In 2022, companies are called upon to rethink their employer brand objectives. Indeed, the last two years have been marked by the coronavirus crisis and its many repercussions on the world of work.
Following the health crisis, expectations among talent, workers and customers have changed profoundly. They are now taking into account new factors when deciding whether to collaborate with companies.
What are the issues to consider when defining your HR marketing plan? Discover in this article, the objectives to set for your employer brand in 2022.
What are the challenges of employer branding?
The concept of employer brand has been interpreted in various ways in recent years. For many HR professionals, it is mainly a communication lever to improve the company’s brand image. But what is it really?
Definition of employer branding
The concept of employer branding is an essential element of employer-employee relations. It can be defined as all the ways to manage a company’s image with employees or potential candidates.
More concretely, it is a question of giving an organization the image of an attractive and qualitative work environment. Investing in an employer brand therefore means developing a marketing strategy that aims to attract and retain talent.
To this end, HR professionals generally need to communicate about the company’s values and culture. The employer brand is therefore based on three essential components:
- The company’s values;
- The culture of the company;
- Communication.
To achieve employer brand objectives, it makes sense to ensure that these three components are consistent.
This means that there must be a correlation between the company’s internal and external reputation. This is called an internal employer brand and an external employer brand.
Indeed, employees and potential candidates are not the only targets of employer brand communication. Other stakeholders must be taken into account for the promotion of the employer brand. These include customers, media, and partners.
Thus, companies must take into account these two dimensions to improve attractiveness and the employee experience. To achieve this, they can draw inspiration from employer brand examples on platforms like Universum.
How important is employer branding?
Employer branding plays an important role in the recruitment process within a company.
In fact, potential candidates evaluate companies to identify the most conducive environment for their professional development. This evaluation makes it possible to consider a collaboration or not.
Among the means used by these potential candidates to carry out this evaluation, it is possible to mention the employee opinions. Indeed, these opinions contribute strongly to the choices made by candidates.
They allow them to obtain information, among other things, on:
- The atmosphere within the company;
- The values advocated by the company;
- The benefits it presents to its employees;
- The care given to new employees;
- Work/life balance.
Employee reviews are therefore a crucial element in companies ‘ employer branding strategy.
It is for this reason that improving HR marketing is one of the objectives of the employer brand. As a key element of the company’s communication strategy, it plays a decisive role in the war for talent.
Clearly, a good branding strategy allows you to have a better return on your job offers.
In addition, corporate identity and culture are an integral part of the candidate’s experience. After recruitment, in particular, the integration of talent is easier if the organization’s practices prioritize employee well-being.
The same applies to promoted values that have a direct impact on the quality of life at work.
Thus, in addition to being a tool to attract the best talent, the employer brand helps retain existing employees. This makes it possible to considerably reduce the turnover rate and the costs related to recruitment.
Finally, the impact of employer branding on your communication improves your external relations with partners and media. They are more likely to collaborate with the company when it has a good reputation.
What are the objectives for employer branding in 2022?
The objectives of the employer brand can be diverse depending on the needs of the organization. However, they must be defined in the light of current trends.
Especially in 2022, employers will face many challenges. The health crisis, inflation, and the global geopolitical situation have created new challenges.
This means redefining employer brand objectives based on new performance indicators.
Optimize the recruitment process
The recruitment process, if well orchestrated, allows the company to attract talent that will boost its performance. Therefore, working to make it as optimal as possible is more than a necessity.
The success of this approach requires, at the company level, an employer brand diagnosis. The goal is to have a relationship with the existing in terms of brand image to attract talent.
The diagnosis carried out according to the employer brand objectives previously defined makes it possible to identify the real recruitment needs. Once we are aware of these, it is possible to list the qualities sought in future talents.
Then, you must write a clear and detailed offer for future employees. In this regard, given that it is a question of image, posting a simple announcement on social networks would not be adequate.
Indeed, your next talents expect a lot from you. More specifically, new employer brand objectives must prioritize digitalization as an added value.
This is a consequence of the new changes in the world of work that have seen companies stop their activities. It will therefore be a question of making it clear that technology is an integral part of the company’s ways of working.
This is why job offers must be tailor-made. In particular, they must include all the characteristics that highlight the integration of technology into the corporate culture.
Clearly, the recruitment process is only optimal when you automate it. For example, consider eliminating repetitive tasks related to recruitment management using software.
Build employee loyalty
If it is responsible for recruiting the best people, one of the objectives of the employer brand is also to retain employees. Indeed, for your teams to maintain positive performance, it is necessary to keep the best employees.
To do this, it is necessary to transform the rules within the organization by allowing more flexibility. A flexible work organization in terms of hours or workspace reduces stress at work.
You will be able to improve the quality of life at work and strengthen the autonomy of employees.
New uses such as teleworking can therefore be introduced and planned. In this case, it is fashionable to use videoconferencing tools. This also helps to strengthen the company’s image externally.
Providing a good experience for the company’s employees naturally pushes them to speak well of their company. The organization can thus develop a positive reputation through employee reviews, which is crucial for its relations with other stakeholders.
Finally, the company’s mission is another way to offer employees working conditions that are pleasant to them. In light of today’s global challenges, commitment to social causes is a value to be prioritized.
The idea is to ensure that the company’s mission inspires workers and strengthens their loyalty.
Improve business performance
Company culture has a direct effect on improving business performance. Several levers benefit from being used for this purpose.
First, the onboarding process implemented within the company must facilitate the integration of talent. Their rapid adaptation to the company is a guarantee for the improvement of productivity.
Secondly, it is essential to focus on transparency in the way the organization is managed. This can be manifested in particular by transparency on salary scales, but also the communication of performance to employees.
In reality, advocating transparency with employees is a way to make them accountable for commercial performance. This usually results in a strengthening of their commitment to achieving employer brand objectives.
Want to more easily achieve your employer brand objectives in 2022?
Custplace is a platform that allows companies to collect employee opinions. When a company is registered on Custplace, it is possible to have a page where employees can easily give their opinions.
The company, for its part, will also have the opportunity to respond to these opinions. Sign up for this offer now.
