Customer orders that cannot be accepted, overtime that cannot be reduced and projects that are severely delayed due to staff shortages: The shortage of skilled workers has long been felt in many industries and is annoying companies and customers alike. For this reason, employee retention and recruitment are issues that companies should consider on a permanent and long-term basis.
According to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, there is a matching problem when it comes to recruiting trainees: on the one hand, around 69,400 training places remained unfilled in 2024, while on the other, 70,400 young people were unable to find a training place. Accordingly, the task of HR marketing is to find the “right” applicants and to advertise both the training position and the company.
5 tips for recruiting employees
When it comes to personnel marketing, many companies think directly of advertising job vacancies on job boards or social media. However, it is usually worth taking a step back first and looking at the unique selling points of the company, the working conditions, the working atmosphere, the corporate culture, the management style and the development opportunities for employees. In short, take a holistic look at the employer brand. Companies should consider the following points when recruiting employees:
1. external image: What impression is created when googling the company?
If you don’t know a company, you usually google it. Even before users go to the website, they can find information about the company on Google. Almost all businesses have a Google business profile with various information, images and reviews. The rating level is high: if the company has less than four out of five stars, users already consider this to be negative. In terms of employee recruitment, ratings on the employer platform kununu weigh even more heavily, as the reviews here come from (former) employees and therefore provide an insight into the company and its culture. Last but not least, companies should also know what other articles, opinions and comments there are about them online, which is why they should google their own company more often.
2. website: What does the “About us” page look like?
After potential applicants have googled the company, they usually visit the website. It should therefore make a good impression visually and in terms of content and, of course, also be optimally displayed on smartphones. In addition, the unique selling points and focal points should be worked out so that it is clear how the company differs from its competitors. Last but not least, applicants are also interested in the team, which is why small companies in particular should place photos of their staff and information about them on their “About us” page or on the job vacancies page. A video about the company can score further points.
3. career page: How is the job offer formulated and designed?
Applicants’ expectations have risen – and not just in terms of salary. Fun at work, flexible working hours and a good work-life balance are becoming increasingly important. Companies should respond to such expectations and – if they meet them – emphasize them in their job offers.
However, companies should refrain from using phrases such as “modern company”, “attractive salary” and “good working atmosphere” – unless these claims can be backed up with facts. Are there machines or working methods that demonstrate the modernity of the company? Is the salary above the pay scale? Is the good working atmosphere reflected in the results of employee surveys? Or can the corporate culture be demonstrated by pictures (e.g. of team events)?
4. job board and social media ads: where do you advertise vacancies?
Active job seekers usually look around online job boards. An advertisement in the free job exchange of the Federal Employment Agency is not enough to attract skilled workers. It is therefore always advisable to publish on a multi-posting platform such as Join. Two job offers can be posted here free of charge and are then published on various platforms (including Indeed, Google for Jobs and Xing). However, the free ads have the disadvantage that they are usually quickly replaced by paid ads on the job boards and disappear from the field of vision of potential applicants.
Choosing the “right” job board is not easy for companies. Stepstone tends to be preferred by people with a university degree, while Indeed tends to be preferred by people with a vocational qualification. Monster is similar to Indeed in its focus, but has significantly fewer job offers. Among job boards, a distinction is made between generalists, where all sectors are represented (e.g. Indeed), and specialists, which focus on one sector (e.g. HandwerkerJobs). Generalists tend to be more popular among job seekers as they offer a greater choice.
From the company’s perspective, a further distinction can be made between job boards with regard to the billing model. There are fixed-price providers that require monthly payment (e.g. Stepstone and Monster) and pay-per-click providers that only charge when the job advertisement is clicked on (e.g. Indeed). As the fixed-price providers usually charge quite high prices, small companies tend to use pay-per-click job boards.
Passive job seekers are employees who are unhappy in their current job but are not looking for a new position. Accordingly, unlike active job seekers, they do not go to online job boards, but wait until the right offer comes their way.
It is unclear what percentage of employees belong to this group. According to a study published by Avantgarde Experts in 2024, 83% of employees are satisfied with their working conditions, while 40% are considering changing jobs within the next six months. If you want to address this target group as a company, you have to actively approach them and try to reach them via social media advertising, for example.
5 Application process: How can I apply? And what happens afterwards?
Even before actively applying for a position, companies should consider how the application process will work. Which channels (e.g. online form, email, WhatsApp) can interested parties use to apply? When will they receive initial feedback? When will the interviews take place? Who prepares them? Should there be a trial day? An efficient process is important for both the company and the applicants. As a rule of thumb, the entire application process – from receipt of the application to acceptance or rejection – should take a maximum of four weeks. As employees often find it difficult to write a good application, the shortage of skilled workers is great and the question also arises as to how meaningful a traditional application with cover letter, CV and certificates actually is, many companies are increasingly relying on short applications. Applicants only need to provide the most important information (e.g. educational qualifications, work experience, driving license, German language skills, contact details) and can apply within three minutes. A quick application can be implemented via an extended contact form on the website, with a plugin (depending on the CMS) or via a service such as Frontlead, Heyflow or Perspective.
