Building an employer brand that makes real sense to your candidates is a time-consuming exercise that requires the mobilization of skills and resources from both HR functions but also Communication and Marketing... and often the branch management itself.

Today, when we talk about employer brand, we too often think of the (admittedly important) place of messages relayed on social networks at the expense of the careers-site.

Social media is not the only element that makes up an employer brand

Beyond this classic "mistake", what are the mistakes to avoid in 2019 and soon 2020?

Employer branding work is essentially about constantly offering the candidates you target truly useful content to them.

For this, the use of social networks is not enough.

Current practices of producing Brand Content are not always in line with the expectations of potential candidates. 

Here are 4 classic mistakes to avoid when working on your employer brand on digital channels:

1 - The testimonials of employees that sound false

For more than a decade, written or filmed interviews or photos of employees praising the quality of life at their company have flourished on career sites.

Over time, these testimonials have lost much of their credibility.

Advertising has a lot to do with this, presenting countless fake testimonials from so-called collaborators - in reality, actors - with speeches that are far too polished or elocution that is far too perfect for the message to be perceived as authentic.

The Super Agency Solution: "Give the floor to collaborators who speak sincerely about their expertise, without picking and choosing who comes across best on screen. Don't be afraid to let him or her speak using jargon from their profession. You may not understand it, but your candidates will!'

2 - Information in the "official" format

Candidates now prefer to find out about companies on their own, by consulting social networks - especially the comments - or by contacting company employees directly via LinkedIn or Video or by visiting sites like Glassdoor.

The Super Agency Solution: "Don't always present too smooth an image of your company. If something is unanimously perceived as a weakness for your employer brand (for example, low pay), don't try to hide it. Instead, don't be afraid to say it and counter it with real arguments, like your training catalog or the cutting-edge projects your teams are working on."

3 - Me, myself and I!"

For a content-based approach to be effective, it requires a complete focus on candidates' expectations, even if it means saying very little about yourself. 

The best employer brand communication is not about you, it's about the real questions your candidates have

This simple fact is a real disruption for a lot of HR departments, used to having the main topic of their career page or site be their company itself.

Move from brand-centric to candidate-centric logic!

The Super Agency Solution: "Candidates are certainly looking for information about your company as an employer, but first and foremost they want answers to questions they have about you. To avoid the self-focused pitch, put yourself in the shoes of a candidate and ask yourself: does what I'm reading/looking at really tell me anything more or is it just promotional content?"

4 - The soothing values pitch

Values talk is another good idea that has been largely wasted by conventional communication.

Candidates, as a rule, have no doubt that a company sincerely stands for certain values, but are increasingly less receptive to the message.

The reason ?

The lack of imagination of many communication agencies who thought they could use a dozen interchangeable keywords for all their clients.

They include  a sense of responsibility, team spirit, a taste for innovation, respect, quality, customer satisfaction, sharing, excellence, proximity, etc.

These values have a real meaning, but one that is perceived more by the company's employees, than by the candidates. The latter expect something other than these kinds of statements. Instead, they expect evidence. 

The Super Agency Solution : "Proof of love is better than words of love. Commitment to values is largely well received by candidates, but they expect a response consistent with the promise. There's no point in claiming to be 'cool' as a startup if you demand that your salespeople wear suits or ban telecommuting."

The goal of the content is to create a connection between your employer-brand and the potential candidate, to establish a relationship of trust with them over time and not just at the time when they will be on an active application process.

It's up to you!