Employer branding is more than just a picture of your company. It represents a promise, a commitment towards the values and experience you have to offer. It plays a vital role in making you attractive to candidates, especially on competitive markets.

To that end, have you considered calling on freelancers to address your recruitment needs, just like 57% of French companies? Whether you want to tap into specific technical expertise or you need some extra support during peak business periods, this is increasingly common practice in 2024.

And yet, despite the demand for freelancers, they are notable for their absence in employer branding strategies. Companies rarely genuinely adapt their value proposals to build an attractive employer brand for freelancers.

This is precisely what we are going to talk about in this article: we will explore concrete solutions to enhance your company culture and make it inclusive to independent profiles.

Employer branding basics

Your employer brand is the way that your company presents itself and communicates. It encompasses your values, the benefits you offer and your company culture. The goal of employer branding is not only to attract new talent, but also to build your reputation as an employer. Your reputation should precede you and inspire confidence in your candidates, employees, clients, suppliers and partners, basically your entire ecosystem.

A good employer brand will appear as being reliable and attractive.

In other words, it will allow potential future candidates to feel confident in the fact that your company is the place to be, a great place to work. By communicating clearly about what you represent and emphasising your understanding of candidates’ needs, there is no doubt that you will be a magnet for all the matching talent. And that includes freelance profiles.

Here are the benefits of adapting your employer branding to freelancers.

The benefits of not forgetting to include freelancers

It is no secret that the number of freelancers is on the rise every year and that companies are calling on them more and more regularly.  Actively including them in your employer branding strategy can offer some considerable advantages:

1. Improve your company’s attractiveness by laying out values such as flexibility, independence and creativity
2. Position yourself as an employer of choice that values and understands the specific needs of freelancers
3. Strengthen in-house diversity and inclusiveness, thereby enriching your company culture and stimulating innovation.

By rethinking your relationship with freelancers to strategically include them in your employer brand, you are not only making a smart decision for your company's adaptability and growth, you are also creating a more inclusive professional ecosystem.

How to build a company culture that is inclusive for freelancers That is the purpose of our next point. Without further ado, here it is.

Build a company culture that is inclusive for freelancers

If you want to attract freelancers, you need to meet their expectations.

Firstly, flexibility.

Independent workers value the freedom to choose when and how they work. Offering flexible work hours and organisation is non-negotiable if you want to convince them to work with your company.

In concrete terms, this flexibility should be supported by tools that facilitate remote collaboration (such as a company Slack, for instance). This allows freelancers to feel integrated and efficient, no matter where they are.

Above and beyond flexibility, you need to reach them in terms of values.

A company that clearly communicates its values and demonstrates their concrete existence will resonate with freelancers.

For example, a company that promotes sustainability and implements practices that respect the environment will attract freelancers who share this commitment. Similarly, a company that promotes equality and diversity through mentoring initiatives or support for under-represented communities will strengthen its attractiveness.

Your mission is to turn these values into concrete actions, integrate them to the daily life of your company, the policies and all your initiatives.

For example, an inclusive company culture for freelancers can be:

1. Freedom of communication: Create channels where freelancers can share their ideas and feedback as freely as salaried employees.
2. Value their contribution: Ensure that the efforts and results of freelancers are recognised on the same level as those of full time employees. This can be in the shape of mentions in internal newsletters, rewards for successful projects, or simply by public attributions of merit during team meetings.

Access to professional development resources: Offer freelancers training and development opportunities, such as access to online courses or workshops that will allow them to improve their skills while working for your company.

Doing is one thing.

Spreading the word is another.

You can have the best practices on the market, but if nobody knows about them, your efforts will have been in vain. Let’s look at how to use LinkedIn to promote your employer brand.

Use LinkedIn to promote your employer branding

LinkedIn is a powerful tool to shape and promote your employer brand.

The first step will be to optimise your company’s profile page. Ensure that every element, from the cover photo to the company description is a clear reflection of your values and in-house culture.

To take things further, we encourage you to create content to hold your public’s interest and engage them. Share case studies, testimonials and behind-the-scenes that illustrate your commitment to innovative work practices that are suitable for freelancers. Highlight the significant contributions from freelancers who already work with you.

Not only should this content inform, it should also inspire, demonstrating how freelancers can thrive and improve in your working environment. In this way, you continue to attract talent while creating a community around your shared values, thereby strengthening your employer brand on LinkedIn.

By strengthening your employer brand and adapting it to your freelancer targets, you will successfully attract them. It involves excellent understanding of these profiles, and adapting your promise accordingly.