applicants
filled
website visits
Finding good employees for childcare is definitely not… er… child’s play. The scarcity in this sector is one of the highest ever measured, with 54 vacancies per thousand jobs in the first quarter of 2023, according to the CBS. Due to the low inflow, high outflow and increasing demand, there is a growing shortage of pedagogical employees.
GO! Kinderopvang, an organisation with over fifty years of experience in the sector, also felt the effects of these developments. In addition, there are a number of other factors at play. Since 2021, the government has plans to make childcare free, which is expected to lead to a 21% increase in demand for childcare.
GO! strives to be future-proof, which means that there is a need to hire pedagogical staff. GO! also wants to increase its brand awareness within the target group. “The collaboration with RM was established to address these various challenges,” says Remko Booghmans, the employer branding strategist at Recruitment Marketeers.
The collaboration started with a pilot of two vacancies (that had been open for a long time) that were brought to the attention of the target group by Recruitment Marketeers. Remko Booghmans: “We like to prove ourselves and for a client it is also nice to see what they are made of.”
After a target group analysis via Intelligence Group and data from Recruitment Marketeers, a complete picture emerged regarding the size of the target group, activity on the labor market and recruitment feasibility. With this data, a smart media strategy could be created that could be translated into a short-term job marketing campaign of thirty days. During the campaign, there was a lot of contact about the progress and the quality of the applicants who responded. This allowed the vacancies to be filled with the choice of multiple candidates who had applied.
After a target group analysis via Intelligence Group and data from Recruitment Marketeers, a complete picture emerged regarding the size of the target group, activity on the labor market and recruitment feasibility.
– Remko Booghmans
After the pilot, several creative and strategic sessions took place to arrive at a good media and content strategy for an employer brand campaign, with the sub-goal of recruiting pedagogical staff.
It was not only important to formulate a good message that would appeal to the target group, but it had to come together with the mission and vision of GO!. For this we generally use the AIDA model, explains Remko Booghmans, employer brand specialist at Recruitment Marketeers. It is important not to immediately shove a vacancy under a candidate's nose, but first to introduce an organization and to get engagement on the mission and vision of an organization.
From the content sessions, a script was created for photo and video content which was translated into images with our director (Karin Houwer) and the online marketing consultant. With the input and approval of Serena and Maaike from GO! Kinderopvang, shooting days were then scheduled and work was done on usable material for the campaign and for the working-at page on the GO! website.
In addition to the frequent A/B testing in the campaign, there is also continuous contact with media suppliers, such as Meta and Pinterest, which allows us to provide that extra sharp edge for the technical settings of the campaign.
– Remko Booghmans
This campaign had several sub-goals, including a successful open day with a cozy high tea as a highlight that generated many registrations. GO! organizes such activities not only to share information, but also to make direct contact and enter into discussions with potential employees.
A positive experience with the brand increases the chance that people will apply for a job or tell others about their positive experience, which can attract new applicants. In addition, the goal of this campaign was to stimulate registrations for the training to become a pedagogical employee.
The campaign was cleverly put together in terms of targeting and content and tested in advance. “In addition to the frequent A/B testing in the campaign, there is also continuous contact with media suppliers, such as Meta and Pinterest, which allows us to provide that extra sharp edge for the technical settings of the campaign,” says Remko Booghmans.
Recruitment Marketeers not only helped to simplify the application process for this campaign in order to optimize the candidate journey, but also provided a lot of input for the optimization of the high tea page, for example.
Soraya Heus says the following about the second campaign: “What I really liked about this collaboration was that GO! was open to change and optimization. This way, you not only come up with great ideas, but you can also work together to really innovatively approach the market with a good campaign.”
At the end of the day, you want results. And there they were! The first campaign resulted in 126 applications to GO!, of which 53 people applied for the position of pedagogical employee.
During the second campaign, 88 people applied, of which 71 applied for the position of educational assistant.
The second campaign thus generated fewer applications, but was no less successful than the first campaign. This is because the second campaign had a smaller target group, only aimed at pedagogical staff for daycare, toddler playgroup and after-school care, which reduced the number of people reached.
It is great to see that the campaigns reinforce each other and we see that reflected in the results.
– Soraya Heus
Looking back at the results and the collaboration so far, all campaigns have been successful. This was due to the fact that the entire candidate journey and the optimization of the campaigns in various areas were constantly rethought. This started with clearly defining the strategy and advising on catchy content and was supplemented with optimizations such as the SAM method for the application process.
Furthermore, throughout the campaigns, there was a focus on keeping the target group’s attention, reaching the target group again, staying in touch with the target group, and convincing the target group. We saw that people continued to apply for jobs straight from the campaign, but also that people returned to the website at a later time to apply.
Finally, building a strong relationship between GO! Kinderopvang and Recruitment Marketeers was a success. The freedom and trust in each other allowed the two parties to achieve great results. Serena, the marketing & communication manager of GO! says the following about this:
Recruitment Marketeers is quick to respond. Even with new campaigns that suddenly jump in, RM gets to work the same day. It is nice that we have a partner who says 'okay, we'll just do that' when there are new developments. The contact is very pleasant and accessible.
– Recruiter GO! Kinderopvang
Energieplein 8, 2031 TC Haarlem