Jethro DiMeo has international experience with HR & talent acquisition in Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas, and he is currently the Head of Global Talent Acquisition & Employer Brand at Gebauer & Griller in Austria. When he was asked why Employer Branding is important to him personally, he said, compared to Talent Acquisition - which is according to him a very business-centric functional area - Employer Branding is the creative part of his job, and that’s why it is also really close to his heart.

Here, he gives insights into the biggest challenge in his career now: the difference between Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing, and also on how they measure their employer brand.

BFY: What does sustainable employer branding really mean, and which internal areas are affected by it in your experiences?
JD: I think employer branding encompasses every single part of the business. The employer branding ecosystem isn’t limited just to the employee lifecycle and to internal areas, but it also touches upon the unique employer value proposition, employer brand equity, employer brand attributes, various market trends and, of course, the whole industry.

BFY: In regards to the terminology of this domain, what’s the difference between Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing in your point of view?

JD: While I know these two terms are often used synonymously, the difference is probably similar to the difference between consumer branding and consumer marketing. Recruitment Marketing is about finding and growing a talent pipeline for the organization that leads to placements and is more short-term focused. On the other hand, employer branding is about positioning the brand to fill a need, meet expectations, build trust and develop relationships with your target talent. It’s about keeping your promise differentiated, relevant, compelling and true. Employer branding is about making, communicating and delivering a promise and, in contrast with recruitment marketing, is long-term focused.

BFY: How would you describe the differences between the two markets, Austria and Slovakia, where you have already been working, regarding hunting for talent?
JD: Austria has a well-developed market economy, higher standard of living and skilled labor force. The hidden champion companies are truly drivers of the Austrian economy. Slovakia, on the other hand, has a very automotive & electronics manufacturing-focused economy, which also influences the type of talent that’s needed in the market. Another difference is also the capitals – Vienna is a city booming with the tourism & hospitality industry. Ranked continuously as one of the most livable cities, it’s much easier attracting talent even outside of Austria to Vienna. On the other hand, Bratislava has more of a labor market focused on shared services centers for international corporations, where they hire people with various language combinations from all over the world. Since the job market in Bratislava is booming, it’s much harder and competitive to hunt for talent in this city than it is in Vienna, where you often don’t need to do much convincing to persuade someone to come to Vienna. From my experience, I know the rest of Austria is not so lucky as the capital city when attracting talent into their organization – especially in the countryside. To really simplify it, while Austria has the advantage of some of its cities benefiting from an employer-driven labor market and international prestige, Slovakia is almost completely candidate driven, which is making it really difficult to hunt for talent especially in the technological and manufacturing areas.

BFY: You are the Head of Global Talent Acquisition & Employer Brand at Gebauer & Griller. What is the biggest challenge you have in your field right now?

JD: Making a hire can take several months, putting pressure on recruiters, and it’s frustrating hiring teams. A long time to hire is often the byproduct of a shortage of qualified candidates, especially in the engineering area. Our hiring process used to take too long or our hiring teams struggled to reach a consensus, resulting in the best candidates finding jobs elsewhere. Fortunately, we have started several transformative projects within our talent acquisition processes and I believe we are on the right track.

BFY: What initiatives are you particularly proud of?
JD: I think the biggest challenge was getting the global leadership team on board through spreading awareness of the internal and external perception of our employment brand and correlating it with our overall business priorities. Employer brand wasn’t really something that was discussed at GG in the past, at least not at a strategic level. Most importantly I’m proud of all of our recruiters being open to change when it comes to how we recruit and being active agents of change, even in the way they support and work with the business.
Most importantly I’m proud of all of our recruiters being open to change when it comes to how we recruit and being active agents of change, even in the way they support and work with the business.

BFY: How did you develop your EVP?
JD: We do have a light EVP in place, but considering we’re currently in the process of rebranding – I’ve agreed with our CMO that we’ll start our full EVP journey once this is completed, and build upon our commercial brand. More information coming soon!

BFY: How can you measure your Employer Brand?
JD: There are so many different ways to do this, but some of the most common KPIs would be for example time to fill, number of applications, CTR, job posting views, bounce rates (both on the website but also in the application process), external employer review portals, market research, employee engagement surveys, net promoter scores, etc.

BFY: What employer brands inspire you and why?
JD: Heineken is good at knowing their target group well and using it to their advantage. Besides that, I just love the synergy between IKEA’s consumer and employer brands. And last but not least, one more example: Salesforce – The Ohaha concept.