8 easy actions for an effective employer brand
Employer branding is 'THE' HR issue of 2020! This phenomenon can be explained by a number of criteria that are converging to create tension in the job market: full employment of managers, new generations looking for meaning, and the growing influence of social networks.
Directors and HR managers have been aware of this change in their functions for several years, but it's time to step up the pace and bring marketing and HR together.
There can be no communication plan without promoting the company's image: its environment, its qualities, its values and its people; there can be no recruitment without a communication plan.
This creates a virtuous circle of communication that benefits products, brand awareness and the attractiveness of the company.
Here are our best practices for an effective employer brand, and an equally effective recruitment process:
Introducing yourself
The company's website is its commercial showcase, but the jobs/careers page is a site in its own right. It must present internal life, career opportunities, employees, actions taken to build loyalty, promote QWL, CSR, etc.
The site must be responsive, i.e. accessible on tablets and mobile phones, which account for over 60% of traffic, and it must also be possible to apply for jobs on the move.
📝 What should you do?
Treat your careers site like a dedicated HR site, with articles, news, employee testimonials, images of in-house life, examples of careers, and a presentation of the company's history and management. You create a real editorial line to differentiate yourself and display your own identity. Job offers need to be visible, up-to-date and easy to apply for.
Example of a career site created in 10 minutes with Softy.
Focus on video
It's the essential communication medium: we no longer read, we watch.
A video advertisement attracts 34% more applicants than a written advertisement, an employee testimonial has more impact than a presentation brochure, get your message across through images.
📝 What to do?
We make short videos to present the environment and the tasks, and we rely on the employees in place, who will be enhanced by this spotlight. We film everything: what we do, how we do it, with whom and where. Offer a candidate experience with an immersion in your company through images, open your doors!
Don't have a video? Softy's communications team can help you create a video tailored to your recruitment needs.
Work on your candidate relationship
From reading the advertisement to leaving the interview, the candidate has a user experience of your HR department. A bad experience will tarnish your employer's image by being passed on to friends and family, but also on social networks (company evaluation sites are increasingly consulted).
📝 What should you do?
We respond to all candidates who apply, we present a clear and simple application process, and we treat the candidate like a customer.
Employee ambassadors, during and also after the event
HR communication efforts are often concentrated upstream of recruitment. We look after the company's image for current employees; they are their company's ambassadors. Increasingly solicited directly by candidates, they are the ones who provide information about the internal climate, the advantages of joining the company, and who paint a picture of what goes on behind the scenes. Getting recommendations is essential for companies too!
Whether the departure is voluntary or forced, the employee's relationships and image are preserved right up to the exit door. Former employees are often the most talkative.
📝 What to do?
Exchange ideas, involve employees in the work on the employer image, appoint volunteer ambassadors, communicate about opportunities and give meaning to practices.
Keep an eye on social networks
Social networks are the most relevant media for communicating and working on your image with applicants and employees. But the power of social networks can also backfire: bad buzz, damning testimonials, uncontrolled images or videos, the veracity and speed of data can sometimes be uncontrollable.
You need to be constantly on the lookout to keep your e-reputation under control.
Bear in mind that you can't control 100% of your communication on the Internet, so keeping things in perspective and thinking ahead can help you avoid certain setbacks.
📝 What can you do?
Train and inform your employees about best practice, appoint internal relays and monitor the content and data available about your company. HR communication on social networks and on the career site needs to be consistent, with an editorial line and a strategy.
Adapt your recruitment processes
Candidates interested in a job offer or making an unsolicited application should not get lost in the recruitment process. You've just captured their attention, so don't let them slip away! On average, 10% to 15% of readers of your vacancy will become applicants, so the application process needs to be simple, fluid and fast. Optimising your application form can win you up to 20% more applicants.
The recruitment process isn't just about the application form, it's also about the application process (attachments, tests, etc.): why ask for a covering letter if it isn't read or isn't suited to the profile you're looking for? Why ask technicians to take a Word test?
📝 What can we do?
Adapt! Each recruitment process needs to be the subject of a strategy: who is our target? Is it a shortage market? The application process needs to be configured according to the vacancy for greater personalisation.
Create a communication plan for each vacancy
As with the recruitment process, the media used to communicate your vacancy must also be tailor-made.
You don't look for a bricklayer on the same job boards as a sales manager. Think about your candidates, analyse their practices and behaviour.
The medium and the lifespan of the offer are evaluation criteria, an offer that has been online for 6 months is a weak signal in the eyes of the candidate.
📝 What can you do?
Ask your employees about similar positions to find out how they use the Internet, interview the candidates you receive, and trace where they come from so that you can invest in relevant media.
Analyse your HR performance
There can be no HR marketing without strategy, and no strategy without figures. We become data analysts, i.e. we analyse HR data : turn-over, application rate, bounce on my job site, origin of visitors, origin of candidates, which offers are consulted the most? And when? Which job boards are the most effective? What is the cost per application/recruitment?
In short, we create indicators to manage our employer image and target concrete objectives: increase applications, reduce recruitment costs, optimise job board budgets, etc.
📝 What can you do?
Equip yourself with the tools you need, the ROI will be very quick and you'll be able to manage your HR indicators flawlessly.
Conclusion
Implementing an Employer Brand strategy is essential if you want to attract the best talent. To put such a project in place, it needs to be addressed in its entirety.
To meet this challenge and put in place a comprehensive strategy, consider using existing tools. Choosing a recruitment software package like Softy allows you to address the issues of image and attractiveness with a comprehensive career site and videos, but also to work on the user experience with customisable application processes, communicate better with candidates and manage your recruitment more quickly.
Softy can be configured to suit companies of all sizes that want to make their recruitment department more efficient!