Having a good employer brand has only positive aspects: it reduces recruitment time and costs, attracts the best talent and lowers turnover. On the other hand, a bad reputation can be very damaging. The employer brand consists of two related concepts: the recruiter brand and the internal employer brand. It is a "grouping of marketing actions and levers activated with the aim of making the company attractive to future employees and to build loyalty amongst current employees" (Parlons RH). According to a study by Stepstone, an online recruitment site, 95% of candidates find out about their future company on the web before applying for a job offer and only 10.4% of job seekers would apply for a job with a company that has a bad reputation.

THE WORK ENVIRONMENT AS A KEY FACTOR

It is difficult to stand out in an ultra-competitive environment where the service offerings are globally identical. Attracting the best talent can help you stay ahead of the pack. In a survey conducted by the Glassdoor site in 2019, more than half of the 5,000 participants said that corporate culture was more important than salary. According to a study conducted by Stepstone in 8 European countries, the 4 most important factors affecting the employer brand for employees are in order of priority: the working environment; career opportunities; relationship with managers and financial stability of the structure. Salary remains an important criterion, but only comes in 7th position. According to a study conducted in the United States by the Harvard Business Review and ICM Unlimited, the 3 factors that most damage an employer's reputation are: concerns about job security, dysfunctional teams and poor management. On the contrary, the 3 factors that contribute most to a good reputation are structural stability, career opportunities and the ability to work with a top-notch team.

A POSITIVE EFFECT ON COSTS ...

According to the same study, a bad reputation can strongly affect the profitability of a structure since it will cost almost 10% more salary to convince potential candidates. This will not necessarily be enough since almost half of the respondents would refuse a position in a structure where the 3 negative factors mentioned above would be present, whatever the salary offered. Conversely, a salary that is just slightly higher may be enough to move an employee from a company with a bad reputation to a company with an attractive brand.

...AND ON THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

According to employers, a good employer brand is correlated with increased responsiveness to job offers; an increase in the number of unsolicited applications, the quality of candidates and the involvement of current employees. Having a good reputation therefore helps to lower recruitment costs and attract the best people. Indeed, according to a study by the University of Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), companies with a strong employer brand receive twice as many CVs as those with a weaker employer brand.

RETAINING TALENT

Attracting talent is one thing. Keeping them is another. That's why it's important to extend efforts beyond the recruitment aspect. The discourse on the company's values and culture marketed externally must be embodied by concrete actions internally. If there is a discrepancy between the two, this will discourage employees and can be reflected externally via the opinions left on evaluation platforms such as Glassdoor.

TO GO FURTHER

Why successful brands have a strong employer brand Employer Brand Communication Survey, StepStone How online company reviews impact employer brands A bad reputation costs a company at leat 10% more per hire View the original version