How to recruit, motivate and retain the right people for the brand
Client: ECCO
Agency: BrandBakers
Year of implementation: 2018
ECCO is a widely known and loved retail brand for customers around the world. However, the success of the company is not exclusively attributed to the products themselves, but also to ECCO's outstanding retail staff. Recruiting, motivating and retaining the right people is therefore crucial to the continued success of their organization.
In the Czech Republic and Slovakia the company did not have an issue with the quantity of candidates, but instead, with the quality of hopeful applicants. They observed that job-seekers lacked information, did not understand ECCO's work environment, and were unaware of the principles upon which the company was built. Most of candidates just wanted a good job, and very few could clearly articulate their motivation to be part of the brand. Company recruiters were unclear about which candidate profiles to prioritize, how to target them, and then how to formulate an attractive hiring proposition once the right person was identified. Managers needed to clarify which strengths and typical characteristics of the company culture to nurture to encourage the motivation of employees.
In a focused workshop with ECCO managers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we first identified the desired qualities and skills of candidates for shop assistant and store manager roles. From there, we were able to create job descriptions which were specific to the different expectations, demands and skills attributed to the different positions. Based on these profiles, we surveyed employees from the group discussions to ask how they perceived ECCO's company culture, their role, and which company characteristics and benefits they value most.
Based on the results we identified a set of desirable candidate characteristics to look for, formulated ECCO's Employer Value Proposition, and created a company presentation which aimed to help candidates better understand ECCO's objectives and mission.

We also created a simple, yet functional manual for recruiters which ensured consistency and longevity of the new recruitment process. We created fresh content for the career website and social networks which was built on the authentic stories and opinions of existing employees.
Candidates who come to the interview today can easily know what the company stands for, what it is like to work in ECCO's retail shops and what they can expect to achieve when joining the company. Motivation amongst candidates has increased, and instead spending valuable time introducing the company, recruiters can primarily focus on selecting the right hires and discussing their future role. The result is an overall improvement in the success of newcomers. Additionally, ECCO's employee referral rate across the two countries increased by more than 20%, a massive benefit in terms of reducing recruitment costs and simultaneously increasing candidate quality.
Finally, with a clearly defined Employer Value Proposition, ECCO managers know what to focus on while building their corporate culture and leadership style, and how to strengthen the company's unique position in the labour market.