Despite employee engagement being the current buzzword, an international employer brand survey has found that only six out of 10 employers have a formal employer branding effort in place.

One possible reason is that employer brand programmes can be hard to justify to the bottom-line. Only a quarter (24%) of respondents noted that their organisations were able to measure their employer brand in terms of recruitment and retention. Even fewer, one in eight (13%) indicated that the value of their employer brand is calibrated by their overall company performance.

Progress is being made, however. Just over one-third (35%) of respondents who do not have an employer brand programme in place said there were plans to formalise existing ad hoc branding efforts and two-thirds (66%) did hope to have an employer brand programme in place within the next five years.

The survey, conducted by talent solutions business Barnard Hodes, questioned more than 500 HR executives.