Employer branding is as important for recruitment as company branding is to sell a product. To prove this, organisations with an employer brand that is appreciated attract 50% more qualified candidates (Link Humans study).

But as the facts stand, 50% of companies do not believe they have the necessary resources to effectively manage their employer brand. Recruitment difficulties are not going to disappear this year, so we are suggesting a list of 8 tools to use in 2024 to strengthen your employer brand with candidates.

#1- The ATS to best manage your recruitment projects and polish your company image

Employer branding is a HR marketing concept whose goal is to support the attractiveness of the company as well as employee engagement and loyalty. Internal recruitment processes therefore play a key role in the candidate experience proposed by the company.

As an example, 1 in 3 candidates has already given up on a position because of a recruitment process they considered to be too lengthy. By setting yourself up with an ATS, you will be in a position to better oversee the entire recruitment process, and therefore offer a positive candidate experience. In concrete terms, the main advantage of this tool is the time savings it offers by simplifying candidate management. It automates time-consuming tasks and centralises the main recruitment functions.

#2- The careers site is essential to the employer brand

As the number 4 criterion that motivates candidates to apply (CCLD barometer 2022), the careers site is an essential tool for the employer brand to attract candidates who are qualified AND match the company culture.

The careers site**** is like a display window for the company where potential candidates have access to information that allows them to find out more. In general, the following elements are found on the careers site:

• Up-to-date job offers;

• Careers;

• Company values;

• The policy ins CSR matters, diversity & inclusion, professional equality;

• Company purpose and ambitions;

• Portraits of employees and management;

• News;

• Information about the recruitment steps.

#3- Inbound recruiting or how to produce employer brand content

Have you heard of inbound recruiting? This technique is modelled on inbound marketing and consists of attracting the best talent to your company by producing content. Videos, articles, ebooks, newsletters…, the goal is to allow talent to get to know and immerse themselves in your company universe to make them want to apply to job offers.

In more concrete terms, the goal of this inbound recruiting strategy is to bring the individual from point A to point B with the idea of moving from the status of being unaware of the employer brand to the status of employee.

And if you have any residual doubts about the effectiveness of this tool, these figures should be enough to convince you:

• 49% of companies that implement an inbound recruiting strategy noticed a significant decrease in the talent acquisition time frame;

• A candidate has more chances of applying after 8 positive forms of exposure to an employer brand (SuperAgence figures).

#4- Employee advocacy, the star employer branding tool in 2024

An employee is always more convincing and credible than a company page. In fact, messages will be shared 24 more times when employees publish them on their business social media.

To develop your notoriety and strengthen your external employer brand, the employee advocacy method is an essential tool. Many companies understand this (Starbucks, Reebok). In concrete terms, it involves mobilising employees and making them spokespeople to pass on messages from the company.

As an example, Starbucks created a special “Starbucks Partners” account on Instagram that now counts 159,000 followers. Company employees share regular content that allows followers to discover behind the scenes of the chain and its company culture: daily life, charitable work, business, etc. To allow employees to express themselves in the right way, Starbucks regularly publishes guidelines that take them through the best practices when they post in the name of the company.

#5- The job offer, an effective employer brand tool… under certain conditions

91% of candidates turn towards the job offer, which goes to show the importance of this tool in your employer brand strategy! However, for the job offer to serve the employer image with candidates, you need to avoid falling into stereotypes. In other words, the ad must be personalised.

To achieve this, always start with your candidate persona. What is their personality? What are their expectations in relation to the position and the company? The answers to these questions will act as guidelines when it comes to writing your ad (keywords, tone, etc.). Also remember to specify the recruitment context to allow candidates to picture themselves in the company.

Mentioning the salary or a salary range has also become prerequisite. With 9 out of 10 candidates wanting to know the salary before applying for a job, being upfront about this information will improve your employer brand.

Read: 7 tips for a job offer that hits the spot

#6-AI, the new augmented recruitment tool that takes your employer brand to the next level

In 2024, expect companies to use AI to improve the recruitment process and their attractiveness. In practice, AI can be used to:

• Optimise recruitment communication by using the assistance of AI to write job offers that are more attractive to an AI assisted search strategy (sourcing and social media, CV libraries);

• Help define the inbound recruiting content strategy;

• Assess candidates and recruit the right person; AI can assist recruiters in choosing the end candidate and in managing the candidate pool (creation of an optimal CV library).

#7- The salary simulator, the bonus that has an effect on the employer brand

The goal of the salary simulator is to personalise the candidate experience by offering talent the chance to find out what type of salary they can aspire to within the company. And insofar as salary is the number 1 criterion when candidates decide to join an organisation according to a study conducted in 2022, the salary simulator has a bright future!

Some companies already offer this tool, such as the online bank Shine. Based on the position, years of experience and family status of the candidate, the latter gets a concrete idea of the gross annual salary they can expect to earn.

#8- KPIs to monitor the effectiveness of the external employer branding tools

To evaluate the effectiveness of your employer branding strategy on your recruitments, you will have to assess the results offered by each of the tools used. Here is a non-exhaustive list of metrics you can monitor:

• The number of visits to your careers site;

• The cost of recruitment;

• The conversion rate for your job offers;

• The rate of qualified candidates per sourcing channel;

• The candidate rate of satisfaction;

• The average hiring time;

• The assessment of your company on job sites.

In short, each of these 8 tools is an advantage for your employer brand and your recruitments!