The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has published an article that highlights a new study from Cielo and HRO Today that found that employer brand becomes more important as workers age.

The key statistic from the survey of 578 people is that 73% of millennial and Generation Z workers are willing to leave their current job for a position at a company with a bad reputation, compared to less than 60% of Gen Xers or Baby Boomers.

Michail Takach, Cielo’s Global Digital Director of Brand and Social, is quoted extensively, lending insight into how workers of all ages relate to employer brand.

Excerpt from the article:

Millennials are able to separate their personal brand from their employer's professional brand, said Michail Takach, director of Cielo's employer brand practice group. "Because of their comfort with that separation, they can consider one employer brand from multiple angles, accepting both the ugly flaws and the gorgeous facets, without rejecting the whole company." …

"Candidates now shop for jobs the same way they shop online, with sites like Glassdoor and Indeed among their first reference points," Takach said. "Employers no longer control what's being said about the employee experience, nor can they hide from the conversation. The best thing an HR department can do is engage with negative online reviews." …

Takach said that successful brands today aren't just reacting to negative reviews, they're assembling smart reputation management strategies that combine humility, transparency and accountability. "HR teams are encouraging employees to write reviews that tell the true story of the brand," he said.

"They've claimed their pages on these platforms and created digital experiences that build trust and credibility. They're learning from negative posts, rather than silencing them. They're publishing positive cultural content—photos, videos, testimonials that balance out the negative noise."

Visit SHRM.org to read the entire article