Employer Branding Simply Explained
Employer branding has a lot in common with marketing. The difference is: Instead of developing and expanding the product brand, a specific corporate image is built and strengthened. The employer brand should be linked to a positive image, which should attract potential applicants and create sustainable employee loyalty. This process can be roughly divided into two measures: the acquisition of new employees and the retention of employees in the long term.
Benefits of a strong employer brand
The biggest advantage of a strong employer brand is obvious: The employer brand becomes a magnet for applicants. With a positive image, you can set yourself apart from the competition, increase employer attractiveness and reduce recruitment times. Of course, the measures should not only be based on the recruiting process, it is just as important to promote employee satisfaction and retention. Through motivated and productive employees, companies are able to assert themselves on the market. If the fluctuation rate is too high or if many employees have already “resigned internally,” there are high costs for employers. This must be prevented in employer branding.
Who is responsible for employer branding in the company?
In short: HR and marketing. In order to optimally design the employer branding process, an interdisciplinary team is required. Recruiters are responsible for ensuring that the company is actually an attractive employer and that employees are satisfied. The marketing team ensures that this is also communicated and noticed. They create the appropriate marketing strategy and communicate it to the outside world through various channels.
Building a strong employer brand with the right strategy
Setting up a new career website, a creative image film or insights into everyday working life on social media — these are all good measures to work on employer branding. But if there is no strategy behind it, it will also not have the expected effect in the long term. The first step and the most important in this process is creating a holistic strategy. It is necessary to determine the current situation, to work out target groups, to define the employer value proposition and to define measures. The results are measured and continuously optimized. Developing a strong concept for employer branding is a process that should be scrutinized and adapted again and again.
Five steps to the right employer branding strategy:
1. Analyze the current situation
Regardless of whether companies are already implementing several measures or are just getting started — recording the current situation is the first step towards an employer branding concept. A holistic picture should be created, meaning that all participants and available data must also be recorded. These include questions such as:
- Which channels do we use for recruiting? How many applications are received per published job ad? Is there a difference between the channels?
- Which advertising media and formats have gone well so far, and which less so?
- What sets the company apart from the competition?
- What makes the company an interesting employer?
2. Define target groups and goals
As a first step, it is usually possible to identify some problems, but also best practices. To ensure that the strategy also works well, the next step should be to define goals and also target groups that want to address companies. Possible goals may include:
- Increasing awareness of the employer brand
- Get more reviews on job ads
- Faster application processes
- More suitable applicants
The target groups should then also be defined: Which professional qualifications are desired, which soft skills, etc.?
3. Define employer value proposition
The Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is the development of employer positioning. Companies develop the core message of the value proposition. This is intended to express what the company stands for and to focus on the values lived. The employer value proposition is the foundation of the employer brand.
In order to define the EPP, an inventory of the current situation must be made first. The target groups are defined and the competition is analysed. Finally, the company's values and vision are worked out. In short, employers can work through the following steps to define the employer value proposition:
- Analysis of the current situation: What are the company's unique selling points? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Which values are conveyed?
- Research: This point can be divided into internal and external research. To collect internal opinions, interviewing employees is the best solution. How do employees themselves see the company, what do they like and what would they like to see? External research involves interviewing customers, business partners and applicants.
- Define target group: This step is used to create a so-called candidate persona. This fictional person is modified in such a way that it is an ideal fit for the job posting and the company.
- Competitor analysis: There are companies that implement EPP and employer branding almost perfectly - and can no longer save themselves from applications. Companies can search for best practices and take a closer look at competitors. What are these companies doing right and how is recruiting structured?
- Vision and Employer Claim: In this step, all findings from the previous points should be taken into account. After the analysis, companies can continue working with positive findings and work out the key points of the EPP. This includes corporate culture as well as corporate benefits, finances and other issues that affect the company.
4. Define measures
With the preparation of the employer value proposition, a big step has been taken. A candidate journey, similar to the customer journey for customers, can be helpful in this regard. Companies can list all points of contact and integrate additional channels as needed. Examples include: The career page on the website, trade fairs, application portals, advertisements, trial days, onboarding, etc. The existing channels should be critically reviewed. The candidate persona can be used for this purpose. Where is she staying looking for jobs? Which channels does it use and which corporate values and benefits does it address? In this step, clear procedures should also be defined for the entire application process so that the entire appearance is consistent and offers positive points of contact.
5. Measuring and optimising success
It is only through regular monitoring that the implemented measures are working. If the expected results are not achieved, the candidate journey must be revised and improved.
Depending on the measures taken, success can be measured using various key figures, such as:
- Career page visits and conversion rate
- Number of applications
- Turnover rate
In the best case scenario, internal surveys should be carried out regularly. This is another way for companies to ensure that employees are satisfied and uncover potential for improvement.
One thing is certain: Developing the Employer Value Proposition requires a great deal of time. But when they are well developed and implemented, companies create satisfied employees who remain loyal in the long term and more applications from great talent.
To achieve a meaningful value proposition for employers, companies should involve employees, managers, and key stakeholders and integrate them into the process. In the “War for Talents,” companies are in broad competition for the most qualified employees. To attract the best talent, it's important to stand out with a strong brand message and authentic values. This is the only way companies remain relevant and successful in the competition.
Internal employer branding
When it comes to employer branding, many first think of external measures to find qualified talent and optimize the application phase and onboarding. Internal employer branding is at least as important and should also be well planned.
Why is internal employer branding so important?
Internal employer branding offers enormous opportunities for companies. Satisfied employees are not only more motivated at work, loyalty increases and frustration tolerance decreases. There are fewer layoffs in the long term and employers can save on new hires. However, this strong bond with the company also has other benefits: The image is also improved by satisfied employees. Happy employees also want to share their positive experiences, whether with friends, on social media or on review portals.
There are of course many interfaces between internal and external employer branding. The biggest mistake that companies can make is communicating benefits and values to the outside world, but these do not match reality.
How can you strengthen internal employer branding?
There are various fields of action when it comes to internal employer branding. In addition to leadership culture and personnel management, important factors such as the organization of the working environment and internal communication also include.
Here, too, it is important to involve employees in the process and to interview them, for example through regular feedback. If new corporate benefits are introduced that make employees feel more comfortable at work, this should also be confirmed by a survey. This is the only way employers can ensure that employee offers are actually desired and accepted. Corporate benefits are a popular means of increasing employee satisfaction and increasing the feel-good factor in the workplace.
The optimal design of internal employer branding is very individual and requires time — but it is definitely worthwhile. There are numerous measures, and we have listed a few examples here:
- Workplace design: Flexible working hours and the choice of place of work are becoming increasingly relevant for employees. SAP, Spotify, HubSpot and other well-known companies rely on flexible working models and thus increase employee satisfaction.
- Continuing education: Several surveys confirm that most employees pay particular attention to whether companies promote continuing education.
- Corporate benefits: They help to increase the feel-good factor at work and ensure a balanced work-life balance. Employers can create an advantage for employees through tax-free benefits in kind, subsidies for meals or fitness courses.
- Personnel management: This topic is also important and should be discussed internally. For many, exchange on equal terms with supervisors is a basic requirement for good personnel management.
- Company values: The values should be clearly communicated and, above all, authentic. The company values should be well thought out — the best values won't help anyone if they are not really lived out in practice.
Conclusion
The topic of employer branding is a process and should always be prioritized within the company. When developing corporate values, it is important to start with internal measures so that the message can be authentically conveyed to the outside world. Only values that are actually lived by the company should be communicated.
With a well-thought-out employer branding strategy, vacancies can be filled more quickly. The number of layoffs is declining and employees are working more productively because they feel comfortable and can identify with the company.
