Optimizing the Candidate Experience at Marc Cain GmbH – Can this Investment Sustainably Strengthen the Employer Brand?

Candidate experience management is gaining in importance: The recruiter experience study in 2018 revealed that 63% of the recruiters questioned throughout Germany considered optimizing the candidate experience to be one of the top priorities for future actions. Why is that? It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies to recruit top talents. Because of demographic changes, the workforce supply is declining and the competition among firms is growing. What does that mean for companies? Firms need to counter-tactics and ensure that talented people stay in the application process instead of opting for the competition. The goal is to attract talented individuals and ultimately win them over for the corporation. How can companies successfully manage it? To be successful as an employer, it is well worth optimizing contact points along the application process and providing the best possible experience for candidates. Ideally, this can also help to strengthen the employer brand. Literature, including previous findings, as well as insights about the collaborating company Marc Cain provide a baseline. A qualitative research examines how different candidates Marc Cain recently hired perceive the candidate journey and its resulting candidate experience. For this purpose, interviews are conducted along the established candidate journey model of Athanas and Wald. The aim of this work is to answer the overall research question of the title: Optimizing the Candidate Experience at Marc Cain GmbH – Can this Investment sustainably strengthen the Employer Brand? The research indicates that essential attributes for candidates during the application process are transparency, communication, authenticity, a personal approach, and feedback. Moreover, it shows that Marc Cain does not have a bad status quo or starting point, but regarding future developments does have the potential for optimization. How exactly Marc Cain can counter this shortage of talent through an improved candidate experience, and how the employer brand benefits from it, is examined in the following work. Further, recommendations for action are meant to express direct suggestions for the company