Interest of employer branding for a company: Definition, actors and tools

The employer brand is one of the elements that ensure the integrity and reputation of a company, not only with its employees, but also with its prospects and future talents. It makes the company more attractive and can contribute to its prosperity.

Thanks to it, employees are fully engaged and new talents are looking to join the company. Human resources are no longer confronted with hiring issues.

This article explains the interest of employer branding for a company, but also the strategies to put in place to develop it.

General information about the Employer brand

Companies must ensure their sustainability, competitiveness and attractiveness. To do this, they attract and retain the talent they recruit.

What is a company’s employer brand?

The employer brand makes it possible to respond to the problems of human resources management and recruitment of a company. Its challenges relate to employee loyalty, but also to improving the company’s reputation internally and externally.

It thus aims to promote and nurture the image of a company among its employees, by improving their working conditions and promoting solidarity and social cohesion between employees.

In addition to promoting the company’s image externally, it is essential for HR, which must rethink the company’s practices and develop real relational strategies.

The different characteristics

It is not a question of creating the brand, but of developing it. However, to develop an effective employer branding strategy , it would first be necessary to know its characteristics. These are:

• The global vision: it brings together the fields of human capital, communication and marketing data processing;
• Uniqueness: it is based on the singularity, values, culture of the company;
• The integration of internal and external targets into the development strategy: the targets of this strategy are both potential candidates and workers;
• Taking into account real and distinctive elements of identity: this strategy is highly structured. It demonstrates a perfect coherence between the realities of the company internally and external opinions.

The actors of a company’s employer brand

The actors are the workers of the management team, the human resources department, the communication department, and the employees.

The management team is led by the CEO or CEO. As the first representative of the company, they are an ambassador. their reputation and attractive personality are a real competitive advantage.

The development strategy is initiated by human resources. A good strategy improves visibility and reduces the costs of the recruitment process.

The communication service produces quality content for the benefit of actors and stakeholders (customers, partners, public services, institutions, and candidates).

Finally, employees are the best ambassadors of the development strategy. The impact of the employee brand on employee satisfaction is so important that it will determine their attitude both internally and externally.

Employees are the best elements to promote the structure, based on lived experiences and testimonials outside the company.

The objectives of a company’s employer brand

It differentiates the company from its competitors, generates attractiveness, and attracts the right candidates. It has three objectives:

• Develop an authentic, realistic, engaging and positive image of the company as an employer;
• Attract talent in line with the company’s values, culture and principles;
• Promote employee engagement and retention.

It is not only necessary to make good communication around the employer brand, but also to make use of marketing concepts.

The different tools used

To achieve its objectives, the development of the brand must be based on tools, marketing techniques, and HR strategies that will serve to boost it.

A career site is a great promotional tool. It represents a melting pot of information. It provides information on the company’s values, trades, products, etc. Visited by 60% of potential candidates, it also provides information on job offers, employees, and company news.

Just like the career site, company videos allow job seekers to project themselves within the structure. They are based on the presentation of the company, the opinion of your employees, the presentation of the position to be filled, etc.

Chatbots are software installed on company sites. They start conversations with candidates, prospects, or customers. Site visitors receive quick responses and are better guided in their efforts.

Finally, social networks are quality channels to express the company’s culture, make its teams known, generate a large audience, and attract future talent.

LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are good examples. The content must be adapted to the specificities of each network and the interests of Internet users.

There are also several examples of employer brands that have earned the public’s admiration by using these tools effectively.

What is the interest of employer branding?

The definition of the employer brand already makes it possible to realize its importance for a company. Developing a strategy to develop it offers several advantages. Here are a few.

Attracting job seekers

Many job seekers, especially young graduates, are now paying more attention to the attractiveness of a company. They want to validate in advance the satisfaction that the company can provide them before applying.

To do this, they study the different elements that make up the company’s culture before applying for a position. This study gives them an idea of their chances of evolving within the company.

Having a good image therefore makes it possible to recruit young talents and retain them since they have high expectations vis-à-vis the companies that recruit them.

By taking action to improve its image with the public, the company increases its chances of attracting talented people.

Retain employees

Another interest of this brand is to retain the various employees who work for the company. The criteria for assessing employees are not the same as those for candidates who are outside the system.

Internal workers take into account the work climate and the quality of life at work to appreciate the image of their company. If the latter is satisfactory, the employees will become the ambassadors of the company outside.

Employees will have no desire to resign from their positions and turn to a competing offer. A good majority will even find it difficult to leave the company, even if the remuneration offered by the competition is more interesting.

On the contrary, they will demonstrate commitment and dedication in the exercise of their missions.

A good image is a positive message sent to the company’s employees. They will be happy to promote the latter outside, with their networks of friends and with young talents.

Increase company awareness

Brand improvement has a positive impact on the business. Indeed, it helps to increase its notoriety through the people who communicate about it. Employees or job seekers who espouse its values will become ambassadors.

As a result, the company will be better known and will benefit from a positive image with the public. This notoriety will allow it to gain more trust from its customers and partners.

How to develop a company’s employer brand?

There are certain prerequisites that must be met before executing the established policy. Must:

• Make a complete audit of the practices developed within the company in terms of human resources management;
• Conduct an audit of the recruitment process;
• Discuss with the various actors of the company, regardless of their hierarchical level;
• Make an audit of the e-reputation of the company.

These first actions allow the company to have elements of appreciation for its status internally and externally. After this phase, here are the concrete actions to take to improve the employer brand.

Recruit a Happiness Manager

The recruitment of a Happiness Manager improves the assessment of the company’s status internally. This is a person whose mission is to make the employees of a company or organization happy.

To do this, they ensure that working conditions are favorable to employees. In case of tension, they will play the role of facilitator so that each party is satisfied with the outcome.

They organize various activities (outings, after work, parties, etc.) to animate the company and to cultivate solidarity between employees.

Create a community on social networks

With the various actions carried out for the promotion of employees, the company will be able to create a community on social networks.

It can share videos showing active employees or show its premises to the public. Through this action, it makes known its culture and values. It will highlight the benefits of integrating its workforce.

The goal is to send a positive message in order to further appeal to community members. LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook are social networks to focus on because of their large audience.

Write interesting job offers

During the drafting of the recruitment notice, it is necessary to bring details about the company so that the candidates can imagine the framework in which they will evolve. This is a way to attract the best profiles to the company.

However, do not sell dreams in job offers. It is necessary to provide evidence and project the candidates into the future of the company.

Thus, companies would really benefit from working on their employer brand since it can be an obstacle or a lever for their development.