"Actively scoring bonus points for the company image as an HR department

The AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE non-profit GmbH was one of the first customers to introduce the Feedback Solution from softgarden in 2016. It permits the efficient management of employer evaluations. Since then, the company has scored on various levels – not only in terms of employer image. The investment also paid off in terms of the overall image and culture of the care company.

Background: Employer evaluations as a quality indicator for care providers

The AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE non-profit GmbH is part of the AGAPLESION non-profit AG, an association of Christian hospitals and nursing homes for the elderly based Franfurt.

The Christian enterprise with over 700 coworkers operates among other things senior day care centers, facilities for full inpatient living & care for seniors, and homes for people with chronic mental illnesses. AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE is constantly looking for qualified employees from over 23 different professional groups – especially in the field of nursing care. Competition for talent at the locations is intense.

Employer assessments and employer evaluation platforms have become a decisive station in the candidate journey, the digital path for job seekers to their employer. When job seekers search for jobs on Google or research background information about their employer, they inevitably end up at the ratings. The proportion of candidates who use employer ratings for their job choice has risen continuously in recent years. And it will continue to rise: According to a Bitkom study it is already 52% with job candidates under 30. In particular Straight employers in the competitive care market must deal actively with evaluations – it is the modern form of employer branding.

Especially in the care sector, this active handling of employer ratings has an impact on the overall image of the company: in the care sector, satisfied and motivated employees are the basis for the economic success of the providers. A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows: For relatives, the most important criteria for the selection of a care facility are personnel-related: For example, the “quality of care and support” is very important to 86%. This number lies at 70 % for the factor “personal commitment of the staff”. Non-personnel-related factors such as “comfort and equipment” are considered much less important in comparison (30 %).

Implementation: Introduction of the softgarden Feedback Solution

With this in mind, AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE implemented the softgarden Feedback Solution in July 2016.

The implementation of the Feedback Solution at AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE was part of a more complex process. In 2015 the company had revised the entire employer communication and application process: from applicant management and communication to job advertisements and career website.

As a company, AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE stands for transparency. Job-seeking nursing staff are supposed to see what AGAPLE- SION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE offers – during the application process as well as in the daily work routine. Nursing relatives are supposed to see that the company manages the “human factor” in a committed and positive way.

Employers like AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE, who use the recruiting solution of softgarden, can book and use the Feedback Solution with just a few clicks. Candidates are then asked automatically for feedback directly from the application process after the first interview. They award up to five stars for various criteria such as speed and transparency of the process as well as atmosphere during the interview. They also have the opportunity to comment on the application process in a free text field.

softgarden has expanded the Feedback Solution 2018 with an onboarding function: 100 days after starting work, new employees automatically receive an e-mail request to rate their new employer. They evaluate, for example, the onboarding process, the work atmosphere, and staff cohesion. Like applicants, new employees also have access to a comment field. Thus, the tool can be used to automatically generate current evaluations of real employees and use them for the communication of employers – on a separate certificate page of softgarden, on the career website, in job advertisements and on the employer evaluation platform kununu.

At the beginning, Andreas Wolff, Head of Corporate Communications at AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE, took a look at the employer feedback every day to get an overview of the current situation. “In the meantime, I get a convenient e-mail notification from the system as soon as a new evaluation is received” says Wolff.

Results: Visible quality as an employer and care provider

Job-seekers looking for information about AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE will automatically come across these employer ratings – both on the kununu ratings page and on the company’s website.

The softgarden evaluation is integrated in the job advertisements as well as on the career website. And its 4.4 out of 5 possible stars stands for itself – just like the kununu ratings. With a score of 4.28, the company lies well above the current industry average (health/social/care) of 3.43.

The ratings decide whether potential employees apply to the company or not. Since this is not direct communication from the companies, but rather of the experience-based perspective of employees and applicants, this perspective is particularly valuable for job applicants.

“A short while ago we were looking for nursing staff at our location in Berlin-Steglitz. An applicant had googled us and because we use the softgarden tool and maintain our appearance at kununu, she landed with us. Afterwards she even motivated some of her friends to apply. We also ended up hiring them”, reports Wolff: “The positive effect for recruiting is obvious.”

There is another interesting aspect: 70 to 80% of the residents who move into a facility of AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE, find us through a recommendation from relatives. “Not only applicants, but also care-giving relatives look on the Internet and see the results on our kununu profile. There we can show that the working atmosphere is how it should be and that we deal positively with feedback,” Wolff reports: “We get the impression that the working atmosphere is often decisive for the selection of a residential and care facility.”

The use of the Feedback Solution has created the basis for the company to take a closer look at evaluations and actively manage this factor. In the meantime, the company maintains a company profile on kununu and deals visibly with the evaluations. “If someone provides us with detailed information in their commentary, I speak with the respective company management in order to be able to give a prompt answer. This is important so that others can see that we are dealing with the criticism. This has a lot to do with appreciation,” says Wolff.

“Not only applicants but also carers look at the internet and see our kununu profile results. There, we can show that the working atmosphere is right and that we deal positively with feedback. In our impression, the working atmosphere is often decisive for the selection of a residential and care facility.”
Andreas Wolff, Head of Corporate Communications at AGAPLESION BETHANIEN DIAKONIE

Outlook: increased transparency and cultural change

“softgarden continues to invest in the development of the feedback solution after the market launch. We benefit from this,” reports Wolff. New employees’ points of view are particularly interesting for the company.

Between the application phase and the first few months in the company, the perception of the employees can change significantly.

“This is a good starting point for us to promote authenticity in the application process and onboarding,” says Wolff. The expectations raised by the company must match what follows: For example, does the future employee get along with the management style? “Here we offer job shadowing for applicants to avoid mutual misunderstandings,” says Wolff.

The company dealing intensively with evaluations three years ago has kicked off a cultural change, Wolff reports. The awareness of managers in the company for their external impact has increased. “We have very high quality job interviews, there is an appreciative working atmosphere, we answer questions, and provide a realistic outlook on working with us,” says Wolff. The pressure to be a good employer has increased due to increased transparency. “This may sound like a negative thing at first, but the opposite is true. I have observed that the increased transparency has had a really positive effect on our culture,” says Wolff.