Employer branding that matches everyday working life

The employer brand is the perception of the employer. Employer branding refers to work on this positioning. The employee value proposition, or EVP for short, describes the benefit and value promise to employees. The term employee explicitly emphasises the perspective of the staff. A company can offer different attractive features for different functions.

Employer branding is often reduced to recruitment marketing. However, what is meant is the identity-based development of a company into a credible and attractive employer, effective both internally and externally. This is a process of identity, culture and organisational development. It does not have its full effect if it is treated only as a sub-task of the HR department or marketing. Individual units going it alone does not achieve the goal, and without the backing of management the effort usually remains without result.

Needs also differ more than a uniform presentation would suggest. For one group, pay is the greatest incentive; for another, the possibility of a sabbatical. Some look for challenging projects, others for meaning in their work. Some value working from home, others fixed times in the office. Salary level, financial stability and career prospects rarely convince on their own.

Existing information, employees' perceptions and expectations on the labour market are brought together. What do employees already value? Which activities and capabilities does the corporate strategy need? What expectations do the relevant candidates have? Differences between leadership's self-image and experiences in the company are part of the analysis.

These insights result in a target group-specific EVP. It covers pay, additional benefits, development opportunities, working environment and corporate culture. Not every group weights these aspects equally. Focus groups then test whether the formulated promise is understandable, relevant and credible. The definition is thus followed by a separate testing step.

A communication strategy makes the promise visible. At the same time, fields of action within the company are worked on: for example development opportunities, leadership or cooperation. If a statement has so far only been a wish, it first becomes a development assignment. Management must support the priorities. HR, leadership and communication must work on the same statements and prerequisites.

Candidate and employee experience form the second pillar. The promise is tested against specific experiences: how transparent is the application process, how reliable is feedback, how well does onboarding work and how do employees experience leadership and cooperation? Employees can act as ambassadors if what they say matches these experiences. A short-term recruiting campaign does not replace work on the actual conditions.

The third pillar is internal and external communication. The careers page, employer profiles, social channels and personal encounters can make the employee value proposition visible. The messages must be consistent with recruiting, onboarding and everyday work. Internally, employees need clear information about changes, development opportunities and offerings. Feedback from both perspectives helps to correct unclear or unfulfilled statements.

The EVP includes reviewing pay, additional benefits, development, working environment and lived culture from the perspective of the relevant employee groups. The experience includes, for example, clear steps and feedback deadlines in recruiting, suitable onboarding, respectful rejections and involving employees as credible points of contact. Communication covers, among other things, careers pages, employer profiles, events and understandable internal information. The selection follows the actual need and the results of the survey. A long list of measures is not yet a strategy.

The fifth phase in the process model is the review. Observation and evaluation criteria are agreed to suit the assignment. What matters is whether the target groups addressed recognise the promised features and which gaps remain. Individual key figures alone do not explain why people apply or stay. Feedback therefore feeds into the further development of the EVP and working conditions.

An employer promise must be grounded in actual experience. Leadership, HR and employees can jointly examine which features of the company are significant for relevant target groups and can be reliably experienced internally. This results in a positioning that can be recognised in selection, onboarding, development and daily cooperation.

Where communication and experience diverge, improving the conditions is more important than new wording. A credible promise should therefore show specific strengths and leave open what the organisation is still developing. This is as relevant for existing employees as it is for applicants.

Employer branding comprises the development, implementation and measurement of strategic initiatives that permanently improve the recruitment and retention of employees, willingness to perform, organisational culture and corporate image. First and foremost, it is about positioning and strengthening the employer brand. The more attractive it is, the easier it is for a company to attract qualified specialists and managers and retain existing high performers.

Strategically successful employer branding specifies or adapts the corporate brand. It ensures that the company is perceived as an employer in a largely consistent, distinctive and credible way. At the same time, it attracts, retains and motivates precisely the people who are needed, in view of strategic positioning and identity, to achieve the company's medium- and long-term goals. No company achieves this overnight.

Four effects can be distinguished. The first is identification: current and future employees develop a robust sense of belonging that strengthens willingness to perform and resilience. The second is effective recruitment marketing. Specialists and managers can be retained in the long term, and lower staff turnover and more targeted recruitment reduce the costs of recruiting and induction.

The third effect concerns culture. Employer branding takes the company's own culture into account and makes the company's purpose visible internally and externally. The fourth is an authentic presence. A credible employer gives existing staff secure orientation and convinces with a value proposition for the company and its tasks that goes beyond interchangeable additional benefits.

The labour market has turned. In the past, applicants were scrutinised closely, while employers had to reveal little about themselves until they were hired. Today, companies compete for specialists and managers and have to convey a benefit and value proposition to them. The employee value proposition is therefore also described as the company's application portfolio. It deliberately looks at different target groups and thus contributes to an unmistakable presence.

Highly qualified people can choose among many offers. Companies that credibly and specifically meet the needs of their target groups have the advantage. According to comparative evaluations of studies, further aspects are gaining in importance among younger people: social commitment, sustainable and socially responsible production and supply chains, and flexible options for shaping work and private life.

Before an employer brand is established, several questions should be answered. Which target groups on the labour market do we want to reach, and why should they be interested in our company? What do we stand for, and what characterises our corporate culture? What distinguishes us from other employers, and what keeps today's employees with us? How can what sets us apart be communicated in a way tailored to each target group? And what do our own specialists and managers expect from applicants in the various units?

What is decisive is the change of perspective towards the needs of the target groups in the company and on the labour market. Discussions about processes, products or corporate colours miss this point. The core questions are how qualified employees can be attracted and retained through an attractive and specific offering and how poaching by competitors can be made more difficult. A guide from LinkedIn notes that employer branding rarely succeeds if management does not prioritise it or if one department alone is entrusted with implementation.

Five elements form the classic basis of a holistic EVP. For each, it is analysed which promise the company already offers current and future employees and which needs exist beyond that. The element corporate culture covers social dynamics, internal communication, positive relationships across hierarchies, team spirit and cooperation. Leadership and general working style, trust in management, sustainability and diversity also belong here.

Financial remuneration means pay and additional benefits. It concerns satisfaction with salary, with additional rewards such as bonuses and with the appraisal system. Fair, performance-related pay is an important part of satisfaction with the employer for many. Social benefits are further advantages that come with the job: discounted gym memberships, subsidies for local public transport tickets, holiday days, sabbaticals or pension schemes.

With development opportunities, employees want to see what growth potential their job offers and how the company contributes to their professional and personal development. This includes leadership training, further training, opportunities for promotion and the possibility of changing location or focus of work.

Finally, the working environment covers flexible working hours, work-life balance, recognition, team building, communication systems, the design of the workplace and employee well-being. Which element is decisive depends on the target group. The analysis therefore asks separately for each group what already works and what is missing.