Until recently, the Brazilian market thought of employer branding mainly in terms of attracting talent. It is certainly essential for attraction: according to Wonderful Workplace, a strong employer brand can reduce hiring costs by 43%.
As the field develops, the relationship between employer branding and internal communications becomes clearer. The same Wonderful Workplace research found that a strong employer brand can increase employee involvement by 130%.
Internal communications and employee experience
The attraction stage ends when talent starts work. Internal communications then helps confirm the promise made during recruitment and supports team engagement.
Employer branding, done properly, brings together communications to attract professionals and internal communications for employees.
It means managing the employer brand throughout the talent journey, from attraction to after people leave the company.
The story told to candidates during recruitment must be validated by the people who already work there.
That is why most interviews conducted when discovering the Employee Value Proposition, or EVP, involve internal talent. They are well placed to explain what makes the company a great place to work.
Internal communications has a crucial role: helping people recognize the EVP in everyday experience by connecting it consistently to communications:
- Through senior leaders’ words and actions.
- In managers’ daily communications with their teams.
- Across all internal company channels.
- In internal campaigns.
There is also a major opportunity to connect the EVP to other company initiatives that can improve the working experience.
Internal communications and HR working together
Internal communications needs to be HR’s closest partner, giving employee journey topics as much attention as institutional topics.
Alongside initiatives linked to strategy, the corporate brand and products, it is crucial to give visibility and substance to life inside the company, including:
- Actions that express its purpose.
- Stories of the desired culture in practice.
- Distinctive compensation and benefits.
- Learning and growth opportunities.
- The company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
- Internal celebrations.
Reminding people why they chose the company makes it easier for them to keep making that choice every day and become employer brand ambassadors.
The company’s key messages
Every company already has an employer brand. Ask someone what it is like to work at their company.
Internal communications’ role in employer branding is to help people connect their answer to the messages that differentiate and strengthen that employer brand.
This matters because it can improve engagement and lend greater credibility to the employee value proposition among the talent the company wants to attract.
In our article on employer branding, we explain that the promise made to candidates must be proven when they become employees. There is another point too: employees promote their companies every day.
Word of mouth is an important part of selling, even when the “product” is something as intangible as a working experience.
We know the most trusted, credible and organic messages come from people we already know. Among the studies supporting this, a Nielsen report found that 83% of people across 60 surveyed countries trust recommendations from friends and family more than traditional media marketing messages.
This reinforces the importance of cohesive messages that employees can share, strengthening the EVP.
Three internal communications actions to strengthen employer branding
Where should your company begin? These processes provide a foundation for planning:
1. Put employees at the center of the stories
Giving internal talent a voice strengthens their connection with the company, recognizes people and makes the messages more credible.
Rather than simply reminding people that growth and learning opportunities exist, tell the story of an employee who learned something new or earned a promotion.
2. Identify key messages, measure and analyze
How much internal content reinforces the strategic narrative, culture and EVP? How do people engage with it? Which culture and EVP attributes perform best in internal channels?
This requires practical tracking. Include the key messages in content and regularly analyze results.
3. Test and diversify communications channels
EVP messages can and should extend beyond traditional internal communications channels. Everything communicates.
Professionals should identify opportunities to align, connect and promote key messages throughout the employee journey. Relevant touchpoints include:
- Onboarding materials.
- Promotion and merit letters.
- Training materials.
- Communications from every department.
Understanding that employer branding extends well beyond talent attraction is the first step. Internal communications is a fundamental strategic partner in its success.
The key is cohesion. The talent every company wants to attract and retain wants a meaningful story, with coherence and consistency between the promise of the “product” they bought, a job at the company, and the reality of working there.
Meet Smart
Smart helps companies design effective employer branding strategies by mapping the employee journey, structuring an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) suited to business needs and developing the employer brand narrative.
We also apply our proprietary EVP Research & Design methodology and support changes relating to the desired organizational culture.
We connect internal and external communications for employees and the market, supporting reputation management and brand authority, including the employer brand. Explore our services.
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