In the interview with Sigrid and Michael Diekow, the CEOs of For Suxess

Recruiting and the associated challenges surrounding the shortage of skilled workers have already become one of the core issues facing the German economy. Generations with different needs are coming together with the concrete requirements of medium-sized companies that are competing with large corporations for the best employees. An increasingly difficult task in which companies want to fill positions in a qualified manner and according to their own HR KPIs. All too often, however, they are limited by their internal system landscape, making it difficult to present job offers in a way that appeals to the target group and to keep the application process as simple and understandable as possible. It is high time to eliminate these technological barriers and break free from isolated solutions. With the job board and career site products from For Suxess, parameters such as Time-to-Hire (faster filling of new positions) and Cost-per-Hire (HR personnel costs, costs for job advertisements, etc.) can be significantly improved. Sigrid and Michael Diekow, the CEOs of For Suxess, are firmly convinced: While the age pyramid will certainly present us with a special challenge in the future, agile, creative and effective processes can permanently solve this issue.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: In this issue, our editorial team is focusing on digitalization in medium-sized and large companies, specifically on the topic of recruiting. How important is digitalization for you in connection with this topic, and where does IT come into play in HR?

Michael Diekow: The topic of “candidate acquisition” – in other words, the entire process before the first personal “analog” conversation with candidates – is now almost entirely digital. Jobs are searched for via Google or large job portals such as Stepstone, users land on the job advertisement of a company’s career website and fill out the inevitable application form there. The recruiter checks the digital application in the applicant management software and, if it’s a good fit, invites the candidate to a Zoom call or similar. Of course, there are still some “offline” touchpoints up to this point, such as a telephone call from a headhunter or a good conversation at a trade fair. However, for the vast majority of all vacancies, the process – up until the first “real” meeting – is entirely digital. IT therefore plays a central role here. And above all, “good” IT. Many HR departments use software that is not state-of-the-art in terms of design and technology. To be honest, most solutions are even far removed from the current state of the art. Many companies cannot act as they would like because the existing technology does not allow it. And that’s where we come in. The good thing about our solutions: We don’t aim to replace the existing technology/software through lengthy purchasing processes; instead, we make use of what’s already there. Our solutions build on the “outdated” systems of companies and bring them into the year 2022.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Companies often recruit too few or the wrong employees, thereby losing real money. What is the reason for this?

Michael Diekow: It actually starts with companies not being found online as employers or being poorly discoverable, which is often because they are not well-indexed in job search engines like Google for Jobs, their careers page is too hidden, or they don’t even have a proper, comprehensive careers page. Even some well-known companies are often only recognized for their products but not perceived as attractive, potential employers. If you have a well-discoverable, modern careers page, you will gain attention. From our experience working with over 10,000 job postings monthly on our clients’ job boards and careers pages, we know that 75% of all starts in the candidate journey begin with a specific, company-independent job search on Google, Indeed, Stepstone, or similar platforms. We also know that many companies hide their careers page deep within their corporate website. Today’s candidates neither have the patience nor the time to click through a company’s website for long just to find the careers page or the information relevant to them.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Many companies rely on established job portals like Stepstone for recruiting. What’s wrong with that?

Sigrid Diekow: That’s not fundamentally wrong. Portals like Stepstone do provide reach, but you’re competing with all other companies posting jobs there. Moreover, job postings on these platforms all look pretty much the same. You’re swimming in a sea of uniformity, making it hard to stand out. Simply having a presence on Stepstone and similar sites is no longer enough. You also need to present your job postings on your own corporate careers page—if only to serve the free crawlers (e.g., Google for Jobs, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.) and drive enough traffic and visitors to your site. Only with sufficient interest can you generate enough applications. Paid ads on Stepstone and similar platforms are useful, but they’re not a panacea—job postings on your own website are essential. Ultimately, the displayed jobs must look good, “perform well,” and meet modern user expectations. For example, if you rely solely on the job portal’s display format for your postings, you might end up with a non-compliant, poor presentation that deters applicants.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: So if companies start publishing job postings on their own websites, what would you advise them to focus on?

Sigrid Diekow: 70% of all candidates enter a company's career site through a job advertisement rather than any other career-related content. The job advertisement must therefore "perform," as it is the central element in the candidate journey. If a job advertisement is available on the company's own career site, that's a good start. However, when designing these job advertisements, outdated views are often still implemented: they are thought of as pure advertisements, just like those that were placed in newspapers decades ago. A job advertisement is much more than that – it is its own content website, a small, independent career site. Imagine this: candidates only see your company's job advertisement and nothing else. What do you want to tell them with the job advertisement to ensure a guaranteed application? Take a look at your job advertisement: does what you are currently showing suffice? Most companies operate suboptimally here and fail to convince potential applicants. Candidates quickly click away again.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Especially large, internationally positioned companies rely on so-called job boards. This is also a special area of your expertise. What fundamental recommendations can you give companies that are considering using a new job board?

Sigrid Diekow: For over 90% of all visitors to career sites, the job board or a job advertisement is the first entry page and thus the first point of contact with the employer. Most candidates decide here whether to apply or not. That's why it's important to first determine: do my current job advertisements still fit visually/technically, and do they also fit content-wise? Because the expectations of applicants have increased. Technology and companies have evolved. After that, it's about optimization, because:

- The more precise and optimized the career site's job advertisements are, the more automatically traffic increases.
- By making qualitative changes to the page, companies increase the quality of applications.
- This saves a lot of budget and means they don't have to rely on as much media volume or the expensive use of headhunters.
- Through these measures, they conduct more sustainable recruiting: they find suitable candidates faster who stay with them longer.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Let's take a look into the future together. How do you think the job market will develop, and what cultural and technical qualities will companies need to succeed?

Michael Diekow: The German labor market is naturally closely linked to global economic developments. Over the 20 years we have been working on the labor market, it has shifted from an employer market (companies can choose the best employees) to an employee market (employees can choose the best companies). Looking into the crystal ball suggests that this trend will continue to intensify.
Companies need to do more, become more attractive, and further strengthen their efforts to recruit new employees. Often, there is goodwill, but poor implementation—and sometimes even more pretense than substance. And let’s be clear: the best job advertisement won’t help if the hired candidates quit after two months because the day-to-day work doesn’t meet their expectations.

Authenticity is key—both in the job advertisement and throughout the entire process.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Thank you very much for this insight into your work and expertise.

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