Faye Longhurst, Canva's regional people lead for Europe, told HR magazine: “It’s clear that personal branding isn’t just essential for candidates – it’s equally important for companies to strengthen their employer brand. Candidates are increasingly drawn to creative and innovative companies with a strong digital presence.”
Longhurst recommends that employers use a multimedia approach, aided by AI tools.
She said: “Multimedia features like interactive presentations and video introductions allow a company’s culture to shine authentically. Videos can also be a great way to spotlight specific departments internally and introduce team members, while infographics can help to better convey key company data.”
Read more: The new path to high-level HR
She recommended capitalising on AI tools to create these more quickly.
The Canva team's research, published last week, revealed that 79% of UK hiring managers use AI to create visual materials that help onboard new hires.
Longhurst said: “Access to branded assets and AI templates enables hiring managers to quickly scale impactful content while remaining within brand guidelines, and helps to curate the most effective format, style, and tone to communicate with new team members.”
She also recommended that HR professionals maintain a consistent personal brand “to attract top talent while also building wider industry credibility and networking opportunities".
An effective way to do this can be through social media, said Georgina Kelly, founder of the consultancy GK HR Networks, and the Women In HR Network.
More than half of UK hiring managers (65%) scope out candidates’ social media profiles most, if not all, of the time, and 93% of UK hiring managers value candidates that have established a social media or online presence related to their career.
On the latest episode of the HR Most Influential Podcast, Kelly told HR magazine: “LinkedIn is the most important asset we can use in terms of improving our personal brand, certainly within this industry. But it can be hard to find the time. HR is used to doing the head hunting rather than being head hunted!”
Read more: Is social media the key to recruiting young people?
Kelly recommended that HR professionals start by making sure their profile is fully up to date and that they have completed the skills section of their LinkedIn profile.
“Make sure your location is up-to-date,” she added. “Make sure that your job title is up-to-date. And the big thing, because a lot of the recruiter side of LinkedIn looks at this, is skills.
“There is a skills section on your profile, and that's how a lot of search happens, by actually putting those skills in.”
It can also be useful to add recommendations, and make sure that you are only connecting with people that “align with what you’re looking to achieve”, she said.
Canva's research found that 84% of UK job seekers post on social media to brand themselves as industry experts. More than half (52%) post about their current job, or business trends.
The best time to start boosting your personal brand is now, rather than when you are looking for a role, Kelly said.
She added: “It’s an insight into your values, your leadership style, and what you're passionate about. In terms of raising your profile and giving yourself a professional presence, you don't have to do a huge amount; [but] carve out a bit of time to nurture [your brand].
“Then, when it comes to a period where you are probably looking to transition your career or you're looking for a more senior position, that work is already done.”
Canva partnered with the research company Sago to survey 4,200 hiring managers and 6,000 job seekers across 10 countries: the US, UK, Australia, India, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico and Brazil. Insights were published on 15 January 2024.
Listen to more of Georgina Kelly's insights on our podcast.