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The labor market in Switzerland is changing at breathtaking speed due to technological upheaval and currently due to the coronavirus crisis - including a shortage of skilled workers. As part of a study in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Great Place To Work® evaluated the impact on employer branding and recruiting in Swiss organizations. We wanted to find out more about where organizations in Switzerland see themselves, what their priorities are and what is currently changing. We have compiled some of our most exciting findings, combined with recommendations and tips for getting started, here.
Why rely on employer branding?
If organizations want to be and remain attractive as an employer, they must be convincing both internally and externally. This is the only way they will be able to attract and retain the best specialists. Because today we find ourselves in an employee market: it is no longer enough to place a job advertisement and hope for numerous applications from the best talent. Instead, companies need to communicate to the outside world what they already live internally. This is where employer branding comes into play. This is a corporate strategy task for management, in which marketing strategies are used to communicate efforts from the Human Resources department to the outside world and to position an organization as an attractive employer and set it apart from the competition.
To achieve this, the employer brand should be authentic, differentiating and forward-looking. This raises the question: how do companies develop a strong employer brand? And how do Swiss organizations present themselves? We present some findings from our study in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and give a few tips on how you can position your own employer brand in the employer market.
1. organizations are still at the beginning
Do you have the feeling that your organization could do more to present itself as an attractive employer? You are not alone! While more than half of respondents see their employer brand as authentic and well aligned with their own workplace culture, only a third say that it is fully communicated throughout the organization. Similarly, only a third of respondents feel that they or their organization can successfully differentiate themselves from the competition with their employer brand. So there is still room for improvement! And you don't need priceless TV commercials and campaigns to achieve this - just a few individual and creative ideas can help you to stand out.
Involve your employees and create authentic and exciting stories. An example: Are you a sports retailer and do your employees have the opportunity to test products or borrow them for private use? Ask your employees what the added value of this offer is for them and how they have perhaps already used it. Once you have collected a few stories, they can be embedded in the context of your employee benefits, for example.
2. there is often a lack of strategic embedding
With the growing importance of recruitment, the demands on HR managers are also increasing (see chart below). The old "post and pray" approach, i.e. publishing advertisements and then hoping for good applications, has become obsolete in the vast majority of sectors. Instead, the many-voiced, sometimes technically complex measures require new skills. With profiles such as the "Active Sourcing Manager", completely new requirement profiles are emerging.
Sourcers and recruiters are currently working under difficult conditions. Half of the companies surveyed stated that they do not have their own employer marketing budget. Likewise, only half of the participants stated that management levels actively support the topic. For employer branding to be successfully embedded in the corporate strategy, it must not be seen exclusively as a "HR task". At management level, it must also be clear what values the organization stands for and how it differentiates itself from the competition on the employer market. Otherwise, the following will unfortunately always apply: "Employees come because of the culture, stay because of the job and leave because of the bosses".
3. know your own strengths and weaknesses as an organization
If job advertisements are to be believed, Switzerland should be teeming with "creative, dynamic organizations with exceptional performance, flat hierarchies and the opportunity to make a difference". The reality is somewhat different. If you want to fill a new position and are advertising a vacancy, it is essential to know your own strengths and weaknesses and to write an honest advertisement. Using an advertising agency to prepare a perfect-sounding advertisement and losing new employees again within a short space of time because they are disappointed by the reality of the job costs twice as much. So don't just string together empty phrases, but give serious thought to what you offer as an employer that others do not.
You can find out more about which procedure has proven successful in our experience here.
4. attention can be bought - credibility cannot
According to Randstad's Employer Branding Study, 80% of HR leaders agree that a strong employer brand has a significant impact on their ability to hire good employees. Of course, you can spend a lot of money to advertise yourself as an attractive employer: Advertising space and videos or glossy brochures can help generate attention for your employer brand. In the short term, you may receive more applications and be able to fill some positions. However, if newly hired employees leave the company again soon afterwards, this indicates that the workplace culture advertised in the advertisement does not correspond to reality. In the medium term, it is therefore more beneficial to actively invest in the workplace culture and thus be a good employer from within than to spend a lot of money on advertising measures. After all, only those who are really attractive are attractive in the long term.
5. do good - and talk about it (or have it talked about)
People work for cultures and not for companies. Their perception of you as an employer is therefore of paramount importance. According to a study by Randstad, both recruiters and candidates cite corporate culture as one of the most important influencing factors when choosing an employer. Candidates actively research the culture of companies in order to assess whether they will be a good fit. If they come across positive employee and applicant experiences on review sites, they feel more confident about submitting their CV and making a career move.
Successful employer branding is much more than a glossy brochure. It is therefore not only important to have a good workplace culture or to offer employees benefits, but also to communicate these externally - and at least as importantly - internally. This is because sometimes not even an organization's own employees are aware of certain benefits or strengths. However, if you find your own strengths in the organization, employees will talk about them. And with an excellent workplace culture, they are the best "brand ambassadors" when it comes to filling new positions.
If the workplace culture is right, it is not rocket science to understand and emphasize your own strengths as an employer and to communicate them authentically. After all, an effective employer promise communicates to the outside world what is practiced internally.
Extra tip from our expert: "The application process should be simple and fit the culture"
Do you know your strengths as an organization and can you deal openly with construction sites? And you know who you want to address and how? Congratulations, you are already ahead of the market.
Now it is also important to make the application process efficient and user-friendly - it would be a shame to lose suitable talent due to avoidable mistakes. My tip: Don't forget the basics and make sure that applicants have a positive user experience.
- Are you looking for motivated, committed personalities and does your career profile say "we hire for attitude and train for skills" in capital letters? Asking for your degree and grade point average on the first page doesn't come across as very authentic.
- The majority of applicants abandon the online application in the middle of the process? Go through the application process again step by step and look out for possible pain points. The recruitment tool or certain steps in the process may need to be reconsidered.
- Have you received some promising applications? Don't wait too long to give feedback and communicate the upcoming process as transparently as possible. This will help you avoid frustrating applicants and prevent the best talent from dropping out early.
About the study
- The data was collected from September to November 2020.
- A total of 181 experts from Swiss organizations took part.
- From small companies (6 employees) to international corporations (30,000+ employees), all company sizes are represented.
- The study was conducted jointly by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and Great Place To Work Switzerland. Our special thanks go to the team of Prof. Dr. Benedikt Hell and Sina Vögeli for the great cooperation!
