If anyone still doubts that the labor market in 2022 will be tighter than ever before, we now have the ultimate proof. More than 70 (!) entries were received for this year’s Werf& Awards, an absolute record, more than 20 more than the previous record . And it’s not just the quantity, but we can also safely say that across the board the quality is also impressive.
It is a joy to browse through all those entries.
It is a joy to browse through all those entries. Because it inspires, because it shows that the profession is really maturing, and because the diversity is so great. This was also immediately noticed by jury chairman Marion de Vries after the rich harvest. ‘There is a surprising diversity of submitting organizations. And also from many communications agencies. It appears that many parties are involved in labor market communication.’
Striking: little care
It goes too far to discuss all entries here. We leave that to the professional jury , who will take their time on this, including on March 30. But a few things do stand out. Such as healthcare, which seems to be conspicuous by its absence this year. From previous years, for example, we vividly remember the high-profile cases of the applicant consultation hours at the Reinier de Graaf Hospital, or the clogs from the Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland . And given the ‘ red alert phase ‘ in healthcare, you might expect even more such cases this year.
But to be honest, the harvest is a bit disappointing this year in that regard. Nothing to the detriment of the entries from, for example, Van Neynsel , or, for example, the joint vacancy portal of Jobchain , the matching tool of the Amsterdam UMC , the successful marketing campaign of Happy Nurse , or the new WerkenBij platform of Partou . But at first glance they do not fully reflect the enormous shortages in the sector.
A lot of volume recruitment
You can’t say the same about ‘volume recruitment’, because we see it frequently. Most striking are probably the previously described security guard cases from Schiphol and the Rijksmuseum , but don’t forget the delivery person cases from, for example, New York Pizza (a nice follow-up to last year’s space trip ), and Leen Bakker or the salespeople of Kwantum , or the recruitment of bus drivers from TransDev . Also notable in this category: the entries from Just Eat Takeaway (ranging from a 24/7 hybrid WhatsApp solution to a refer-a-friend game ).
‘Finally’ we are also seeing many cases involving referral.
Speaking of referral : it is actually the first time that we have seen many cases of this. ‘Finally’, sighs jury chairman De Vries. Because referral has long been seen as an extremely effective recruitment tool, but submissions have been difficult to find in recent years. That is different this year, with the aforementioned Just Eat Takeaway case, but also with a beautiful and effective wheel of fortune at EIFFEL and Heineken , which knows how to motivate its own employees through Nielson. And we will discuss the Superheroes case from Visma | Would you also include Raet here?
Singing is allowed
And now that we were just talking about Nielson, it is noticeable that there is a lot of music in labor market communication this year. Not only did fertilizer manufacturer YARA visit its target group at the Crammerock festival , and Xebia harked back to the 90’s and 00’s for a dazzling alumni day, the NS had its own conductor Linda van Dijk sing about top teams. And then we also had rapper Tijn with his own written KPN rap, and – to top it all off: the cheerful hit by Klink-Nijland infra , which made Doppen’s Textiel sing about the paving profession in an infectious way and received a big (local) hit along.
Another common thread was the further rise of podcasts and video series, usually not directly aimed at recruitment, but at presenting and telling more about a specific theme or employer brand. Special mention here, for example, deserves the beautiful drama series by Evean , including Hetty Heiting, but also the unscripted video series by DNB about diversity and inclusivity, the 6-part series ‘honest conversations’ by Cordaan or the video series by Hoppenbrouwers about women in the technique. In terms of podcasts, the harvest was limited to YoungCapital , which allowed 40 influencers to talk about work.
Lots of games and ‘big’ campaigns
What was particularly striking about the entries this year, and which is probably the cause of the shortage, were the many ‘major campaigns’. The Custodial Institutions Agency , but also Conclusion (‘There must be a difference’), House of Beta (‘Choose Hard’) APG , Tata Steel , the Dutch Lottery , de Jong & Laan and KLM (with talking suitcases for baggage staff and adventures animation for IT professionals ) stand out with their quite integrated and often surprising employer branding approach.
Speaking of IT people. As usual, everything was done for this. From speed dating in the Metaverse (such as with Inkubis ) to the playful ‘ON’ campaign of Ictivity , the ‘first time’ videos of Conclusion MBS , the 100 good reasons of Alliander , and the 8 inspiration videos of Defense (which also focus on on employees in technology, logistics and healthcare). And perhaps the biggest in this category was Deloitte’s ‘Master Plan’ , which enticed science students into a large-scale gaming competition ‘at a professional level’.
Deloitte organized a large-scale gaming competition ‘at a professional level’ for science students.
Games were an important part of all entries anyway. For example, Randstad launched the so-called Randstad Career Mode to translate gaming skills into a real job. And TOPdesk used BrainsFirst ‘s games to determine a candidate’s profile. Other entries in this area: the 8-bit Quest of the National Government , and the innovative Ambu-Game , with which Recruitment Moves and FixVision helped candidates for Ambulancezorg Haaglanden to have a 360-degree experience.
Often aimed at young people
It was striking that the games were mainly aimed at young people. And that appears to be reflected in many more entries. As young as the target group of the Catering Professional Skills Foundation is, we did not see them much. But the entries from GetJobsDone , the salary check from The Super Nice People , the ‘crazy careers ‘ from Talent&Pro , the ‘ Experience yourself in technology’ campaign from (again) Hoppenbrouwers , the paracetamol box from JAM , the trainees from VodafoneZiggo and the full candidate journey of RAFT and Dertec are unmistakably not aimed at the elderly among us, but rather at the increasingly scarce younger ones.
In that respect, compliments go to BCC Elektrospeciaalzaken , which decided to leave the red ocean and enter the blue ocean of older job seekers through the ‘Stay busy job’. In any case, it is one of the few examples among the entries that chose to try to tap into new ponds. Forward, possibly including ‘ Smitter for a Day ‘ from Recruitment Now , and the ‘Ukrainian’ entry from Babbage Company . But other than that, few organizations seem to dare (yet) to make a major change.
This year, almost twice as many entries were received in the ‘Labor Market Communication’ category as for ‘Recruitment’.
In any case, it is striking that labor market communication is particularly important. This year, almost twice as many entries were received in the ‘Labor Market Communication’ category as for ‘Recruitment’, a category that traditionally focuses more on innovation in the (selection) process. A sign that in times of tight constraints, organizations are going all out to get their message out, but are innovating even less internally? Or they must be barrier-lowering actions, such as the cup of coffee at Hoppenbrouwers . Something for next year perhaps?
All local
What jury chairman De Vries does notice positively is the regional approach that many organizations choose. “Very sensible at a time when many people do not want to travel longer than 30 minutes,” she says. She is referring, for example, to the very regional approach with a wink of the Brabant René of CSB – straight outta Buul . Or the Tata Steel Festival aimed at the nearby area . And with some imagination you can also count the Defense pop-up recruitment shop at Utrecht CS as one of these.
Now that we are in Utrecht: nowhere else did the willingness to submit seem as great as here. We already mentioned Utrechtzorg , but surprisingly enough, both the province and the municipality also submitted their campaign, as the only lower authorities this year. Could there be something in the water there?
The ‘other’ category
And then finally we have the ‘other’ category. Always fun, because this is where the most bizarre surprises usually turn up. Such as the vacancy in the form of a tattoo, from Special Ops , but also – slightly more innocently – the ‘Otherwise Application’ from Randstad . Or Heyu , which also says it wants to turn the tables on the labor market.
All agencies can also be mentioned here, all of which have found their own solution to the shortage problems. Such as 365Werk , which pays its temporary workers directly. Or AB Midden Nederland , which designed a completely new candidate journey together with UBO Agency. Or the life sciences- focused recruitment company Panda , which wants to distinguish itself with a 4-day working week for everyone. TOPdesk also made a case from its internal approach, as did Neurofactor , which submitted a completely new neuroscientific recruitment model.
Striking: many agencies among the entrants have their own solution for the shortage.
And then we end the row here with the Sourcing Benchmark from Cooble and Cowboys , the online culture scan for accounting or tax consultancy firms from Finch Online and here finally: the very first entry of this year: the interactive ‘job interview’ from Personato . And have we secretly named them all? Could be…Cooble en
Knowing more?
For more information, see Werf& Awards .
