Employer Branding: Definition, Tips, Illustrated Examples to Shine!

🎉 Today, we’re going to talk about a topic that affects everyone: employer branding! 🤝

You may be wondering what this is all about? Basically, it’s the image a company sends out as an employer, and it can make all the difference in attracting new talent, retaining employees and boosting your reputation. 💼

And yes, these days people aren’t just looking for a job, they’re looking for a company that has values and culture that fit them, that offers benefits, a good atmosphere and a quality of life. 🌟

That’s why employer branding has become a major issue for all companies that want to stand out in the recruitment and talent retention market. So, ready to discover all the secrets of a successful employer brand? 🚀

 

What is Employer Branding?

Employer brand 🏢 (or “employer branding” in English) is the image that a company projects as an employer 👀.

It includes all the characteristics, values, culture and practices of the company that are perceived by workers and potential candidates 🤝.

Basically, it’s the image of the company as an employer, which can influence workers’ perceptions and their decision to apply or stay with the company.

To improve their employer brand, companies can highlight their corporate culture 🌟, benefits 💰, professional development policy 📈, values ✨, vision 🌠, etc.

 

The Importance of Employer Branding Strategies

🟩 Here are some characteristics of a strong and positive employer brand: 💪

• A strong and enduring company culture.
• Attractive employee benefits.
• ⬆️ Opportunities for professional development and continuing education.
• A clear and inspiring vision and values.
• 🏓 A healthy and stimulating work environment.
• 👂 Benevolent, responsive leaders and managers.
• ❤️ Strong and positive reputation with customers and the community.
• Transparent and honest communication with employees and candidates.

 

🟥 And now from the characteristics of a poor and negative employer brand:

• 😓 Poorly developed or ill-defined company culture.
• 😱 Unattractive or non-existent benefits.
• Limited professional development opportunities and job insecurity.
• 🔇 Uninspiring or poorly communicated values and vision.
• Unhealthy or unstimulating work environment.
• Directive, oppressive leaders and managers.
• A poor reputation with customers and the community.
• 🥵 Unclear or disorganized internal communication.

 

Why should you develop an Employer Brand?

The purpose of employer branding is multifaceted and can include the following:

🎯 Attracting the best candidates:

• Attracting the most qualified candidates who are a good fit for the company’s culture.
• Reduce recruitment costs by attracting quality candidates with high performance potential.

 

💪 Retain employees:

• Encourage employees to stay with the company long-term by providing a great work environment, benefits, and professional development opportunities.
• Reduce employee turnover costs by improving retention of key talent.

 

🚀 Improve productivity and business performance:

• Create a positive and motivating work environment that promotes employee engagement.
• Improve company reputation and customer perception, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and improved financial performance.

 

👥 Promote company culture and values:

• Create a consistent and positive image of the company as an employer.
• Promote the company’s culture, values, and practices to attract candidates and customers who share those same values.

 

How to Develop an Employer Brand?

To implement an effective employer branding strategy, you must:

👉 Define a strong brand identity: 💪🏻

Define the company’s values, vision and mission.
Identify the characteristics of the company that set it apart from its competitors.
Create a consistent and positive employer image for the company across all communication channels, including social media, recruiting sites, trade shows and events, etc.

 

👉 Offer an exceptional quality of life: 🏡

Implement flexible and remote working policies.
Offer pleasant, bright and modern premises.
Offer quality facilities such as sports halls, relaxation areas, game rooms, etc.
Organize team building activities and friendly events to strengthen team cohesion.

 

👉 Highlight the benefits and opportunities for employees: 🎁

Offer ongoing training and professional development programs.
Provide career prospects and opportunities for internal growth.
Implement competitive compensation policies and attractive benefits, such as health coverage, additional paid time off, meal tickets, etc.

 

👉 Communicate with transparency and honesty: 🗣️

Communicate with transparency about the company’s projects and the objectives to be achieved.
Be honest with employees, especially when dealing with organizational challenges or changes.
Encourage employee participation and give them a voice to express their opinions and ideas.

 

Prerequisites for a Successful Employment Branding

To implement these employer branding strategies, it is important to:

Study the competition: 🕵️‍♀️

Analyze the competition’s employer branding strategies to find the good ideas 💡 and tricks that set them apart.
Identify the benefits and opportunities the company can offer to candidates and employees.

 

Define the company’s values, vision and mission:

Conduct brainstorming sessions 🧠 with the entire team to find the values and vision that inspire everyone.
Define a clear and ambitious mission that gives meaning to the company’s work and guides actions.

 

Create a consistent corporate image:

Define a strong visual identity, which includes the logo 🖼️, colors 🎨 and fonts 🆎.
Adapt this visual identity to all communication materials, such as websites 🌐, social media 📱, recruitment materials 📄, etc.
Adopt a communication tone that represents the company’s culture and reflects its values.

 

Involve everyone in the company:

Involve employees, managers and HR in defining the brand identity.
Communicate on the company’s employer brand strategy to mobilize internal stakeholders around this issue.

 

Set up performance indicators:

Define relevant indicators to measure the effectiveness of the employer brand strategy.
Use these indicators to adjust the strategy according to the results obtained. 📈

 

Employer brand research by LinkedIn

There are plenty of employer brand studies out there, but the one that’s super interesting is LinkedIn‘s “Global Talent Trends 2021” 🌍 published in January 2021. They surveyed over 5,500 HR professionals in 36 different countries. 📊

Here are the key points 🔑 from the study:

1. Employer brand is super important, 💪

• 80% of HR thinks employer brand is a key issue for their company, that’s huge! 🤯
• 71% of companies plan to invest more in their employer’s brand, they get the importance of it. 😎

 

2. Employer brand priorities have changed, 👉

• The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted quality of work life benefits such as remote work 🏠 and flexibility.
• Also, diversity, inclusion and belonging have become priorities for companies. 🌈

 

3. Employees are the best ambassadors of the employer brand, 🎉

• 72% of HR believes that employees are the best ambassadors for their employer’s brand.
• Companies that encourage employees to share their work experience are more successful in their employer brand strategy. 👍

 

4. Data and analytics are super important for measuring employer brand success, 📈

• Companies are increasingly using data and analytics to measure the impact of their employer’s brand. They are measuring applicant conversion rates, average time to hire, and employee retention rates. 🤓

 

Employer Brand Action Plan

To summarize, 📄 here is the list of action plans to deploy to create a good employer brand:

• 👩‍🔬 Take stock of the current employer brand.
• 📢 Define the employer brand identity.
• 🤝 Involve employees in defining the employer brand.
• 👩 Define candidate personas and appropriate communication channels.
• 📄 Create a tailored content strategy.
• 📈 Regularly evaluate the performance of the employer brand and adjust it if necessary.

 

What is the Best Employer Brand Strategy?

The 4 pillars of employer branding are super important, they are your 4 guiding lines to create a strategy that looks like you. ⬇️

• Communication 💬: It’s how the company sells itself to future employees using storytelling on social networks, websites, events, etc. Gotta make people want to work with you.
• Company culture 🏢 is how the company defines its culture and the values it embodies. A strong culture can help attract and retain top talent. You have to be cool and fun to make them stay.
• The candidate/employee experience 🤝 this is the experience prospective employees and employees have with the company, from the recruiting process to their daily lives. If it goes well, it will enhance your reputation as an employer.
• Salary and benefits 💰 This is the compensation and benefits the company offers to its employees. You have to offer cool stuff to attract them and make them stay, otherwise they will leave for the competition.

 

How to Improve your Employer Brand?

If your company has a bad reputation as an employer, there are steps you can take to improve it.

Here are some possible actions:

• 🔍 Conduct an internal employee survey to identify areas for improvement.
• 👩‍💼 Improve working conditions, benefits, development opportunities and employee compensation to make the company more attractive.
• 🌈 Promote diversity and inclusion by encouraging participation in initiatives such as groups, afterwords, team-building activities.
• 💬 Implement transparent communication processes to build trust between the company and its employees.
• 🌍 Demonstrate social responsibility by engaging in initiatives that have a positive impact on the community and the environment.

It’s important to note that it can take time to improve a company’s e-reputation as an employer. A 2021 Glassdoor study found that to improve their rating on the site, companies must improve their culture, leadership, work environment and benefits.

The study also found that companies that improved their rating saw a 2.6% increase in applications on average. 😎

 

Employer branding in Recruitment

Recruiting is changing and becoming more competitive. 🥊 Companies are snapping up the best talent, and they are increasingly difficult to keep. According to a 2021 study by Insee, the average employee turnover rate in France is 15%. That’s huge. 👀

Several reasons for this ➡️ some companies have a very bad reputation, there are many burnouts and resignations, the working conditions are unhealthy. Another reason is due to the fact that generations change, we get bored much faster and need renewal. So how can employer branding help find and keep the best talent? 🚀

 

Recruiting New Talent through Employer Branding

The second study I want to talk about is “Universum’s Talent Survey 2020.” 📢 The study surveyed over 190,000 students in 12 different countries. 🤯

The results showed that employer brand was one of the most important factors for students when looking for a job. 📄🤝
About 80% of students and recent graduates said they look for employers with a strong, positive brand. 🧡

The top three factors that influence employer brand attractiveness are: company reputation (58%), ❤️ salary and benefits (47%), 🤑 and professional development opportunities (44%). 🚀

• The most attractive companies have on average a 50% higher application rate than less attractive companies. 😱
• These companies also have a 40% higher employee retention rate than less attractive companies.

These results show the importance of an employer’s brand in attracting talent and retaining employees. Students are particularly sensitive to company reputation and professional development opportunities, which can be used by companies to improve their employer brand.

 

Recruiting Executives through Employer Branding

Now here are the results of a third study, this one conducted by Hays in 2020 among executives:

The study was conducted among more than 1,300 executives in France. 🧑‍🎓📚

The results showed that 76% of executives said that the employer brand was important in their job search. 📈

The three most important criteria for good candidates when looking for a new job are: job content (75%) 📄, company culture (66%) 📢 and compensation (64%). 🤑

The quality of a company’s employer brand is an important factor for 78% of executives when choosing a company to join. 😱

• Companies with a strong employer brand attract on average twice as many talented candidates as companies with a weak employer brand.
• These companies can reduce their cost per hire by up to 50% compared to companies with a weak employer brand.

Again, employer brand is changing and shaping the recruitment of tomorrow. 🚀

 

To conclude: Employer Branding Examples

To help you better understand how employer brand messages are implemented and conveyed, here are 3 of the best examples of employer branding: At Decathlon, at Google and at us (Waalaxy). 🤯⬇️

 

Decathlon Employer Brand

📢 Communication: Decathlon emphasizes transparency and clarity in its internal and external communication. The company communicates on its values, its commitments to sustainable development, its innovations, its events, and the testimonies of its employees on social networks and on its website. 💬

💼 Company culture: Decathlon encourages team spirit, autonomy and initiative-taking by an employee. The company also encourages the practice of sports by organizing internal sports events and offering sports facilities on its premises. 🏃‍♂️

 

👨‍💼 Candidate/Employee Experience: Decathlon creates a positive candidate and employee experience by offering personalized training and career paths for each of its employees. The company also encourages work/life balance by offering flexible hours and extra days off for employees who practice a sporting activity outside of work. 🎓

 

💰 Salary and benefits: Decathlon offers a competitive remuneration for its employees, but also benefits such as discounts on company products, profit-sharing, health and provident insurance, as well as a company savings plan. 💳

Thanks to these pillars, Decathlon has managed to build a strong employer brand that attracts and retains its employees. Moreover, the company has received several awards for its HR policy, including being elected “France’s favorite company” in 2020 according to the Glassdoor ranking. 🎖️

 

Google Employer Brand

🌎 Communication: Google actively communicates its values, its corporate culture and its innovative projects via its career site, its social networks and its dedicated YouTube channel. The company highlights its commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as its mission to make information accessible and useful to all. 💻

🧑‍💻 Company culture: Google is known for its unique corporate culture, characterized by strong employee autonomy, a stimulating work environment, and freedom of expression. The company encourages creativity and innovation, providing employees with resources and training to grow professionally and personally. 💡

 

👥 Candidate/Employee Experience 💪 : Google provides a quality candidate/employee experience, offering transparent recruitment processes, structured interviews, and personalized job offers. Once hired, their employees receive a wide variety of benefits, such as gyms, health and wellness services, professional development programs, and comfortable and inspiring workspaces. 🤝

💰 Salary and Benefits: Google offers competitive compensation and benefits to its employees, including high salaries, annual bonuses, stock options and retirement plans. The company also places a high value on work-life balance ⏰ offering flexible work schedules, parental leave and sabbaticals. 🌟

 

Our Employer Brand at Waalaxy

So here, let me tell you about Waalaxy, a French tech startup that’s sending out some serious employer branding!

🌎 Communication: At Waalaxy, communication is mainly done on LinkedIn!

They are hyperactive on social networks, Toinon, the CEO, posts every day. He talks about vision, strategy and values. They also share their current projects and their progress. In short, they do everything to make you want to join their Avengers team. 💪

🧑‍💻Culture of the company: At Waalaxy, we value a company culture that promotes trust, autonomy, creativity and benevolence.

We encourage team spirit, initiative and innovation. We want everyone to feel fulfilled and valued at work, and for that, we provide friendly premises with a gym, 🏋️ , a ball pool, 🎈 afterworks and regular events to strengthen the bonds between teams!

 

👥 Candidate/Employee experience 💪: At Waalaxy, we pamper you like never before! Our candidate/employee experience is top-notch. We’re super transparent about our recruiting process and take the time to get to know you well. And once you’re on our team, we give you a lot of freedom and autonomy. With us, you can even take unlimited time off!

💰 Salary and benefits: Finally, we offer competitive compensation and a wide range of benefits for our employees, such as attractive salaries, benefits, performance bonuses, flexible hours. 🥰

 

Q&A of the article

What are the 4 Items of Employer Brand?

Quick recap, so the 4 items of employer brand are… 🥁

• Communication.
• Company culture.
• Candidate/employee experience.
• Salary and benefits.

 

Who is concerned by the Employer Brand?

Employer branding concerns all the actors of a company: current and potential employees, partners, customers, investors, HR and Director functions, etc. ☄️

 

Employer branding video

Looking for a video that explains employer branding? Here is one of my favorites. ⬇️

 

Find a good employer branding agency

Universum is a global employer branding agency that specializes in employer brand research, insights, and solutions. It’s one of the most famous ones.  🥳 Also, “Ph.Creative” is a creative agency that focuses on employer branding, recruitment marketing, and candidate experience, using a data-driven approach. 🤓

 

Where can I find training in employer branding?

There are several options for finding employer branding training:

• 👨‍🎓 Business and communication schools often offer specialized courses in HR marketing or employer branding.
• Professional training organizations can offer short or long courses in employer branding.
• 📢 Communication or recruitment agencies can offer customized training for companies.
• E-learning platforms 💻 also offer online training on employer branding.