At a time when turnover is gaining importance, it is important to master the various issues of the employer brand. This concept is a growing concern for companies.
Its development is now one of the major priorities of HR, marketing and communication teams. In particular, it requires real expertise, great intellectual agility and a greater sense of creativity.
To better understand the challenges of employer branding for a company, it is necessary to have an idea of what this notion means concretely.
Employer branding: What is it?
The employer brand is a concept that refers to all the actions implemented to improve the image and reputation of a company. Its objective is to make the latter attractive to the public in general and potential employees in particular.
Starting in the early 2000s, the concept of employer branding has become democratized in recent years in companies. The growing interest of these countries in this notion has been accelerated in particular by the health crisis and the changes it has caused.
Today, all companies feel concerned by the employer brand: from VSEs / SMEs to startups, including large groups. They gradually discover its importance in the quest for talent as well as its adequacy with current expectations and customs.
Having become viral, especially with the democratization of digital, the employer brand is an excellent differentiator for companies and a response to the aspirations of young graduates.
It allows the company to become not only an employer of reference, but also to be considered as a good place to work.
It should be added, before mentioning its challenges, that the employer brand also includes the enhancement of a company’s culture, values and CSR commitments.
In view of all this, it is obvious that it intervenes both inside and outside the company. To this end, it is essentially based on the following four elements:
- What the company really is;
- What executives say about the company;
- What employees say about the company;
- What the public thinks of the company.
In addition, even if it is mainly related to human resources management, it should be noted that the employer brand involves several other departments of the company as part of its implementation. These include:
- Marketing Department;
- Communication Department.
The challenges of employer branding for a company
The challenges of employer branding for a company are numerous and focus mainly on issues related to human resources.
Strengthening the attractiveness of the company
The labour market has undergone major upheavals in recent years. The phenomenon of the big resignation, also called The Big Quit and first appeared in the United States, affects companies in France and pushes them today to adapt.
Faced with this, the employer brand becomes an effective lever to boost its attractiveness and bring to you the best talents for the various positions to be filled. Attractiveness is therefore one of the first issues related to the employer brand.
In the age of war for talent, you as a company need to be able to improve your employer brand and make it strong. This will make it possible to implement a good inbound recruiting strategy in order to increase the number of qualified applicants by nearly 50%.
Recruiting the best candidates
Strengthening the attractiveness of a company is only one of the first challenges of the employer brand. Indeed, this concept can bring much more. When it conveys a strong, embodied and valued image, it facilitates recruitment actions and makes candidates more willing to get involved.
Another very significant effect is that it also makes it possible to reduce, by 40% on average, the recruitment costs of a company.
This is the case because more than 60% of candidates are generally willing to accept lower pay just to work for a company known as a great employer.
Integration of new employees
The integration of newly recruited employees into other teams is also one of the main challenges of the employer brand.
Above all, you should know that the employer brand, unlike the concept of “employer communication”, makes it possible to attract the candidates that the company really needs, based not only on their skills, but also on their experiences.
If their integration is successful, the chances that they will be disappointed as soon as they arrive and want to leave after the first few days are less. The direct benefit is that this will significantly reduce turnover within the company.
The employer brand contributes to this by highlighting the development of employees, both new and old. The application of this concept will improve the employee experience in order to make employees the best spokespersons of the company to the public.
Employee engagement and retention
Even if it is sometimes forgotten, commitment also appears to be one of the major challenges of the employer brand. Committed employees are, in fact, more efficient, more loyal and good ambassadors of the company.
One of the most effective ways to generate real commitment from employees and to retain them as soon as they arrive is to set up a good employer brand strategy.
To achieve this, it is essential to identify your strengths and weaknesses as an employer, by soliciting the opinions of your employees. These are certainly a major challenge for any company that wants to improve the experience of its employees.
It should be noted that employee opinions, when they are positive, participate effectively in the development of the attractiveness of the company and make it possible to attract the most competent candidates. However, it is important to expect that they will not all be glowing.
Indeed, some can be negative. And they are also the ones who help the company to identify any dysfunctions within it, in order to define the aspects to be improved and to make the necessary changes to strengthen its employer brand.
Offboarding
The departure of an employee, whether voluntary or not, is a very delicate moment. Indeed, it should be noted that an employee who is dissatisfied when leaving a company will certainly become the first critic of it once they leave.
By applying the employer brand concept well, the company will be able to better manage its offboarding process to make each employee more satisfied when they leave. Thus, they will not fail to extol around them the values and merits of the company.
In view of all these challenges of the employer brand, it is easy to see that the implementation of this concept is not a plus for companies, but downright a necessity in the current era.
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FAQs
What is employer branding and what are the challenges for a company?
The employer brand refers to all actions aimed at improving the image and reputation of a company to make it attractive in the eyes of candidates and the public. Companies face many challenges, notably:
- Strengthening its attractiveness to attract the best talent.
- Reducing recruitment costs.
- Successfully integrating new employees to reduce turnover.
- Promoting employee engagement and retention by improving their experience.
- Managing offboarding to avoid detractors after the departure of an employee.
Why has employer branding become a priority for companies?
Employer branding has become a priority for companies due to several factors. On the one hand, the job market is increasingly competitive, and attracting top talent has become a major challenge. On the other hand, the health crisis has accelerated changes and pushed companies to adapt. Today, the employer brand is essential to strengthen the attractiveness of the company, facilitate the recruitment of the best candidates, successfully integrate new employees, promote employee engagement and retention, and manage offboarding in a positive way.