Employer branding: developing the brand systemically

Employer branding means building an employer brand. It provides an answer to the question of why qualified specialists and managers want to work for a company.

In the academic context in German-speaking countries, employer branding is mostly defined as the identity-based development and positioning of a company as a credible and attractive employer, effective both internally and externally. This definition goes back to the Deutsche Employer Branding Akademie.

Employer branding thus comprises the development, implementation and measurement of strategic initiatives. They serve the sustainable optimisation of employee recruitment and retention, willingness to perform, organisational culture and the development of the corporate image.

Above all, the skills shortage is increasing the importance of employer branding. In the competition for qualified specialists and managers, companies are called upon to take targeted measures to win capable people, heart and hand, for the company and retain them in the long term.

Employer branding is often reduced to elements of personnel marketing. From a systemic perspective, it is a process of identity and organisational development. This classification determines all further considerations. An employer brand arises first from what a company stands for and how work is done in it. Communicating about it is the second step.

Employer branding is primarily about positioning and strengthening the employer brand. The advantages of strategically effective employer branding are obvious: the more attractive the employer brand, the easier it is for companies to win qualified specialists and managers and to retain existing high performers.

Strategically successful employer branding specifies or adapts the corporate brand. It ensures a largely consistent, distinctive and credible perception of the company as an employer. At the same time, it attracts, retains and motivates the people who, in view of the strategic positioning and identity, are needed to achieve the company’s medium- and long-term goals.

No company achieves this overnight. Employer branding requires processes of identity, culture and organisational development. It cannot develop its full effect if it is regarded merely as a sub-aspect in the HR department or in marketing. Interdisciplinary work across the organisation is critical to success.

The benefits show in four areas, based on a publication by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology on securing skilled workers. The first is identification with the company. Current and future employees identify more strongly with the company and develop a robust sense of belonging that strengthens willingness to perform and resilience.

The second area is effective personnel marketing. Qualified specialists and managers can be retained by the company in the long term. Lower turnover and more targeted recruitment reduce the costs of recruiting and onboarding.

The third area is culture as a success factor. Every company has its very own corporate culture. Employer branding incorporates this culture and thus makes the company’s purpose visible externally and internally.

The fourth area is an authentic presence. As a credible employer, the company offers existing staff reliable orientation. It inspires with an authentic value proposition for the company and its tasks, not just for interchangeable additional benefits.

Three terms are often mixed up in everyday use and should be clearly distinguished. The employer brand is the perception of the company as an employer. It therefore describes a result: the image that current and potential employees have of an employer.

Employer branding refers to the strategic measures with which a company as a whole is positioned as an attractive and credible employer for various target groups and positively set apart from the competition. Employer branding is thus the path, the employer brand the result.

The employee value proposition is a company’s benefit and value promise to current and potential employees. It forms the basis of authentic and sustainable employer branding. It highlights clearly, and in distinction from the competition, what current and future employees in different roles can expect from the company as an employer.

Successful employer branding focuses on the needs of current and potential employees. This perspective is important for the success of brand building. For this reason, transformis deliberately speaks of the employee value proposition and not the employer value proposition. The choice of words marks from whose standpoint the promise is formulated and tested: that of the employees.

The labour market has changed greatly since the turn of the millennium, especially in Germany and Western Europe. In the last century, potential employees were closely scrutinised, while employers had to reveal little about themselves until hiring. Today it is the other way round. Companies compete for the favour of specialists and managers and are called upon to convey benefit and value promises to potential employees.

The employee value proposition is often described metaphorically as the company’s application portfolio. It deliberately looks at different target groups and thus contributes significantly to differentiated and unmistakable employer branding.

Highly qualified job seekers in particular can choose the best position from many offers. In this selection process, the companies that succeed in meeting the needs of the target groups credibly and in a targeted way have the advantage. A clearly defined employee value proposition focuses on these needs. Salary level, financial stability and career prospects are rarely convincing on their own.

The 2023 study comparison by Employer Branding Now indicates that younger people in particular weigh far more aspects when choosing an employer. Social engagement, sustainable and socially responsible production and supply chains, and individual and flexible options for combining work and private life are gaining in importance.

Before an employer brand can be established, eight questions should be answered when developing an employee value proposition. Which target groups on the labour market do we want to reach? Why should these target groups be interested in our company? What do we stand for as a company? What characterises our corporate culture?

Four further questions follow. What distinguishes us from other employers? What keeps current employees with us? How can we convey what distinguishes us as an employer to specific target groups? What do specialists and managers expect of applicants in different areas?

Effective employer branding emerges in five steps. It begins with capturing the initial situation. Existing information in the company linked to the employee value proposition is captured and analysed. Employees are surveyed on their perception of the employer brand in order to clarify what the existing workforce values. The results are compared with market requirements, that is, with what candidates expect.

In the second step, the employee value proposition is defined. It is based on the results of the first phase and the possible different target groups.

In the third step, the employee value proposition is piloted. Designated focus groups validate the formulated version. This ensures that the promise is targeted and authentic before it is communicated widely.

In the fourth step, the employee value proposition is established. Externally, communication strategies for the developed employee value proposition are drawn up and implemented. Internally, fields of action are derived and worked on to develop attractiveness within the organisation.

In the fifth step, the results are reviewed continuously and with foresight. For this, observation and evaluation criteria are defined that enable foresighted monitoring of effectiveness.

The order has a factual reason. External communication only comes fourth, because a promise that has not been tested and is not backed internally damages the credibility of the employer brand.

Five elements form the classic basis of a holistic employee value proposition. The analysis looks at which benefit and value promise the company offers current and future employees and what further needs exist in order to win new talent in a targeted way.

The first element is corporate culture. It deals with the factors that make up a suitable corporate culture. These include social dynamics, internal communication, positive relationships between team members across hierarchies, team spirit, collaboration, leadership and general working style, trust in management, sustainability and diversity.

The second element is financial reward from pay and additional benefits. It covers employees’ satisfaction with their salary, with additional rewards such as bonuses and with their appraisal system. Fair, performance-related pay is, for many, an important component of satisfaction with the employer.

The third element is social benefits. They comprise further advantages that come with the position, such as discounted gym memberships, subsidies for public transport tickets, holidays, sabbaticals and pension provision.

The fourth element is development opportunities. Employees want to see what growth potential their job offers and how the company can contribute to their professional and personal development. This includes leadership training, further training, promotion opportunities and the possibility of changing location or focus of work.

The fifth element is the working environment. It is associated with factors that make up a positive working environment: flexible working hours, work-life balance, recognition, team building, communication systems, workplace design and employee well-being.

When developing an employee value proposition, a company can focus on the specific needs of current and future employees. These needs differ. For one group, financial pay is the greatest incentive; for another, the possibility of a sabbatical is decisive. Some employees are attracted by challenging projects; for others, the value their work creates is what matters.

Some value the option of working mostly from home. For others, fixed working time on site in the office is more attractive. These different needs must be taken into account when developing the employee value proposition for specific target groups.

The employee value proposition forms the basis for successful employer branding. It is correspondingly important to drive forward, in concrete terms, the change of perspective towards the needs of the target groups in the company and on the labour market.

This is not about discussions of processes, products or corporate colours. It is about two concrete questions. How can qualified employees be won and retained through an attractive and specific offering? To what extent can poaching by the competition be made more difficult?

Prioritisation by the management board and networking within the company are considered key success factors. A 2013 guide by LinkedIn concludes that employer branding rarely or never succeeds if the management board does not prioritise the relevant projects or if a single department is entrusted with implementation on its own.

The first success factor is the commitment of the management board. Without its backing and involvement, employer branding rarely succeeds. For the success of employer branding processes and for the development of the employee value proposition, it is enormously important that the executive board or management board clearly stands behind the results. Otherwise, the often considerable resources invested have no effect.

The second success factor is using the intelligence of the system. Solo efforts by individual departments or organisational units do not achieve the goal. Regardless of which organisational unit is responsible for employer branding, interdisciplinary and cross-departmental collaboration is critical to success.

The organisation’s existing system intelligence should therefore be used. Working groups and departments that are important for success are involved. Employer branding thus becomes a task for the entire organisation and does not remain the project of a single unit.