The new year is fast approaching, meaning it is time for HR professionals across the UK to look back at their progress in 2016 and think about their priorities for the coming 12 months.

For recruitment teams, one of the best ways of keeping your company ahead of the game is by looking at upcoming trends and assessing how you compare to your peers.

With that in mind, at LinkedIn we have launched our latest Global Recruiting Trends survey, which saw us speak to more than 4,000 professionals working in talent acquisition in the UK about their priorities for 2017.

The result is a detailed picture of the current recruitment landscape and what finding – and competing for – the best talent will look like over the next 12 months.

We found that employer brand has become far more important for businesses. In our report, 80% of recruiters say employer brand is a priority for their companies in 2017, compared to just 64% who put it at the top of the list last year.

Our research also shows that more than 85% of business leaders claim that employer brand will have a significant impact on their company’s ability to hire talent next year.

Despite the increasing significance businesses are putting on employer brand, our report also shows that only 17% of recruiters claim that their HR and marketing teams work together to promote employer brand and 23% say that their recruiting team has little to no involvement in employer brand activity at all.

85% of business leaders claim that employer brand will have a significant impact on their company’s ability to hire talent next year.

This is a huge dip from last year, where over half (59%) of recruiters surveyed said they worked with marketing on employer brand programmes.

For employers to build a brand that can attract the best talent in 2017, HR and marketing teams need to work together to ensure that their company stands out from the crowd.

So, as we head into a new year, how can you make sure that you are doing this?

Involve everyone

Implementing and encouraging a joined-up approach to employer brand across your business requires all stakeholders to be involved in every stage of the process.

Whilst it’s important for everyone to be involved in employer brand, key to the success of any initiative is having someone to own it.

Investment in – and dedication to – employer brand cannot be equal for HR and marketing if one is not included in decisions and discussions from the very beginning.

Our research shows that recruitment budgets are expected to stay flat for 2017, which makes it particularly important that recruitment and marketing teams are sharing the cost of employer brand – and making sure there’s dedicated budget available.

A new year is the perfect time to reset the employer brand balance in your business. Leaders should make sure that they invite representatives from both HR and marketing to talent brand kick-off brainstorms and strategy sessions.

Own it

Whilst it’s important for everyone to be involved in employer brand, key to the success of any initiative is having someone to own it.

When it comes to employer brand, this person should be somebody with knowledge of both HR and marketing and experience working with both teams.

Our research shows that more than half of professionals consider a company’s values when it comes to accepting a job offer.

Without a dedicated person or small team in place, vital steps such as getting the support of the CEO, the leadership team and allocating work across teams simply won’t happen.

Remember what you stand for

Our research shows that more than half of professionals consider a company’s values when it comes to accepting a job offer.

It’s important for your employer brand to communicate your company’s values and purpose effectively, as this will help to emotionally connect with and recruit the right sort of talent for your business.

Communicating values is also where HR and marketing working together can really help; HR will understand the employees of the organisation and what matters to them and marketing will have expertise in communicating messages and making sure they’re seen by the right people.

One way of showing what you stand for is by involving your existing employees in your employer brand efforts.

Communicating values is also where HR and marketing working together can really help

It’s often difficult to buy into a company’s self-promotion and people are sceptical when a company endlessly posts about the awards they’ve won, and the things they’ve achieved. However – people do trust their network.

So, in order to effectively communicate your employer brand, it’s important that HR and marketing work together to use tools such as your employees’ social media channels to show why you are a great place for top talent to work.

Don’t go it alone

For businesses to create an employer brand that attracts – and retains – the best professionals, you can’t go it alone.

Whilst HR and marketing should take the lead on employer brand, it is important to remember that building and evolving how you communicate as a business to top talent also requires the knowledge of a diverse range of specialists such as website analysts, creative designers and market researchers – to name a few.

By making your employer brand a top priority for your business across your business, you can dramatically improve your chances of successfully recruiting your next star employee in 2017.