“As an employer in our industry, it is particularly important to have a high recognition value. In particular, our social commitment distinguishes us from others. For us, employer branding not only means drawing a nice picture to the outside world, but also convincing with authenticity and transparency.
EMPLOYER BRANDING – THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYER BRAND
An individual employer branding only really became a topic at 020-EPOS three years ago. However, thanks to the openness and support of the management, many ideas have already been implemented. The underlying question we asked ourselves was: what makes us different from our competitors? The company’s own brand is constantly being developed – through internal and external impulses, and the effect of the measures is noticeable: there is a lot of positive feedback from the workforce and a fairly high level of regional awareness through high-profile projects. Not least because we rely on various distribution channels such as our own website, Facebook, Instagram and Xing.
POSITION YOURSELF AS AN EMPLOYER
A truthful and authentic picture of the company should be presented so that the employees or applicants can discover those aspects of culture and cooperation in the company. In concrete terms, this is expressed through a high level of commitment – both internally and externally. There is a wide range of health promotion measures for the workforce (cooperation with commercial health insurance, organization of health days, regular voluntary check-ups, fitness tracker challenge, fresh meals every day for little money, etc.) and the topic of occupational safety and security is of great importance. In addition, employees have the opportunity to continue their education in the form of an e-learning concept. Experience has shown that there is a greater exchange within the workforce and honest questions and feedback. In line with the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) idea, many local initiatives and projects are also supported, such as the donation of a sandbox to a kindergarten in Essen or dedicated seats for the workforce and their families at the Rot-Weiss-Essen football club.
LIVING CORPORATE CULTURE – LINKED WITH EXTERNAL PRESENTATION
In principle, the company ensures that communication is open and transparent. All employees should have access to all information, offers, projects, etc. and are also included in the development and design of new measures (e.g. through discussions). Furthermore, flat hierarchies ensure that we are close to the needs and concerns of the employees, and the management level always has an open ear for development potential and weak points. A positive error culture is important and thus designed for constructive error management. This makes it possible to exchange information with employees in the best possible way and to identify talent and use it in a targeted manner. Conversely, employees are viewed as brand ambassadors, e.g by representing the company at trade fairs. In concrete terms, this also means that current trainees, for example, report on their training experiences and give insights into their experiences. On the one hand, this motivates the trainees and increases their identification with the company. On the other hand, the company benefits from the additional external representation. Other measures for public representation include ISO certification, awards (including Top National Employer 2020 – Focus) and a transparent Kununu presence.”
Sandra Danch, Personnel Manager at 020-EPOS GmbH
