employer branding

There is a growing conviction that employer branding is more than just externally oriented personnel marketing. The majority of employees of companies with an all-encompassing employer brand strategy confirm that their identification with the company has been significantly strengthened and their satisfaction and health have improved. Finally, it strengthens the bond and loyalty of employees, whose know-how can be better retained within the company. This also applies to the "new workers", to Generation Y. For all the "coolness" that is attributed to them and the way they

Employer branding is to be understood holistically.

Even if they present themselves, Generation Y lives and works in a jungle of options. But a lot of freedom also means a new compulsion to decide a lot for oneself and to decide everything correctly.

An even more drastic change in values is taking place among those who have not yet arrived at work or are even new to the job.

Constant self-optimization

The shift in values mentioned at the beginning is described by the trend and youth culture researchers Philipp Ikrath and Bernhard Heinzlmaier in the specialist publication "Generation Ego - the values of youth in the 21st century". In their characterization of the generation, egocentric individualism seems to be characteristic. The high self-demands also trigger unhealthy stress.

According to many trend researchers and health experts, this generation in particular is not very frustration-tolerant. And frustration exists because people are forced to constantly optimise themselves. This generation can deal with new technologies and changes as a matter of course. But for most of them it is also a matter of course to be constantly reachable and constantly "multitasking".

These are precisely the skills that are increasingly required in today's working world. "The next generation will also show symptoms of exhaustion, even though they are used to working with new media," says Walter Gregor, media psychologist at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).

Employer branding should therefore be understood holistically. It is the basis for a healthy corporate culture. Employer branding is ultimately a creative pivot to brand value, image and success.

Attractive employers

Especially in the lower hierarchies, the connection to the contribution of one's own work to the whole is often lost. The more someone feels that what he or she is under time pressure for all day is pointless, the more significant are small, subtle experiences of success in achieving balance.

Attractive employers attract more potential employees. The selection of qualified employees who are culturally suited to the company increases.

Many companies report that the overall cost of the recruitment process is significantly reduced.

Especially when it comes to the topic of balance, managers become the focus of attention as decision-makers and co-responsible parties. What can leaders do, for example, to keep their employees healthier? Numerous studies have shown positive correlations between leadership and the health of employees. Managers are increasingly confronted with the demand to lead in a "healthy" way.

This is certainly justified - but it means taking the second step before the first. How can a manager lead healthily if he is stressed himself? If you are up to your neck in water, it is difficult for you to approach others in an appreciative and appreciative manner. Someone who is rushed hardly radiates the calmness and composure that gives employees confidence.

One of the most significant aspects of self-leadership is therefore the knowledge of your own personality. The more precisely you know your own needs, possibilities and limits, the better you can protect yourself from excessive demands and stress.

If you want to encourage employees to lead a healthy lifestyle, you can achieve much more through your own example than with fine words and glossy brochures. First and foremost, healthy leadership requires balanced and sincere managers. Anyone with leadership responsibility today must respect the numbers and the people entrusted to them in equal measure.

Self-determination or branding?

Leadership begins as self-leadership of one's own person. Deciding wisely, living mindfully, acting courageously - such goals, however, are not always easy to achieve. The leader should therefore have the ability to question himself and to reflect on his own goals, values and visions.

"Leading oneself" means first and foremost taking responsibility for oneself, for individual values and actions, and secondly standing by clear values.

However, a manager's active and present leadership should first question the sense of his own employees, and only then that of the employees working with him. Therefore, first and foremost, distinctive communication competence is needed in order to reconcile the most diverse needs and to bring them down to a - transferable - common denominator.

The metaphor of "people being the center of attention" should not be rhetoric but practiced.

This also strengthens the so-called resilience ability to release new resources. In addition to physical integrity, satisfaction and a sense of achievement, one's own resilience ultimately promotes sustainable social relationships in the long term.

Self-exploitation of oneself and the employees is to be avoided at all costs. On the contrary, a manager should always make it a practice to minimize structurally homegrown stressors and other efficiency killers. Tip:

Make a note of where you draw entrepreneurial energy from. Maybe then you will also see what "energy" costs? The work environment, the prevailing corporate culture, the usual social exchange could have a huge impact on certain departments and certainly on the resilience of an employee.

As far as comprehensive employer branding is concerned, those companies that promote an attractive culture of mindfulness will be successful.

Companies that show prudence at all hierarchical levels, companies that can make targeted use of so-called soft issues, are sought-after employers.

However, this is not just about branding, about values beyond controlling, turnover and the stock exchange, but about values such as team spirit, energy and health.

By the way, the English word "value", which is often quoted in business, originally comes from the Latin expression "valere", which means to be healthy, or, slightly modified, "well-being". Not only customers need values, people in general need "values": Where these are lived, the company stands on healthy and ultimately innovative pillars.