HRD vs. CCO: who should really drive Employer Brand?
In a fast-changing job market, Employer Branding has become an essential strategic lever for attracting and retaining talent. However, one question remains: who should drive employer brand?
Should it be managed by the Human Resources Department (HRD), which is supposed to have a better grasp of how to respond to employee expectations, or by the Communications Department (CCO), which is an expert in image and dissemination?
This debate, sometimes a source of tension internally, actually undermines the effectiveness of attractiveness strategies. A collaborative approach obviously seems to be the solution, but how can it be put into practice?
THE HRD: PROTECTING AUTHENTICITY AND CHAMPIONING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
The HR department plays a key role in building a credible and sustainable Employer Brand. As the guarantor of the company's internal realities and employee expectations, it is at the forefront of identifying the values and culture to be promoted.
It is through day-to-day contact with employees that the HR department detects distinctive cultural elements. Whether it's managerial practices, professional development opportunities or the working atmosphere. This detailed understanding of needs and expectations helps to avoid communication that is disconnected from internal realities. The stakes are all the higher given that, as noted in a LinkedIn study (2023), 75% of candidates seek information on corporate culture before applying for a job[1].
What's more, the HR department is best placed to define an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) in line with HR strategy. This proposition must reflect not only what the company offers its employees today, but also its vision for the medium and long term. Here again, the stakes are high, since according to an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), companies with a clearly defined and differentiating EVP see their talent attraction rate increase by 40%[2].
Finally, the HR department must ensure consistency between the promises made externally and the experience lived internally by employees. This requires constant evaluation and adjustment of HR practices. If only to ensure that promises correspond to reality on the ground.
To carry out these missions successfully, the HR Director must master the challenges of Employer Branding, know how to translate sometimes complex HR concepts into hard-hitting messages, and adopt a posture open to dialogue and co-construction with the Communications team.
CCO: A GREAT LENDER IN STORYTELLING, DISSEMINATION AND BRAND AWARENESS...
For its part, the Communications Department contributes its expertise in narrative construction and message dissemination. It plays a decisive role in developing a coherent employer communications strategy, ensuring alignment between the employer's image and the company's overall image. The Communications team ensures consistency of message, tone and visual identity across all touchpoints, whether customer or talent oriented.
The Communications team also masters the design of engaging content, adapted to different channels. All while taking into account the specificities of each platform (LinkedIn, Instagram, career site, etc.). It knows how to maximize the impact of HR messages with different talent targets.
Finally, Communications orchestrates the dissemination and amplification of the Employer Brand in the external media, while monitoring the company's e-reputation as an employer.
HR COLLABORATION AND GENUINE COMMITMENT
To fulfill these missions, the Communications team must not only understand HR issues, but also know how to adapt its tone to speak authentically and engagingly to candidates. Close collaboration with the HR department is essential, in particular by submitting content to the latter for approval, even if this may sometimes run counter to certain creative biases.
This fruitful collaboration is all the more important given that, according to Glassdoor, 79% of candidates consult online reviews before applying for a job[3], while companies that regularly publishemployee testimonials and video content on their values see their candidate engagement increase by 60%[4], with a premium on "real talk" and authenticity!
HRD vs. CCO: THE ESSENTIAL ALLIANCE FOR AN EFFICIENT AND PERFORMING EMPLOYER BRAND!
For an effective synergy between HR and Communications to take root, it is often necessary to change practices and mentalities. The first step is to create a shared vision, by organizing co-construction workshops to jointly define the objectives of the Employer Brand. This shared vision can be formalized in a framework document, and performance indicators combining HR metrics (recruitment quality, retention rate) and Communication metrics (brand awareness, engagement on networks) need to be put in place.
Secondly, clear governance is essential. The creation of a joint steering committee, bringing together members of both teams on a regular basis, makes it possible to define the roles and responsibilities of each person at each stage of the process. Agile validation processes must be put in place to avoid inefficient back-and-forth.
Mutual acculturation is also a key lever for strengthening collaboration. Sharing sessions between teams enable HR to present key HR issues, while Communications can share best practices in content creation.
Encouraging experimentation through pilot projects enables new approaches to be tested. And this, without fear of failure, with shared learning to continually improve the strategy.
RECONCILING HRD & CCO: THE "TO DO" IN A NUTSHELL...
Rather than fighting over the governance of the Employer Brand, HRD and CCO need to join forces...
- Establish common governance: set up a steering committee bringing together HR and Communications teams to define a shared vision and clear objectives.
- Co-construct messages: involve the HR department in the content creation process to guarantee authenticity.
- Define crossed performance indicators: measure the impact on both recruitment (rate of qualified applications, rate of acceptance of offers) and visibility (engagement on social networks, traffic on career site).
- Implement collaborative tools: use shared platforms to streamline exchanges and avoid silos.
- Experiment with innovative formats: the LinkedIn Talent Trends 2024 report shows that videos and interactive content generate 2.5 times more engagement than traditional text ads[5].
For this collaboration to be truly fruitful, each team must recognize and value the other's expertise. The HR department must accept that it is no longer the sole owner of the Employer Brand subject. Communications, on the other hand, must accept that authenticity sometimes takes precedence over creativity. It is from this accepted complementarity that a truly differentiating and effective Employer Brand can emerge.
CALL ON AN EXTERNAL EXPERT... TO CATALYZE COLLABORATION AND SYNERGIES
As experts in both HR and communications issues, our ACT-ON STRATEGY teams can play the crucial role of facilitator in an Employer Brand approach.
Our approach aims to :
- Clarify roles and responsibilities: we help you define a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix adapted to each organization, taking into account the specific characteristics of each team.
- Optimize collaboration processes: we design efficient workflows to streamline exchanges between HR and Communication, from idea generation to content validation.
- Developing shared tools: we are setting up collaborative platforms and shared dashboards to facilitate joint working and monitoring of actions.
- Team training: we offer tailor-made training modules to reinforce the skills of each team in complementary areas (HR marketing for HR teams, recruitment issues for Communications).
- Accompanying change: we guide teams through the implementation of new practices, encouraging buy-in and overcoming any resistance.
By combining the strengths of HR and Communications teams, companies can build an authentic, coherent and impactful Employer Brand. This synergy, catalyzed by ACT-ON STRATEGY's expertise, not only optimizes talent attraction and retention, but also strengthens corporate culture and employee commitment.
TOWARDS A MORE IMPACTFUL EMPLOYER BRAND...
Employer branding is neither the prerogative of HR nor of Communications. It's a corporate project that requires a strong synergy between these two areas of expertise.
By overcoming internal power struggles and relying on intelligent collaboration, companies can build an authentic, engaging and successful Employer Brand.
What if your company finally took this step? Contact us to structure your approach and maximize your impact! Discover ACT-ON STRATEGY.
[1] LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Global Talent Trends Report 2023.
[2] Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Creating a Winning Employer Value Proposition, 2023.
[3] Glassdoor, Glassdoor's Mission & Methodology, 2023.
[4] HubSpot, The State of Inbound Marketing, 2023.
[5] LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Global Talent Trends Report 2024.
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