We are Recruiting
Case Study
The question of one’s own happiness hurts. Especially at work, many people think that they are even not entitled to it. Yet our work is part of our identity. So why do so many people spend time doing something they don’t even like?
If you don't know what you want, you run the risk of losing yourself. In a world where you can be anything and have anything, the question of meaning has become the symbol of an entire generation, Generation Y.
Happiness = Reality – Expectations
“You are something special.” or “If you want to, you can do anything.” Stand-up sentences like these have characterised those born between 1980 and 1999. Their self-confidence and their expectations of their own lives are correspondingly high, because Generation Y is a descendant of the baby boomers: that optimistic era in which all signs pointed to growth and many things were way more positive than expected.
Their legacy is a society with more individual freedom than ever before, which at the same time can be overwelming and puts us under great pressure to make the right calls.
Life courses, even CVs, no longer follow a clear path, but are characterised by new breaks, detours and new beginnings, writes opinion maker and futurologist Matthias Horx. DIY culture, niche markets, selfies, markets of meaning – these are all indicators of a megatrend: the shift from collectivism to individualisation of society. This is accompanied by a change in values that is also affecting the world of work.
Values change. At work as well.
Austria’s leading recruitment agency, epunkt, specialises in placing specialists and managers. However, the supply of highly qualified employees is constantly decreasing. The retirement of the baby boomers is leaving a vacuum that cannot be filled by the next generation with its low birth rate. The battle for well-educated, young and affordable employees is therefore intensifying.
This plays into the hands of the self-confident Generation Y: whereas in the past there were several qualified candidates for each vacancy, today it is often the other way round. This shifts the balance of power from the recruiter to the candidate, who can literally choose their employer. And traditional incentives like pay or status are not appealing to a generation raised in affluence and wealth.
Generation Y expects one thing above all from their employer: development opportunities.
Source: Ernst & Young, 2012
Instead, Gen Y is interested in the meaning behind a job, the enjoyment of work and the challenge of a task. It is keen on responsibility and equality, wants room for manoeuvre and openly questions the social awareness of its employer. It seeks flat hierarchies and the right to have a say, asks about sabbaticals, part- and flexitime, and sees her job as closely interwoven with her own life plan.
What Gen Yers want from their employers is a projection of how they'd like to live a fulfilled life.
Individuality at the heart of the brand
With the new brand, epunkt puts the candidate at the centre of its communication and internal processes. This is quite unusual in the market, as the paying customers of a recruitment agency are not the candidates they place, but the companies they are commissioned by. Recruiters therefore tend to focus their communications on B2B rather than B2C. Behind this bold reorientation lies a sustainable, entrepreneurial mindset: if you strive to attract the best candidates, you will automatically attract the most interesting companies. This unusual approach soon proves successful.
epunkt's messages focus on the changing values – and therefore individual desires – of Generation Y.
We summarise the results of the joint branding process in a brand book and translate them into a coherent design concept. The new line of communication is dedicated to the changing values and individual desires of Generation Y. Expressed through handwriting and black-and-white photography by Natascha Unkart, the candidates are portrayed as individuals who are looking for more than just a job: for one, happiness is more important than money; for another, meaning is more important than status.
The human resource is being rethought as an individual. This principle becomes epunkts new trademark.
The brand is successful. This is demonstrated not only by the company’s strong growth, but also by the positive feedback from the market, clients, candidates and our own employees, who carry the brand out with conviction. In 2016, the Recruitment & Executive Search market analysis in Austria underpins epunkt’s pioneering position in the market and highlights the brand’s continued high growth potential. The media response was not long in coming: the company was nominated for Recruiter of the Year in the Best Brand category.
Links
Absolventenstudie 2012–2013, EY (German)
Kerstin Bunt: Glück schlägt Geld, 2016 (German)
Readers Digest Online Survey (German)
Matthias Horx, Official Website
Made by Haemmerle & Luger
Art Direction: Vinzenz Luger
Strategy / Storytelling: Florian Hämmerle
Graphic Design: Vinzenz Luger, Daniel Kalkhofer, Daryna Eder, Florian Hämmerle. Brand Strategy, Storytelling & Copywriting: Florian Hämmerle. Illustration: Daryna Eder, Stefanie Hilgarth, Cornelia Neuwirth. Interior Concept: Marlene Zajicek. Projekt Management: Cornelia Neuwirth. Photography: Natasche Unkart, Christian Huber.
Client: epunkt GmbH. Industry: Recruiting. Geography: Graz, Vienna, Linz. Target Market: Austria. Cathegory: Company Brand. Project Scope: Workshops, Brand Strategy, Brand Design, Logo Development, Font Design, Claim, Slogans, Corporate Vision, Web Design, Packaging, Stationary, Ads, Brand Book.
