Employer branding as a success factor

A proven way to increase employees’ identification with and commitment to your company is to develop your brand as an employer (employer branding).

Every company wants to recruit and retain well-trained, high-potential employees. In a competitive environment, the ability to attract and retain good employees becomes a strategic success factor. Employer branding can effectively support this success factor.

“Employer branding” pursues “the goal of forming a distinguishable, authentic, credible, consistent and attractive employer brand in the perceptions [of recruiters and potential employees] that positively contributes to the corporate brand” (source: Berufsverband Queb e. V.).

How can you implement “employer branding” in your company?

The term “employer branding” sounds like a buzzword, but it is backed up by concrete recommendations for effective activities. The core of employer branding is basically not difficult to grasp and implement: Simply transfer the methods of marketing to your target group “employees” and develop an employer brand strategy from this.

Start with a specification of your ideal employees and investigate what represents a special value for these ideal employees. Important criteria for employees and applicants for jobs tend to be an attractive corporate culture, the possibility of a good work-life balance, good professional and personal development opportunities within the company, and the possibility of helping to shape the company. But look closely. You can do this along the same lines as a buyer personas analysis.

Translate the identified benefits for your employees into target-group-relevant communication content and use this content together with key visuals in a stringent communication of your employer branding message to your target groups. To do this, think carefully about which media your target groups read and follow, and place your messages in a targeted manner.

However, make sure that the arguments you use in your employer branding communication are actually reflected in your company’s operational practices. This requires a holistic management approach. The arc from management attitude to leadership, in particular personnel management, and in this context specifically trust and appreciation, motivation, the way decisions are reached in your company, the understanding of sustainability, and the company’s success itself, up to marketing, employer branding in the narrower sense, must close seamlessly. Dealing with complexity starts with an applicant-friendly application process and continues with the selection of products and manufacturing processes as well as the communication culture in everyday working life.

Employer branding is therefore much more than a few buzzwords. It runs throughout the entire company. As in marketing, you must deliver what you promise; otherwise, your commitment will fizzle out.

A positive image of your company as an employer in turn impacts access to more suitable employees and your business success through word-of-mouth. You determine whether the spiral should go up or down. Thus, professional employer branding can have a positive impact on recruitment success.

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