Traditional companies and HR executives are facing one of the biggest challenges of the last 100 years: employees can no longer be convinced with bold advertising. They are more informed, fastidious and critical than ever before. How can companies under these new circumstances still reach their audience and convince them long term?
By returning to one of the most intuitive and effective methods of human communication since the very early days. After decades of communicating from the top down, the challenge now is to re-learn the art of storytelling. The aim is to meet employees at eye-level and to win them over for the ideas, values and visions of a brand. With storytelling, organizations can generate attention and build credibility.
With the number of applicants being in the five- and six-figure range, corporations are facing the challenge of attracting the right talents rather than just appealing to the many: potential employees need to suit both the job and the company. The building blocks of brand storytelling are excellent tools for transparently displaying your values and expectations and consequently finding the right match. The storytelling report of the DAX 30 career pages is therefore analyzing how well the biggest companies of the country are utilising the power of stories for their own employer branding.
For the analysis we have taken a close look at the predominantly German career pages of all DAX 30 companies. Subcategories were rated with a score between 0 and 2.
Is there a prominent vision / claim answering the applicant’s question of “why” (0-2) and is it geared towards growth needs (0-2)?
Are there clearly detectable and consequently communicated values? (0-2) How well are they reinforced with concrete arguments, examples or stories? (0-2)
How prominently are arguments for the company featured (why us)? (0-2) Is there a unique employment proposition? (0-2)
Are employees themselves telling their story or are they told about them? (0-2) How detailed and journalistic are the chosen story formats? (0-2)
How high is the visual component? (0-2) How emotional and unique are the images that are being used (houses vs. people, staged vs. candid, own handwriting, etc.)? (0-2)
Is the wording used in the texts easy and comprehensible? (0-2) Are phrases, technical terms and buzzwords used or concrete images and strong emotional terms? (0-2)
| wdt_ID | DAX 30 | weighted overall score | Vision (factor 1.5) | Values (factor 2.0) | UEP (factor 1.0) | Story (factor 2.5) | Visual (factor 1.5) | Wording (factor 1.5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beiersdorf | 38,5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 2 | Deutsche Telekom | 37,0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Henkel | 35,5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | adidas | 35,0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Bayer | 34,5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | ThyssenKrupp | 34,0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 | Allianz | 33,5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Siemens | 32,5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 | Merck | 32,0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | HeidelbergCement | 31,0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Everything here is just right. A sophisticated claim combined with empathy for their employees and potential applicants. Authentic communication of their values via video and images is just as much part of the concept as is the offer of above-average employee benefits. The possibility of getting to know individual areas and teams lets visitors immerse themselves in the Beiersdorf work environment in no time at all.
The company is one of the frontrunners and convinces through the prominently placed Why and the team spirit displayed in the photos. Visitors of the page can get to know the different teams and get a feel for what working at Telekom is like through the emotional language used.
The manufacturer of consumer goods places itself among the leaders in the field, which is mostly due to the emotional imagery used on the career page, extraordinary benefits for employees and the “Henkel-spirit”. Only their wording is still lacking that little something – it is rather factual and dry.
Source: https://www.henkel.de/karriere
As stylish and dynamic as the brand’s image, they have also designed the career page of the world-renowned manufacturer of active wear. A clear structure with wording that appeals to every target group. Which professional benefits other than self-realization through sports the corporation offers is yet to be known.
Source: https://careers.adidas-group.com
Bayer makes a proper presentation when it comes to recruiting potential candidates. Visitors of the career website are led quickly through the page and are almost by the by absorbing the values of the company. Particularly eye-catching is “#Bayer360 – The Visual Career Experience”. A virtual tour through the working environment of the corporation.
Source: https://karriere.bayer.de/de/
Compared to the other 30 DAX companies, the steel giant is in the upper third. The career page is consistently well done. Only small things regarding wording and prominence of values and benefits could be improved to further take the employer branding to perfection.
A well-organized page, quick to deliver the facts, but still in a personal way placing the needs of applicants in the limelight. The Why for Allianz is not only supported by the uniform visual and iconographic language, but also by the case studies, videos and self-checks.
The technology corporation knows its business and convinces with an innovative career page. Siemens displays their values and reinforces them with an appealing language and authentic imagery. The only drawback are the employee benefits, which are nowhere to be found on the site, even though they are an important argument in the war for talents.
Source: https://www.siemens.com/de/de/home/unternehmen/jobs.html
The chemical and pharmaceutical company presents itself with an extraordinary website. With a very colorful and playful approach, Merck advertises for applicants. All in all, there is little visual material used which leads to a rather impersonal and less emotional presentation. Personal quotations and pictures would round off the overall picture well.
The building material company knows how to present itself and proves that the sector is not as outdated as one would guess. Employees all over the world are telling their story with HeidelbergCement. The page is accompanied by an emotional imagery and simple wording.
The energy company captivates above all through videos in which employees talk about their working life – the best advertising ever for a company! In general, the share of visual material on the page is high which makes it look structured and not too cluttered. Only the claim and wording cloud be more emotional.
The career page of Deutsche Bank convinces through the above-average offer of benefits for a good work-life-balance and transports their values through employees’ stories. The visual materials used are unfortunately unauthentic and unemotional. In addition to that, the text is hard to read.
Source: https://www.db.com/careers/
A factor standing out here is the visual language of the company. People are at the forefront which is reflected in the extraordinary employee benefits. The emotional wording is also well done.
Source: https://www.dpdhl.com/de/karriere.html
The German semiconductor manufacturer captivates above all through high-quality stories of their employees in video format and extraordinary benefits. The emotional wording further highlights the appeal of the career page. The only downside is the missing vision which addresses self-realization and growth needs with applicants.
Source: https://www.infineon.com/cms/de/careers/
A well-rounded claim, uniform and well thought-through visual language and employees’ stories make working life at Daimler tangible. Only the communication of their values could do with improvement. The ambitious applicant can find them after a few clicks, but without any proof supporting them.
Source: https://www.daimler.com/karriere/
The visual language and emotion of the images are very authentic and attractive. The Why and values of the company could be presented a little better to convince applicants across the board.
Source: https://www.the-linde-group.com/de/karriere/index.html
BMW Group’s career page is in the solid midfield of the 30 DAX companies. Their employer branding captivates through coherent visuals and authentic display of employees, but there is no employer vision and where there is text it is in general hard to read.
Source: https://www.bmw.de/de/topics/faszination-bmw/unternehmen/karriere.html
The visual language perfectly matched to the company and the employees’ stories appeal to the visitor of the health corporation’s website. Only the wording used could be more emotional.
Quelle: https://karriere.fresenius.de/
The company displays clearly and unambiguously why working with this insurance company is worth it. The wording is a little complex at times and not very emotional, the visual language on the other hand is very appealing. Employees and company’s values could be more prominently and invitingly presented.
BASF works with a good claim which is supported by well though-through and harmonious visual material. Potential applicants are looking in vain for unambiguous values which are the pillars on which the internal and external work rest. Additionally, the accompanying texts are hard to read and not very catching.
All in all, RWE convinces with its wording, imagery and values. It is disappointing though that employees are not introduced at all, neither can they themselves talk about their daily work with the energy giant.
The presentation of employee benefits and concrete proof in their values make the career page of the software company very attractive. In addition to that, employees themselves can talk about their working life, which has a very positive effect. It would be even better if the texts were less complex and a little more engaging. An employer vision would round off the career page well.
With its clear design, the career page of the material manufacturer Covestro is convincing. A coherent visual language and the sub-pages with values and employee stories captivate the visitor on first sight. On second sight, the company could go into a little more detail, potential applicants won’t find any concrete proof.
The fin-tech company captivates with its clear and structured career page in their own design. Particularly clearly and quickly one can find the information required and gets a good first impression. Personal images or even videos introducing the employees could help with building a more personal relationship with potential applicants.
Especially nice about the page of the well-known car manufacturer is the wide and engaging visual language which leads to a very clear and inviting structure. Employee stories revive the presentation, but the texts could be written in a more easily comprehensible way. It would also benefit the corporation if potential applicants could find the values of Volkswagen more unambiguously and easily.
The career page of Deutsche Börse unfortunately appears very outdated. The company does not have a claim and values cannot be found anywhere either. The proportion of visual material on the page is high though and employees can talk a little about themselves, which is positive.
The imagery and presentation of employees is very well done. Featuring values and the Why more prominently at first sight would improve the overall impression. Employee benefits and a claim would also be helpful to engage the visitors of the page and convince them of the company.
Source: https://www.be-lufthansa.com/de
While the German housing company convinces with its emotional visual language, their values could be displayed more prominently and supported with proof. For potential applicants wishing to learn more about their future job, Vonovia could raise their game with employee stories.
Source: https://karriere.vonovia.de/
The page captivates with a wide array of employee benefits and its own visual language. It would be good to round off the presentation with a suited wording. The texts are rather impersonal next to the well-structured part of the website.
Source: https://www.continental-corporation.com/de/karriere/ueberblick
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