The Power of Employer Branding: Why Your Company Reputation Matters

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If your company had to attract top-tier talent tomorrow with zero recruitment budget, would your reputation be enough?

In today’s market, your brand as an employer carries just as much weight as your products, services or leadership team. And in many cases, it’s the deciding factor for whether great candidates choose you… or quietly opt out.

Let’s be real. Even the best salaries and job descriptions struggle to shine if they’re sitting under the shadow of a poor Glassdoor rating, outdated hiring processes or radio silence post-interview.

The Fintech Industry: Why It Matters Even More Here

In financial services, more specifically in the Funds and Trading space – everyone knows everyone.

It’s a surprisingly small (and well connected) market. Candidates are digging deep. They’re looking up Glassdoor reviews, stalking your company’s social channels, even asking ex-employees in their network for the real goss.

 

They want to know:
  • What’s the culture actually like?
  • How long do people really stay?
  • Why did three team members leave in six months?
  • Is the hiring manager known to develop talent, or burn it out?

Let’s be honest – people love a whinge more than a win. One bad experience gets shared more than ten good ones. And in a world of DMs, slack chats and industry meetups, bad news travels fast.

If the root of the problem is a particular team or manager, that’s something that needs to be tackled head-on. Patterns of exit? That’s not coincidence – it’s culture.

 

What Candidates Are Saying Behind the Scenes

We hear it daily:

  • “The role sounded great, but their socials look like a ghost town.”
  • “Glassdoor was full of red flags.”
  • “I was keen, but then I heard from a friend of a friend who worked there…”
  • “I interviewed there 5 years ago and didn’t have a good experience”
  • “I did 4 rounds of interviews then I never heard back”

Candidates don’t just research your company – they investigate it. And increasingly, employer brand is as much about how you treat people as what you offer them. This also applies to the agenciesyou decide to partner with. How do they represent your company? What is their candidate care and process like? This can also badly damage your brand.

So if you haven’t checked your reputation lately, it might be time.

 

Why Employer Branding Is a Business Strategy

This isn’t just HR fluff. Strong employer brands:

  • Attract top talent
  • Improve retention and internal mobility
  • Build reputations that boost client trust and partnerships
  • Help future-proof your team during growth and transformation

You don’t need to be perfect – you just need to be honest, consistent and willing to listen.

 

✅ 5 Things to Check Now

Here’s a quick health check for any leadership team or HR:

  1. Glassdoor Reviews – When was the last time you read them? If people are leaving negative reviews, what are you doing about it? And we aren’t talking a generic response to “look good”.
  2. Exit Interviews– Are you doing them? Who is conducting them? Are you listening – or just ticking the box?
  3. Social Presence – Do your socials reflect what it’s actually like to work there? Or are they stuck in 2010?
  4. Retention Rates– How long are your people staying and why are they leaving? You don’t want generic responses “I left for more money”, there’s always a deeper issue.
  5. Leadership Impact – Are certain managers seeing more turnover than others? If so, what support or change is being provided?

Your employer brand exists whether you choose to shape it or not. So if you’re not in control of the narrative, someone else is and that’s rarely a good thing.

If you’re curious about how your company is perceived in the market or want to build a more consistent employer brand story, I’d be happy to share what we’re seeing in the Fintech space.

Shannon Stobbs – Manager – LinkedIn

Kapital Consulting is a niche Fintech Recruitment Business specialising in Technology, Project Services and Data Recruitment across Australia. For more information connect with us on www.kapitalconsulting.com.au and follow us on www.linkedin.com/company/kapital-consulting