Giving White Coats a New Look: Employer Branding in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Sectors

It was in the spring of this year when we sat together for our storytelling report and our heads were spinning. We took a closer look at the DAX-30 career sites. We wanted to find out how the country’s powerful corporations attract talent. In the subsequent ranking we noticed that, in addition to adidas & Co., the top places were also occupied by tech and B2B companies.

With Bayer and Merck, two representatives from the pharmaceutical industry are also represented. An industry that at first glance does not really seem attractive to applicants. Is that really the case? Time to take a closer look at representatives of this industry and analyze how candidates inspire their applicants with the help of employer branding in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

“Bring Your Curiosity To Life” from Merck – Curiosity as a Topic for Employer Branding

In ninth place in our Storytelling Report is the chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck. Based in Darmstadt, the Group can look back on 350 years of company history. The company combines tradition with the future in an emotional video.

In the broad-based employer branding campaign “Bring your curiosity to life”, Merck is making curiosity the theme. This is attractive for applicants and employees. If you would like to know what everyday working life at the pharmaceutical giant is like, videos will give you an insight into the world of the employees. Merck is not looking for people in ties, blue coats and lab coats. The Group wants to attract curious explorers, courageous pioneers and ingenious inventors to its team.

So if companies move away from buzzwords and become creative in their language, this also goes down well with applicants. In terms of benefits, Merck scores points for integrating modern living concepts into the working environment. Future employees can look forward to offers for company sports, coaching and child or elderly care. Retail discounts and flexible working time models are also among the benefits. A little tip: The career page is very colorful. A little more visual material and personal quotes from employees would be nice, as they round off the overall picture.

“Passion to innovate I Power to change” from Bayer – 360-Degree Insights create Proximity to Talent

Another pharmaceutical giant takes fifth place in our report. Bayer is fully committed to attracting new applicants and lets them get up close and personal. With the hashtag #BAYER360 – “The Virtual Reality Career Experience” talented individuals can explore their employer in 360 degrees. The highlight is that site visitors get insights into areas of Bayer that they would otherwise never see.

With its strong claim “Passion to innovate I Power to change”, Bayer gives its candidates a tangible vision for their decision to join the company. In addition to the vision, recognizable values that inspire applicants and employees alike are important. Bayer combines its corporate values with impressive images and the stories behind them. The trick: companies can use their own images instead of stock photos. People in pictures create a closeness that resonates with applicants.

Comprehensive Recruiting Concept #annersder from Bürgerhospital Frankfurt am Main and Clementine Children’s Hospital 

“It also works annersder”! This is the recruiting concept of the Bürgerhospital and Clementine Children’s Hospital in Frankfurt am Main. This was launched in summer 2017 with a large-scale campaign. In Hessian “Annersder” means something like “in a different way” – also: “better, more beautiful”.

The campaign was kicked off with an extensive employee survey at the two companies. The Bürger- und Kinderhospital used the central values that emerged from the results of the survey for credible communication to attract new specialists. With the claim “Es geht auch annersder” and the hashtag #annersder, the institution developed a strong employer brand.

This branding ran like a red thread through the new careers website, social media channels, advertisements and Edgar Cards. In summary, this campaign shows that authentic branding must emerge from within the company and be lived by the employees. Then it is also successful!

Employer Branding in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Sector: Inspiring New Colleagues with Heart and Authenticity

In the end, what is the best recipe that appeals to applicants? First and foremost, employees are the most important heroes because they are the best storytellers to credibly convey the employer brand to the outside world. Ideally, your own employees should have their say and talk about their work.

You can find out how companies can use their employees as brand ambassadors and which factors have a desirable effect on applicants in our blog post: Employer branding with storytelling.

In addition, a consistent value system is the basis because not only existing but also future employees can identify with it. Corporate values can be conveyed through employee quotes or stories from everyday working life. This comes across credibly to applicants.

Our Managing Director Nora Feist has written a guest article for Human Resources Manager on how companies can credibly communicate their values so that potential and existing employees understand and identify with them. Click here for the article on value communication.

Authentic language and emotional imagery are also of great importance in attracting the right talent. Especially job starters have only a vague or even false idea of what is expected of them with 08/15 phrases.

In our Storytelling Report, we show what the DAX 30-companies have done particularly well and which representatives we still see potential for. For more information, please take a look!

Has employer branding in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector sparked your interest in storytelling? Then find out more about successful health communication here.