Employer branding and the perfect employer brand: Applicants really want that!

The main thing is a claim?

As a result, more and more recruiters are using a method in recruitment that they have copied from their colleagues in the marketing department: a claim has to be made! For real?

With such a claim - so the guess - everything is much easier. A claim compresses the core statements of the company about its achievements, principles and values ​​as an employer in a few words, makes it unmistakable and increases the recognition value in the personal marketing. As far as the theory.

Advertising with Stock Photos

To the claim then a photo, usually a bought Stock Photo, built into the job advertisement, about as a unique, unmistakable motif as the smiling lady or the dynamic gentlemen who hold up the reader's thumb upwards.

Already - it is apparently believed - the advertising effect is great and applicants feel - so the desire - an incredibly strong urge to apply to such an outstanding company.

The claim to the employer brand - ideal and reality

Now back to the claim. The benefit argumentation of an employer is complex and consequently difficult to pin down, ie to squeeze into a slogan. In addition, differentiation or even unique selling points are certainly even more difficult in personnel marketing than in products and services.

In practice, we then experience what also applies to job advertisements: if you even bother to develop a claim, many are the same or even completely identical. Dozens of employers, for example, use the slogan or rather the phrase “career with a future”.

All future - or what?

For example, the Bundeswehr, the precision tool manufacturer Leitz, kfzdienst24.de, TCG UNITECH, ROFA-Lehmer, the Tyrol Chamber of Commerce, TARGO BANK, the forwarding agent FWNEUKIRCH believe that they can position themselves excellently with “careers with a future” and communicate clearly to potential applicants. what she expects.

The software manufacturer SAP also looks to the future: "Your future starts now." - when does the future start otherwise, one would like to ask.

The perfect claim brings the EPP to the point

There is another way. A good claim sums up the Employer Value Proposition (EPP) in a few words, such as

• “Passion wanted. We are looking for people with passion! ” - McKinsey Germany
• "Career is a straight line" - Aldi Süd
• “People Power Partnership” - HARTING technology group
• "TO BUILD BEAUTY, WE NEED TALENT" - L'Oréal
• "No Ranks, No Titles" - Gore
• “BE YOUR OWN CAPTAIN” - European inland navigation
• "Are you auto-motivated?" - Continental

The list is of course only a small appetizer. Which claims do you speak to? Which extraordinary employer slogan should serve as an example?

The race for the best talents

But companies must not stop at the claim: At EVERY job interview this question comes up: “Why should I work for this company?” Certainly.

The question does not necessarily have to be answered by the applicant, but in any case must be answered at the end of the job interview, in fact actually before the interview Casting.

Strengths and weaknesses belong to an authentic employer brand

Knowing where your own strengths lie and what makes a company attractive from a workers' perspective is the foundation on which to build an authentic employer brand.

However, only a few companies are investigating the matter and are not able to operate professional personnel marketing alone. For active companies, this offers an incredible opportunity to win the race for the best talent.

Over half of employers do not care about the employer brand!

83% of the companies recognized that employer branding measures are already important today and will continue to increase in the future, the StepStone Employer Branding Report determined in 2011. It is astonishing that despite everything, more than half of the companies do NOT provide resources, i.e. neither time nor money, for building an employer brand.

The StepStone study also reveals that only 14% of employees would recommend their employer without hesitation - on the other hand, 94% of employers are firmly convinced that their employees recommend it as an employer. Obviously, there is a considerable loss of reality here.

Employer: Say loud and clear what you stand for!

Applicants are advised to ask the potential employer what their strengths are and why they should work there.

Employers should be encouraged to develop their Employee Value Proposition (EPP) based on their corporate values ​​and to communicate loudly and clearly, for which they are an employer and what they have to offer.