According to a recent study by LinkedIn, 59 percent oforganizations intend to invest more in employer brand this yearthan last. But, what exactly are these employers investing in?

Related: 5 ways to keep your employees happy andloyal

The concept of employer brand is one that has been floated formany years, but few employers seem to grasp that brand is more thana set of steps that you can follow in order to make your employeeslike you. Brand is what makes your organization uniquely yourorganization — a distinction that makes current and futureemployees prefer to work for your company.

But brand is more than simply fun outings or after workget-togethers. Brand is more than the way you run your Twitteraccount. Employer brand is how people holistically think of workingat your company. It’s how they talk about the day-to-day, and notjust the fun times.

Brand is how your managers interact with your employees, and howyour employees feel that they are treated — and how that treatmenttranslates into the way that employees recommend your organizationto others.

It’s a lot harder to invest in something like “how my managerstreat others” then it is to invest in a new foosball table, butit’s the first investment that will truly count when it comes timeto evaluate how your employees and future candidates feel aboutworking for your company.

Consider the following: 69 percent of out-of-work job seekers wouldn’t takea job with a company that has a bad reputation and 75 percent of exiting employees wouldn’t recommendtheir organization. If so many of your former employees arepotentially denigrating your reputation, you stand to miss out onkey talent that would have otherwise applied to your openpositions.

So, how can you build an impenetrable employer brand?

Here are three critical points in the employee lifecycle toconsider:

Onboarding

The first 90 days can make or break an employee’s opinion ofyour organization. How your team sets expectations, educates newemployees and assimilates employees into their culture can weighheavily in determining a new hire’s opinion of yourorganization.

Related: 15 ways to help new employees feel athome

Starting a new job can be incredibly intimidating, and, whileyou hopefully made your hire with confidence in that person’sability to hit the ground running, it’s helpful to take the time toramp that employee up.

Do you have training and development videos or workshops to helpthe employee understand how to navigate processes and expectations?Does that employee have one-on-ones with their new teammates tounderstand their role in relation to the rest of the team ororganization? And do you take time to introduce your employee tothe company’s culture? Does your employee have all of the toolsthey need to be successful once they begin, including hardware andsoftware? (You’d be surprised how often the last one isoverlooked!)

Onboarding is so much more than just signing the paperwork. Evenif you don’t have the time and resources to roll out a red carpeteach time an employee joins the company, they should feel as if youdo. Even something as simple as a team lunch to welcome them and afunctioning computer warmed up and ready to go can go a long waytoward making a new employee feel valued and at home.

Career development

When you hire an employee, you’re often looking for someone tofill a specific job requisition, but, these days, people want tofeel like more than just job descriptions. You may be looking atyour hires to carry out a single role, but they are looking at youto help them develop a career.

Related: Millennials want benefits, challenges, andopportunities

Even if mobility is not your first priority, helping youremployees develop themselves, should they want to, can give yourorganization a brand boost.

At least a quarter of employees say that they would be moresatisfied at work if they had opportunities for career growth, and both engagement andretention rise when you show employees a path to remaining withinthe organization while continuing to build their skills.

Employees who are denied the ability to grow their careers maybecome bitter; they may choose to exit the organization out offrustration, and then go on to leave a negative review of theorganization on a website like Glassdoor or vent to friends orfamily members about their experience.

No, you may not be able to internally promote every employee,but you can take an active interest in their development, whetherby allocating funds for certifications, conferences and classes;offering time off for training; or implementing a mentoringprogram, whether formal or informal.

Show your employees that you value them, by investing in theircareers. Even if they don’t stay at your organization forever, theywill be more likely to refer other talent or leave glowing reviewsof your company when and where it counts.

Offboarding

In some cases, how you transition employees out of the companycan be as or more important than how you bring them in.

Related: Workers skills slipping, but who’s toblame?

While an exiting employee may no longer be top of mind, yourorganization may remain top of mind for them, especially if theyare on the receiving end of a layoff.

Layoffs don’t have to be a negative event, however; while no onelikes to lose a job, if your organization handles notification andtransition well, you may at least repair the relationship withemployees and create brand ambassadors and promoters.

Two tips for improving outcomes during a layoff include trainingyour managers to give notification and offeringoutplacement.

Delivering a layoff notification takes finesse and skill, andmost managers will not have had prior experience and/or training inproperly communicating with an impacted employee. Not only does alack of training leave the affected employee in a negative state ofmind, but it also puts your manager into an uncomfortable situationthat can make them feel equally burdened by the event.

Invest time in training managers so that they feel fullyprepared to head into this difficult meeting and so that they canprepare your impacted employees for a successfultransition.

As for the transition itself, make sure that your employees knowthat you plan to take care of them, even if they must leave theorganization. Offer outplacement that includes career coaching,emotional resiliency, resume support, and effective tools for jobsearching, networking and interviewing.

If you create opportunities for laid off employees to besuccessful and let them know that your investment in theirwell-being continues even after they have left the company, theymay remain in your talent pipeline as rehires, refer friends andfamily members to open positions in the future or even becomecustomers or partners of the organization in their nextrole.

Outplacement can go a long way toward continuing to foster agood relationship with your employees, even after they have leftthe organization. This is important, because they remainrepresentatives of your brand, even if they are no longer activelyemployed by the company.

You have so many opportunities to improve your employer brand atimportant touch points in each employee’s lifecycle. Don’t squanderthose opportunities by rushing to “meet the bottom line.” Employeesneed to be onboarded, trained, and supported through transition.Show them that you want to set them up for success in theircareers, and you will do more for your employees than a foosballtable ever will.