Purpose – The employer brand could be a key factor of competitiveness for a company in a contemporary labour market. The purpose of this paper is to identify the features of human resource development (HRD) practices and talent management in companies with employer brand (CEBs). Design/methodology/approach – The authors examined three economic indicators (turnover rate, average share of HR costs in total costs of company, proportion between the annual HR training budget and annual labour compensation funds). An employee survey was conducted to study the HRD system in the CEBs and in companies without the employer brand (CWEBs). Also, the survey was conducted among applicants (potential workers) about their job preferences and identified that employer brand could be a strong factor for attracting talent to the company. Findings – The results show considerable differences in terms of economic indicators, HRD practices and talent management in the CEBs in comparison with CWEBs. The potential advantages of empl