The importance of Employer Branding

While Employer Branding may seem like just another fad, in reality it’s much more than that. It is a real topic that traces a new road for the future and for the way businesses communicate. In a world of work that is constantly evolving, the employer’s brand is suddenly taking up a central place. Can a business still manage without one?

First and foremost, what is Employer Branding?

Employer Branding is the image that a business has among its staff and potential candidates. This includes, by extension, the efforts it makes in marketing, communication and human resources, which aim to improve it and communicate it.

Let’s take a look together at the impact that employer branding can have on your business!

“Positioning your vision and ambition well is essential for entrepreneurs and for their businesses. Managing to share your goals with your team and to recruit the right people – that’s what employer branding can achieve. For me, it’s the best way to inject life into the heart of your business.”
Mathieu, CEO @ La niche

In 2022, generations Y and Z on the labour market are saying the same thing: they want to do a job that excites them, and they are not putting finance as the main factor influencing their decision. What is it that really matters to them? The atmosphere at work, the working hours, their colleagues and above all…the business’s values!

It’s up to employers, therefore, to work on their communication every day and to promote themselves, by proclaiming their vision, their values and their strengths. They can’t afford to go unnoticed, or to send the wrong message to their employees! It has never been so important to show a human face and to create strong employer branding for oneself – the kind that will easily be able to convince the talent and let you stand out from the crowd.

“Today, staff want to enjoy a real experience within the business!”
Antoine, COO @ La niche

Who is the target of your Employer Branding?

Employer branding is about communication above all. You must therefore select your targets and put resources in place to reach them.

There are three targets for your employer branding, with the first two being particularly important. First things first: your staff. Next, the talent you wish to recruit.

Your employees are your best ambassadors and you want them to stay by your side. The values that you propose to your staff must be at the basis of your strategy. It’s about having an ecosystem of support, recognition, satisfaction and values that employers can offer their employees, so that they can reach their full potential at work; it’s about having an offer that stimulates their commitment and brings out the best in them. Employees and workers, today, have different expectations from 10 years ago as regards their management and their place within the business. It is therefore your duty to meet these expectations, in order to pamper your precious team and keep them on board.

Let’s talk about your future recruits! It is essential to share your vision, your values and your ambitions, but also to provide a ‘behind the scenes’ look at your business, to reveal the talents who are there, the projects and the working atmosphere. Thanks to this, you will have a lot of chances to recruit the kind of talent that is cut out for working at your company, and end up with a flourishing recruitment process, both for you and your new recruit.

Then there is a third target audience, which is ultimately an indirect target but it matters just as much. This third target is your clients and prospects. Sharing the human face of the business is often about sharing your vision and your values, and thereby reassuring your clients and prospects. It’s about the position that the business adopts, for anyone who is going to collaborate with the organisation.

The main challenge? Finding a balance between these three targets.

What’s next?

Once your targets have been established and studied, you need to speak to them, in the right way, in the right place and at the right time. We told you it was all about communication, after all! Which channel should you use for your staff? What tone of voice is right for your future talent? And which strategy will help the client to feel included in your narrative? It will be a case of segmentation of the audience, so that everyone feels they are getting the right message. And since several ideas have occurred to us on the spur of the moment, we’re going to share them with you here!

• Let your team have their say, and give them the chance to share their feelings about every aspect of the business, whether that be positive things or areas where there’s room for improvement. A Google Form could be an interesting tool for creating a reliable questionnaire.
  
• Create your own recruitment process! Why do so? You’ll be able to attract individuals who wouldn’t be interested in a description that’s too one-dimensional (or mainstream), or simply recruit the kind of people who are entirely suited to your vision and who are aligned with you even before they start work. Like Decathlon, who decided to set up a whole website dedicated solely to recruitment (https://recrutement.decathlon.fr/)
  
• Communicate different types of information on the different social networks! For instance, perhaps jobseekers in your sector tend to be on Facebook, while people hungry for digital challenges are mainly on Twitter, and individuals open to new opportunities are on Linkedin? Analyse your audience and put the right message in the right place.

And, at the heart of your business, what’s up?

While in the past the Communication and Human Resources departments were very much kept separate, that situation is definitely changing now. These two entities need to join forces and work together, because good employer branding is the perfect match between the two. In this specific case, communication cannot be dissociated from your business’s HR policy… That’s what makes it as complicated as it is exciting!

Employer Branding therefore prompts changes on the outside but also on the inside of your business.

“To develop your employer branding is to derive a benefit, intelligently, from your internal strengths in order to develop a real discourse and spontaneously reinforce the flourishing of a business”
Julien, Head of Strategy @ La niche

The perfect definition of Employer Branding, ultimately, is the balance and the ideal mix between the human side, communication, and the business. And while the concept is an inspiring one, it won’t happen without a bit of effort. Employer branding represents an enormous amount of strategizing and content creation over the long term, a daily commitment, reflection on a day-to-day basis, and perfect synergy between a diverse range of teams. In 2022, to invest in employer branding is to make a sound investment in the company’s image. Those who don’t play the game will find it hard to position themselves in the world of work in the near future.

La niche, by your side

What will you get out of developing your employer branding with La niche? Since day 1, La niche’s desire has been to support businesses that want to develop their growth. It is therefore natural that we are available to meet your demand and put your Employer Branding in place, but also implement it.

Our step-by-step approach and our desire to collaborate hand-in-hand with our clients is perfect for the implementation of projects on Employer Branding. We listen to you and we regularly follow the results of the campaigns put in place! Our desire, above all, is to give meaning to your campaigns, in a way that suits your needs.

At La niche, there’s an entire team that will dedicate itself to your Employer Branding project, with strategists, content experts, and specialists on social media, communication and marketing.

When it comes to Employer Branding, the communication plan is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a whole strategy, one of listening and complex analysis, hidden behind the implementation of excellent employer branding, which will hold up well in the long term, and provide real results among your 3 target audiences.

A number of ambitious clients have already entrusted us with this task. Perhaps you’ll be next?