on substance, not shiny extras.

What candidates actually value

When candidates weigh up a role, they’re looking for more than salary. 

The data is clear:

• Mission and purpose: 71% of professionals would take a pay cut to work at a company that shares their values (McKinsey).
• Transparency: Glassdoor found that pay transparency boosts trust and candidate attraction.
• Growth opportunities: Lack of career development is consistently a top reason people leave jobs.
• Flexibility: Remote and hybrid options are now table stakes, not perks.

For SMEs, this is good news. You may not match enterprise salaries, but you can offer something more compelling: a sense of purpose, visible impact, and faster growth paths.

Authenticity beats scale

Big brands spend millions on employer branding, but their size often works against them. Cultures feel corporate, processes slow, and employees anonymous.

SMEs can punch above their weight by leaning into authenticity. That means:

• Sharing candid employee stories instead of polished PR.
• Being upfront about challenges as well as successes.
• Letting candidates meet future teammates early in the process.

Authenticity builds trust, and trust is what wins candidates who want more than just a job title.

A framework for building a resonant employer brand

How do you move beyond marketing fluff and craft an employer brand that genuinely resonates? 

Here’s a simple framework:

1. Define your promise. Clarify what your company stands for and what employees can expect in return for their contribution. Make this about values and growth, not perks.
2. Align with reality. Look at your current culture. If your open culture claim doesn’t match employee experience, fix the gap before promoting it.
3. Make it visible. Showcase your culture through transparent job descriptions, team content, and leadership visibility.
4. Embed ownership. Tie your employer brand to meaningful benefits like share schemes, which show employees they share in the company’s success.
5. Close the loop. Gather feedback from candidates and employees to refine your message and ensure it remains credible.

This framework ensures your employer brand isn’t just an external promise. 

Employee share schemes: the ultimate brand signal

One of the strongest ways to prove your employer brand is real is by offering ownership. Equity schemes aren’t just financial incentives; they’re a tangible signal that you back your people and want them to share in the upside.

Candidates see equity as more meaningful than free lunches because it ties their future to the company’s. It says: we’re in this together.

That’s why so many high-growth companies use share schemes as part of their employer brand strategy. It builds loyalty and attracts ambitious people who want skin in the game.

Summary

Employer brand isn’t about perks or polish. It’s about substance, mission, growth, transparency, and ownership.

Growing companies have a real advantage here. You can offer candidates authenticity, impact, and flexibility in ways corporates struggle to match.

Craft your employer brand by focusing on what truly resonates: a clear promise, alignment with reality, and meaningful benefits like equity. Do that, and you’ll build a brand that not only attracts talent but keeps them.