Would you like to use a bit of Employer Branding?

In recent years, the concept of “employer brand” has been on everyone's lips. Real talent retention lever or fashion phenomenon; who is this big unknown really? Discover our answers in three main points.

Brand image, reputation of the company, its values, its attractiveness for employees or candidates; the concept of employer brand is quite simple to formulate at first glance and falls under the “MarketingHR” method! And yes, employer branding is above all marketing that is being introduced in the human resources sector. You can't miss it: blog, social networks, press, it's everywhere! Used everywhere, sometimes to the point of excess, employer branding is a strategy that has become essential and a necessity for companies wishing to remain competitive in their market. As you will see, its challenges are all interrelated. Overview of the advantages of implementing it (if you are very late!) or to boost yours!

A diagnosis you will make

As we explained to you in our introductory remarks, the employer brand is based on marketing and also on a bit of communication.Also, to effectively address your aspects of the employer brand, you will have to define your targets and their expectations. Do you want to attract candidates? Retain your employees? To arouse the interest of the specialized press? During this phase, do not omit the complete employee journey, or the image you send to your employees. During this essential phase, VALUE your assets (internal career, training, holidays, transversality of jobs, premises...) everything must pass. Don't assume it's obvious. Too often we encounter businesses that think that competitors have similar advantages, that's not true!

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We observe that more and more candidates, employees but also partners are sensitive to values such as your CSR approaches, your disability policy, corporate culture, and your inclusive policy. Do not hesitate to value your actions!

What exists in your home may be unique, that would be a shame go beyond that! Advice At this stage, do not hesitate to involve your employees and ask for their perception of your company.

Should we talk about salary? It is now accepted that once key arguments like traditional pay and benefits are losing weight. However, it would be illusory to imagine that remuneration and its peripheral elements do not count. We recommend an upstream analysis in order to value what will be the trigger (e.g. if you have an effective participation/profit-sharing policy, it would be a shame not to talk about it).

Bold communication you will achieve

Once you have determined your axes, you need to implement an employer brand communication strategy that must be implemented both in real and digital terms: social media animation, ambassador program, website speech, recruitment procedures and processes, presence at school forums, school forums, advertising content, etc. Neglecting one of the two communication areas could reduce the effectiveness of the one that is used, and thus cause the expected opposite effect. It is almost useless to specify this, but we do it, even after witnessing deleterious effects in some companies, that coherence between discourse and actions takes precedence. The employer promise must become an employer commitment.

Do not hesitate to communicate in a slightly quirky way with a sense of self-deprecation that potential candidates will be sensitive to. If you have nice offices or even a space that is not very visible to the media, do not hesitate to present them in video format, it will always be more impactful than a few photos on your site. Particularly suited to storytelling, video allows proximity to the person affected by creating an intimacy that will generate or reinforce the authenticity of the message. Even more engaging in terms of recruitment, in recent years we have seen the development of job offers in video format, which are very effective because they are much more impacting for the candidate and allowing them to project themselves. Since most businesses still generally use a classic text format, you will be able to stand out from your competitors. Whether or not you adopt this format, standing out remains, we cannot repeat it enough, the major challenge of employer branding strategy.

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On internal or external ambassadors you will rely

To attract your next employees, take care of your offer and your image. We keep saying it over and over again in the Roaring Twenties, but the quality of your content is essential to attract talent and retain your employees. We invite you to define a clear and engaging editorial line. Use this qualitative content on social networks, knowing that digital technology is the preferred means of communication for new candidates. It is now time to talk about the phenomenon of the moment: employee adocacy

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But what is employee advocacy in concrete terms? This system allows a company to transform its employees into brand ambassadors. In this way the company gets more visibility and more prospects. This program is based on the use of social networks (generally LinkedIn) and aims to increase the visibility of a company thanks to them. If all employees participate in an employee advocacy program, understand brand ambassador program, the company can then benefit from greater visibility. The strategy should therefore encourage employees to participate in these programs. To motivate them and encourage more sharing, it is necessary to make these programs fun (not through internal challenges, co-option bonuses, etc.), to make it clear that these programs can improve their progress in the company so that they can therefore offer relevant content. Thanks to this inclusive system, the company better controls its image and develops it. Employees involved in the program often get caught up in the game and therefore convey a positive idea (employees who communicate about their company induce a feeling of pride). Candidates then have access to better information and will no longer hesitate to apply.

You also have the option of collaborating with influencers, i.e. a person who has a large community of subscribers, or people who follow them for their expertise on a subject or sector. They can bring a spotlight, with an authentic tone to their community. The advantage of collaborating with an influencer on LinkedIn is that they reach a target of potential candidates and that they will know how to promote your brand for their community. You will have to accept his universe, his tone, his visuals in order to achieve an effective collaboration for him and for you. This collaboration may involve a post that will promote a job offer to be filled or an “inside” interview that will facilitate the screening. Quick tip: accept bold questions that the influencer community will ask. The aim here is to be transparent in its communication and to make the brand's discourse appropriate by the influencer in order to delegate the transmission.

To conclude, investing in your employer brand brings considerable benefits to the company and increases its performance. These benefits are measured at various levels:

• An increase in attractiveness: candidates are more likely to join the company and there are more customers.

• Strengthened support from your employees: the development of a sense of belonging and pride increases their motivation.

• More effective recruitments: adopting modern communication to promote your jobs encourages candidates to join you. If you manage to be transparent enough with the display of your values and corporate culture, you attract candidates who are in sync with you. Hence an increase in qualified applications.