Have you noticed how employer branding campaigns often appear similar in the public eye? Although we know that uniqueness is a fundamental marketing principle, few companies manage to stand out. Why?
It’s not because the professionals responsible for employer strategy or hiring are doing something wrong. Rather, it’s because they simply lack data about the competitive landscape and tools to benchmark themselves externally.
For successful employer communication, it’s enough to know the answers to three key questions:
This is precisely the problem solved by WitMind® because the results of each employer’s survey are compared with the market – benchmarks are taken from WitMind®’s comprehensive national survey of employees in different sectors in Lithuania, where 3322 respondents were surveyed across the country, ensuring statistically reliable data across 9 sectors of the job market.
Most commonly in Lithuania, employer surveys are conducted internally: employees are asked to evaluate their employer. The responses help identify strengths and weaknesses, but they don’t fully grasp which parameters employers can use to outperform competitors and stand out prominently in the job market. Relying solely on internal surveys for employer branding or hiring campaigns risks significant misalignment. Such missteps can be financially and resource-wise painful.
Another common scenario is developing strategies without any research and making decisions based on the intuition and beliefs of the organization’s leaders regarding what is appropriate to communicate. While this approach may seem strong in terms of values, it’s not a winning strategy. Just as we sell products and services understanding the competitive landscape, the same logic applies to employer strategy – we compete with it in the market, so we must understand the market and competitors, knowing their weaknesses and strengths compared to our organization.
When a marketing professional knows how both current employees and potential (competitor) employees feel and think, entirely new perspectives open up for employer communication. It allows for highly targeted communication and reaching specific groups with specific messages, enabling one group of potential employees to see one type of advertisement, and another group to see a different one.
The WitMind® National Employee Survey revealed that employees in each market sector perceive their employers differently. There are differences in evaluations between men and women, and notable distinctions exist among employees in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda. For example, while the most competitive employers in the country are in the IT and finance sectors, the energy sector surpasses them among women.
One of the unique features of the WitMind® employer competitiveness measurement system is that it includes an additional evaluation criterion – parameter importance.
Currently, employers themselves decide which parameters are important to employees, and during the survey, they ask how well the workplace fulfills them. However, WitMind® with its team of experts found that it’s crucial to first ask the employee how important each parameter is and only then evaluate its fulfillment.
This parameter not only increases the efficiency of investments in employee values (unimportant values are not funded), but it also shows the fulfillment of potential employees’ expectations: what they expect from the employer and whether the employer provides it.
Based on this data, a marketing or HR professional developing an employer branding strategy can precisely target the most sensitive area with a message: “Hey, we know what matters to you, and you’ll find it here – come join us!”
Professor Agota Giedrė Raišienė, WitMind®’s research partner from Mykolas Romeris University, highlights the critical importance of reliable research. While some studies in Lithuania may lack value, WitMind®’s large-scale national survey ensures robust insights essential for informed decision-making.
WitMind®’s research partner explains why the company’s National Survey in Lithuania is so extensive, with a sample size of 3322 respondents: ‘If sector-specific samples in market research don’t reach at least the minimum level of reliability (minimum 370 respondents per sector), relying on its conclusions for business decisions isn’t wise. Meaningful insights based on sectoral breakdowns can only be discussed when the national survey reaches a sample size of at least 3000 or 4000 respondents, depending on the number of sectors covered in the study.
