Most employers are now doing something to strengthen their employer brand. Far fewer can tell you whether it is working. That gap matters more than it might seem. When budgets are under pressure, an employer brand that cannot show its value is often the first thing to be cut, even if it is quietly doing its job.

New UK research from the CIPD shows how wide the gap is. Here is what the data says, what it means for employers in the UK, Australia and beyond, and how to build an employer brand you can measure and improve.

Employers are investing in their employer brand

The CIPD’s latest survey of 1,014 UK-based HR and people professionals, carried out from 2 April to 2 May 2026, found that most organisations took some action to improve their employer brand over the last year. The most common actions were increasing flexible working opportunities (31%), improving the work environment (28%), and improving career development options, making pay and benefits more competitive, and refreshing or promoting their values (27% each). Only 20% said they had taken no action (Source: CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026, September 2026).

Flexibility has become a central part of the offer. The CIPD reports that 71% of roles are now advertised as flexible, and recommends that employers rebalance their employee value propositions “from pay alone to total experience”, with flexibility, development and wellbeing increasingly key differentiators.

The picture is similar in Australia. In August 2025, 36% of employed people usually worked from home, and 30% of employees had an agreement to work flexible hours (Source: ABS Working arrangements, August 2025). For employers hiring in both markets, flexibility is now an expectation to be explained clearly, not a perk to be mentioned in passing.

The measurement gap

Here is the problem. Only 14% of UK organisations in the CIPD survey had taken steps to measure the impact of their employer brand. Just 13% monitored feedback received through other websites such as Glassdoor and social media, and only 7% acted on that feedback (Source: CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026, September 2026). The CIPD notes that, as in previous years, relatively few organisations take these steps.

In other words, many employers are changing their offer and their messaging without a clear way of knowing what has landed with candidates. Without measurement, it is hard to decide where to invest next, hard to defend the budget and easy to keep repeating messages that are not working.

Your people are your most credible channel

The same research shows that some of the most credible employer brand tools are still underused. Only 16% of organisations focused on employee-led content, and just 6% created brand ambassador programmes to encourage internal engagement. Only 15% developed or enhanced their corporate careers website (Source: CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026, September 2026).

Candidates are already reading what your people say about you on review sites, LinkedIn and in conversations with friends. They are also increasingly asking AI assistants what it is like to work for you, and those tools draw on the content they can find. If you are not shaping and listening to that conversation, someone else is.

How to build an employer brand you can measure

You do not need a large budget to close the measurement gap. Start with a few simple steps:

  • Agree what success looks like. Choose three or four measures linked to your hiring goals, such as applications from priority candidate groups, offer acceptance rates, early leaver rates or referral hires.
  • Set a baseline now. Record where those measures stand today so you can show change after each campaign or update to your offer.
  • Listen to external feedback. Review what candidates and employees say on review sites and social media every month, and agree who responds and how.
  • Act on what you hear. Share themes with leaders and fix the issues that come up most often. This is where most employers stop short.
  • Give your people a voice. Support employees to share real stories about their work, and feature them on your careers site and social channels.
  • Tailor messages to the roles that matter. The CIPD recommends refining employer brand messaging “to better engage talent in hard-to-fill roles”, tailored to the motivations, skills and expectations of priority candidate groups.

Conclusion

Investing in your employer brand is only half the job. The employers who stand out in 2026 and beyond will be the ones who measure what is working, listen to what candidates and employees are saying, and act on it. In the UK, Australia and international markets, that discipline turns employer branding from a nice-to-have into something leaders can see, trust and keep funding.

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Want an employer brand you can measure and prove? Get in touch with RMG to talk about your employer brand, EVP and how to track what is really working.