By building a positively perceived employer brand, you can convince employees and skilled professionals to join your company. This branding process is called employer branding, and it has gained significant importance within HR departments.

We explain how employer branding can be used profitably as a marketing strategy for new employees. With the following tips and the necessary background knowledge, you can give your company's recruiting process a fresh perspective.

Employer branding definition: what is employer branding?

The world of work has undergone significant change in recent years. Digitalization and globalization have shifted the balance of power between employers and employees. While companies used to be able to carefully select their employees, they now need to position themselves as an attractive employer to potential candidates.

Simply posting a job ad and waiting for qualified applicants has long become a relic of the past as a recruiting strategy. Based on analysis, measures, and strategy, companies need to stand out from the competition on the labor market and get potential employees excited about them. The foundation for this is employer branding, developing an employer brand that's perceived positively. This is influenced not just by external perception, but also by a company's internal culture. Through strong identification with corporate values, meaning an employer's principles and philosophy, and positive statements about their own work, employees support employer branding.

Distinguishing between employer branding & HR marketing

There's an important distinction to make between the terms "employer branding" and "HR marketing" (Personalmarketing). Using them synonymously is fundamentally incorrect, even though both forms of marketing pursue the same goal, winning motivated employees for your company.

While HR marketing focuses on operational measures, employer branding is a strategic orientation with an eye toward the future. Developing an employer brand sustainably supports the work of HR marketing. To draw a clear distinction, it's worth looking at the activities involved. In HR marketing, the focus areas are:

• Job postings: Distributing job ads on job boards and social media is a core task of HR marketing.
• Working with young talent: Reaching out to students with targeted measures and drawing attention to your company early on.
• Direct outreach: Directly approaching or courting suitable candidates is part of recruiting.
• Onboarding: A fast, transparent, structured onboarding process supports a smooth start at the company.
• Further training: A comprehensive range of training and development opportunities leads to higher motivation and satisfaction among employees.
• Compensation: Dynamic, individual compensation options create personal incentives.
• Social benefits: Company contributions to retirement savings and other social benefits create strong ties between employees and employer.
• Health management: Keeping employee health in mind through sports offerings or ergonomic office furniture is rewarded with fewer sick days and higher satisfaction.
• Team events: Regularly holding team events strengthens ties to the company and among colleagues.

The tasks in employer branding are more strategically oriented. Development starts with a comprehensive analysis of the current state, which serves as a starting point. With a focus on target audiences, a branding process is launched that also involves current employees and managers. As broad a view of the company as possible allows for objective employer branding. At its core, employer branding works toward the following goals:

• Corporate strategic goals: Part of the brand message is communicating corporate strategic goals, which should be innovative and creative.
• External presentation: A key part of employer branding is how the company presents itself externally, on career websites, social media, or in press coverage.
• Differentiation from competitors: Employer branding achieves a clear distinction from competitors. Ideally, the company comes across as future-oriented, employee-friendly, competitive, financially strong, and enjoys a strong reputation.
• Messages & marketing measures: Employer branding helps formulate company messages that speak the language of the target audience. It also allows you to derive marketing measures with a positive effect for the company. In HR marketing, this is equivalent to the image of an attractive employer.

How do you build an employer brand?

Building an employer brand can generally be broken down into 6 steps.

(1) Analyze the current state

(2) Develop and define your Employer Value Proposition

(3) Work out a communication strategy

(4) Branding measures

(5) Find & win employees

(6) Retain employees long-term

(1) Analyzing the current state

Analyzing the current state should be examined critically and include as many perspectives as possible. Your own employees play a special role here, since they can assess the company based on their own experience. Anonymous employee surveys and workshops help build a clear picture.

The second component is a set of helpful questions, whose objective answers can influence the assessment:

• What sets our company apart?
• Why are we already an attractive company?
• How do we differentiate ourselves from the competition?
• What can potential employees expect from our company?
• How strongly is our brand positioned in the market?
• Why should an employee stay with the company for a long time?
• When someone leaves the company, what image do employees have of us?

(2) Developing and defining your Employer Value Proposition

The Employer Value Proposition (EVP) defines the promise an employer makes to its employees and candidates. It describes the value employees can expect when they put their talent to work for the company.

The Employer Value Proposition is often confused with classic expectations. Compensation or the number of vacation days play no role in developing it. Instead, the EVP focuses on work culture and atmosphere within the company. With the Employer Value Proposition, the company positions itself on key future-facing questions like digitalization, further training, communication, work methods in practice, or diversity.

The Employer Value Proposition creates the conditions for strong identification with the company, and also lays the groundwork for long-term employee retention. The EVP should be formulated authentically, sustainably, and credibly. The goal is to speak with the voice of all employees, not to paint a fictional picture.

(3) Working out a communication strategy

The Employer Value Proposition and the identified target audiences form the basis for your future communication strategy. Key questions to consider include:

• Where is the target audience you want to reach with employer branding located, and where do they communicate?
• How, and in what form, is communication carried out on these channels?
• What messages can be conveyed to that target audience?

The communication strategy aims to win over potential employees. A dedicated careers website is essential, along with a presence on the classic job boards. On top of that, there are paid job ads, like on search engine giant Google, or the use of social media.

Handling social media requires care. A wrong message or misinterpretation can quickly lead to a negative image. It's important to analyze which social media channels are relevant for your target audience. Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube aren't suitable for every company. Professional networks like Xing or LinkedIn, on the other hand, can be used in many ways.

It's worth questioning the formats used to communicate employer branding. Pure text messages only reach a fraction of the target audience. Multimedia and creativity, through videos, images, clips, or graphics, represent forward-thinking companies.

(4) Branding measures

The branding measures of a long-term strategy consist of internal and external elements. Internal measures include:

• Communicating the results of employer branding to your own employees.
• Training employees and managers on how to correctly convey the Employer Value Proposition and employer branding.
• Maintaining employer branding through a permanently installed brand management process.
• Consistently involving all employees in the ongoing development of the brand.
• Introducing a feedback culture within the company.

External branding measures support external presentation. These include:

• Maintaining an up-to-date careers website as part of the company website. The careers section shouldn't be a footnote, but should be positioned prominently.
• Insights into the company increase credibility. Photos of workplaces, videos of training or meetings, articles in a blog or newsletter, all create a connection with potential employees.
• Your own employees are considered the most important brand ambassadors. With referral bonuses, external training opportunities, and workshops, these "corporate influencers" can be used to their full potential.
• Sponsorships, hosting conferences and events, competitions, tutorials, or exhibitions bring the company into the target audience's focus.

(5) Finding & winning employees

Developing employer branding or your Employer Value Proposition lays the groundwork for successful recruiting. With optimal preparation, finding and winning new employees becomes faster and more targeted. Ideally, sought-after professionals become aware of your company on their own and recognize the value it adds to their career by contributing their talents or knowledge.

Successful employer branding leaves the competition behind, or at least outpaces them during the application process. Shorter time to hire (the time between posting a role and hiring) and a lower drop-off rate during the application process are positive effects that can be attributed to this strategy.

(6) Retaining employees with the company long-term

Implementing the Employer Value Proposition helps retain employees with the company long-term. There's a genuine sense of wellbeing, and transparent external communication lets current employees help win new ones.

The employer branding process is never truly finished. Through regular feedback from your own employees, an objective look at your own brand, and targeted brand management, dynamic ongoing development is guaranteed.

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