How to Properly Define Your Employer Brand?

According to a 2017 LinkedIn survey. 69% of talent acquisition managers in France agree that their employer brand has a huge influence on their ability to recruit quality talent!

The employer brand is the result of the delicate marriage. Between two areas that one might think a priori unrelated to each other: marketing and human resources. Appearing about thirty years ago. This idea of ​​creating an employer identity is gradually spreading in companies, particularly in large groups. Developing your employer brand has become a necessity to remain competitive in the job market. Especially since the arrival of rankings such as the “Best place to work” which rewards companies where it is “good to work”. To face the competition and continue to attract talent, companies must invest in their employer brand by being creative.

Employer brand

Generally, it is said that the employer brand serves 2 main objectives: attracting talent and retaining it. Indeed, it is above all a major lever in recruitment. Faced with the increasingly frequent lack of talent in many sectors and the shortage of certain profiles. It makes it possible to build a solid attractiveness through the construction of a good employer reputation over the long term. You should be hiring a professional brand strategist to get your brand familiar to people.

This greatly facilitates the work of recruiters. Who no longer must go out of their way to convince candidates to join them! Employee retention is also a consequence of a good employer brand. To mitigate the costs related to recruitment, integration. Or training of an employee, making sure you can keep him for as long as possible allows you to hope for a certain return on investment. Benefiting from a strong employer brand reduces the turnover rate and thus contributes directly to the company’s financial balance.

However, defining your employer brand is not easy. Benchmarking the practices of competing companies to assess the. Potential investments to be made to develop your brand is not enough. Working in-depth on your corporate culture, its values. ​And the emotions you want to share with future candidates and more broadly with an external audience is essential condition for building a strong. And authentic employer brand. 

In this article, review the concept of employer branding to help you develop yours! 1. A concept that requires working on both content and form!

The HR offer: the essence of the employer brand

The development of its employer brand revolves around 2 main activities, the HR offer. Communication can be internal (to its own employees) and/or external (to potential future employees).

It is necessary to invest time and energy in both areas of activity. Indeed, in the first scenario, it may be common to observe companies communicate generously. On their employer brand from an experienced brand consultant, although the advantages offered are only illusory or very far from the reality of the company. These companies are experiencing a “fundamental” or even content problem. Indeed, communicating on elements that are not very interesting. Or do not bringing added value in the eyes of the candidates can prove to be counterproductive. And who would realize as soon as they join that the company is absolutely no fun! It is necessary to endeavor to communicate on tangible elements. And involve employees already in post to transmit real and sincere emotions to future candidates.

On the other hand, another common scenario is that of a company with interesting benefits to offer to employees. In this configuration. The company will enjoy very little of the benefits provided by its employer brand while it invests enormously internally for its employees! Here, it is a problem of “form” and calling on an “employer branding” specialist would be wise!

2. The main axes of an HR offer

To take stock of your HR offer, you need to position yourself in several areas. As it is sometimes difficult to ask the right questions. Here is a short guide to the main themes to be explored in terms of employer branding:

Compensation & Benefits:

Very often, the basis of positioning on the market will begin by defining its salary scales. Knowing that nearly a third of the refusals of job offers by candidates are due to a salary that is too low. It is imperative to know the remuneration offered by competitors. We can use the compensation surveys that are carried out annually by the firm Hays, for example. Even if matching the salaries of the competition is not always possible. We must also not forget the benefits package.

The interesting nature of the activity and working methods:

Another fundamental question to ask is the following: “How interesting are the tasks that I propose to my employees? “.Variables such as the integration of digital, the autonomy left to employees. The number of hierarchical strata, or the forms of organization are to be analyzed. Certain populations of professionals will be attracted by different characteristics because there is no “good” or “bad” organization. For example, the younger generations are known to be fond of autonomy in their position, as well as relaxed hierarchies.

Prospects for career development and skills development:

According to a 2016 LinkedIn study. Career insights are among the top five things candidates want to know about your company. Offering prospects for development will also be key in retaining your talents, and therefore in reducing your turnover. Indeed, more people can consider their professional development in the long term. The more it will encourage them to stay in a company. Employees stay less and less long in the same position in the same structure. So bet on short- and medium-term development prospects.

The culture and values ​​of your company:

Company values ​​are the first thing candidates look for in an employer, according to the same LinkedIn study. The study underlines that American candidates are more sensitive to corporate culture and values ​​than the rest of the world. For these to have meaning, they must be verifiable in the reality of HR processes, or the work done. They are also often related to the sector in question. For example, pharmaceutical companies often value “ethics”, which is fundamental when manufacturing health products.

Social value:

Does the good atmosphere prevail in the company? Do the employees have good relations with each other? Is the work environment fun? Is benevolence the master? Events such as arrival and departure drinks, seminars. Or meals between employees make it possible to assess the company’s situation on this point.

Your personal touch:

Beyond the classic themes, there will be what makes you special among others, your identity as an employer. The opportunity to devote part of their time to working on personal projects. Another example: Innocent, the queen of fruit juices, relies heavily on the relaxed and good-natured aspect of their work environment. These elements make the company unique in the eyes of employees and generate a natural attraction for new candidates!

Nearly one in two companies put their employer brand in the hands of 1 to 5 people. With 13% of companies devoting more than 5 people to it. Finally, for 25%, it is the recruitment team which is mainly responsible for promoting the employer brand. However, as mentioned above, it is imperative to find a balance between communication and HR offers. Thus, it will truly constitute a major lever for the management of human capital, the company’s primary asset!

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