Takeaways from Q4 Research on Employer Branding

Chris Hoyt: Is anybody else losing their mind that it’s February?

Gerry Crispin: No. January was just totally overwhelming from my perspective. So many things happening.

Chris Hoyt: I think January went in a flash. Claire, what about you? Regular January for you?

Claire Mason: Yeah, the older I get, the faster it goes. And since I’m another year older, we’re speeding through. I can’t believe it’s February. But the computer says 2/4 at 12:01, so like it or not, it’s over.

Chris Hoyt: Adam, did you fly through January? Business as usual?

Adam Glassman: No, not business as usual—flew through it. Claire, I love that your computer gives you the exact minute! It’s been very busy. Regular work stuff is a lot, but there’s also all the swirl around the country—politics, law changes. It’s made things even busier.

Chris Hoyt: It does feel like just the last couple of weeks have felt like a whole year. A lot has happened. Not even getting into politics, but the news cycle seems to slow time down.

Claire Mason: Yeah, a lot has happened. It gives us even more work to do in this space.

Adam Glassman: I’d rather be busy than bored.

Claire Mason: I’m with you there.

Chris Hoyt: TA mantra for sure. It’s all cycles and trends. It’ll be fine. They keep telling us it’ll be fine.

Alright, we’ve got some fun research to talk about today. We’ll do our best to steer clear of crazy politics. You guys ready to jump in?

All: Let’s do it.

Announcer: Welcome to the CXR channel, our premier podcast for talent acquisition and talent management. Listen in as the CXR community discusses a wide range of topics focused on attracting, engaging, and retaining the best talent. We’re glad you’re here.

Gerry Crispin: Happy February, Chris—and happy February to everyone listening.

Chris Hoyt: For those joining us, I’m Chris Hoyt, hosting today with Gerry Crispin. This is the Recruiting Community Podcast, where we bring insights and conversation around talent acquisition to the forefront of our industry.

Today, we have two professionals who are CXR community members and participated in a research project we launched last quarter. The report publishes later today and will be freely available. We’re diving into some highlights.

Also—big update—we have a new podcast bumper and music coming next week! I’m excited.

Alright, let’s bring in our guests—Claire Mason and Adam Glassman. Welcome to the show!

Claire Mason: Thank you, glad to be here.

Gerry Crispin: Good stuff. Love the comedy bit you’ve got going on.

Chris Hoyt: Adam, let’s start with you. Quick intro—who are you, and why was this research meaningful to you?

Adam Glassman: Thanks for having me. I’m Adam Glassman, Director of Marketing at Cox Enterprises in Atlanta. I’ve been in the employment branding and recruitment marketing space since before it even had a name. I’ve worked on the agency side and the client side. I love this space. At Cox, I get to work on advanced marketing strategies, but employer branding and recruitment marketing remain a passion. So I was excited to be part of the study and the conversation.

Chris Hoyt: Awesome. We’re grateful you joined us. Claire, how about you?

Claire Mason: Hi everyone—so happy to be here with my CareerXroads family. I’m Claire Mason, Employer Brand Manager at BASF Corp. I set and execute our employer brand strategy and drive global initiatives that highlight what makes BASF a great place to work.

I joined the research because I’m passionate about building workplace cultures that attract, retain, and engage top talent. The panel discussions were rich with insights that fuel that work.

Chris Hoyt: Fantastic. For those who aren’t familiar, we do quarterly research. This recent one was about strategic employer branding. We worked with experts like Claire and Adam, along with 30 to 50 panelists over five weeks, and produced a 30-page report.

The report is structured into four themes:

1. Employer Branding as a Strategic Differentiator

2. Evaluating and Refining Employer Branding

3. Aligning Employer Branding with Broader Corporate Strategies

4. Employer Branding as a Strategic Leadership Priority

Gerry, did any topic stand out to you?

Gerry Crispin: I was really interested in how we’re evolving the definitions of recruitment marketing and employer branding. The discussions on whether they are silos or integrated were particularly insightful.

Chris Hoyt: Claire, any standout takeaways or aha moments for you?

Claire Mason: Definitely. What really resonated was elevating employer branding as a strategic differentiator—bringing it to the leadership table like we once did with HR. It’s interdisciplinary: marketing, HR, comms, recruiting—all must come together.

At BASF, a large, global company, it can feel overwhelming. But I found comfort in knowing others have similar challenges—things like measuring impact, separating employer brand from corporate brand, or integrating them.

One big takeaway for me: don’t boil the ocean. I’m building a dashboard to show how our employer branding impacts business objectives. But I’m focusing on just one or two impactful metrics to start, rather than trying to do it all at once.

Chris Hoyt: I remember that being a great conversation—especially around aligning metrics to business strategy. I was surprised how many respondents said their metrics were still relatively soft in that alignment.

Claire Mason: Right. We look at lots of metrics, but it’s key to separate operational ones from what leaders care about—retention, quality of hire, etc. Getting buy-in and alignment on that is critical.

Chris Hoyt: And at a big company, those relationships outside of TA can be hard to build—like with consumer brand teams whose goals differ from ours.

Claire Mason: Yes. At BASF, we’re aligning well with corporate strategy. We have a global employer branding team that’s helping drive cohesion and give countries like the US a strong voice in the overall strategy. It’s not without bumps, but we’re getting there.

Adam Glassman: I think that speaks to something else we saw in the research—there are best practices, but your strategy must be customized to your company’s size, talent needs, and maturity. A global enterprise will approach EB very differently than a local company.

Claire Mason: Exactly. I always say it’s like making a sandwich—you’ve got to marry top-level strategy with on-the-ground execution. Different layers, all working together.

Chris Hoyt: I’m hungry now. But it’s a good analogy!

Claire Mason: It’s my go-to analogy. Maybe I need a new one.

Chris Hoyt: We also asked whether companies rely more on consumer brand or employer brand to attract talent. Around 42% said consumer brand, while 44% said it was equal—so that alignment is clearly happening in some places.

Adam Glassman: I’ve got a made-up stat for you. Probably 10–20% of companies are doing employer branding really well. Another 50–60% are trying hard but facing challenges. The remaining 20–30% aren’t giving it real effort—and they’ll fall behind.

Claire Mason: I’m glad I’m not in that last group! But yes, it’s about helping everyone understand that EB isn’t just one person’s job. Everyone influences the brand, and I’m here to highlight the strengths and push for improvements.

Gerry Crispin: Adam’s made-up stat made me think we should create a maturity index for employer branding. Something we could use in future research.

Adam Glassman: I’d love that. And I’d love to see conferences structured by EB maturity—beginners, advanced, and everything in between.

Gerry Crispin: Agreed. TA Week should be listening right now!

Chris Hoyt: We also asked whether the C-suite prioritizes employer branding more now than three years ago. Some interesting discussion emerged, and I think measuring long-term outcomes like retention or candidate quality is key to gaining and sustaining buy-in.

Adam Glassman: I agree. But it’s hard—these are long-term plays, and there are so many variables. You can’t hold EB accountable for bad bosses or compensation issues. But EB can elevate those conversations to leadership.

Claire Mason: Exactly. I look at the candidate and employee journey and where we can influence. If we can show value in one part of the business, we can build from there. It becomes a report card, helping leaders see where we’re moving the needle.

Chris Hoyt: Well said. The full report will be available later today at cxr.works/research. It’s free, so take it back to your teams, dig in, and let us know what you think.

Also—based on the last two research projects, we’ve launched a new Talent Brand community. It’s at talentbrand.community—a private, invite-only space for EB and RM professionals. Free to join, and it’s already active with great conversations.

Claire Mason: I love that. That conversation you mentioned—we’re having it internally too. I need to hop in and invite some folks!

Chris Hoyt: Before we go, a little tradition. Adam, if you wrote a book about this topic, what would the title be?

Adam Glassman: Hmm… maybe The Most Meaningful Aspect of a Company That Many Didn’t Pay Attention To.

Chris Hoyt: And who gets the first signed copy?

Adam Glassman: Two of my leaders at Cox—they’ve been incredibly supportive of employer branding, and it’s been foundational to our success.

Chris Hoyt: Claire, your turn. What’s your book title?

Claire Mason: Maybe Finding Balance: The Right Mix of Employment Culture and Authentic Storytelling.

Chris Hoyt: And first signed copy goes to…?

Claire Mason: If my mom were alive, it would go to her. But I’d give it to Uda Schultz, who helped establish our global EB team, and to my leaders Lydia Everett and Jen Dwyer—they’ve placed a lot of trust in me.

Chris Hoyt: Beautiful. Huge thanks to both of you for being here and for your work on this research. We’re lucky to have your expertise.

Claire Mason: Thanks for having us.

Chris Hoyt: Past and future episodes can be found at cxr.works/podcast. Reach out if you’d like to connect with our guests or get involved in the community. We’ll see you next week.

Claire Mason: Bye everyone!

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the CXR channel. Please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. Learn more at cxr.works or follow us @careerxroads. Catch you next time.