Premium shoe manufacturer and retailer LLOYD boosted its employer reputation and image measurably in a very short time using solutions from the softgarden Talent Acquisition Suite.
66 %
Faster staffing
4.5/5
Employer score
About LLOYD Shoes
LLOYD Shoes is a manufacturer of men's and women's shoes as well as leather jackets and accessories. Founded in Bremen in 1888 and based in Sulingen in Lower Saxony since 1942, LLOYD has been perfecting the manufacture of special and valuable shoes in terms of quality, comfort and design for more than 130 years. LLOYD products are exported to more than 60 countries and are available at 3,700 points of sale.
The premium shoe manufacturer and retailer LLOYD introduced a new recruiting solution in December 2017. The previously used system had reached its limit because it no longer met the high demands of a candidate-oriented market. Now LLOYD can score points with candidates with a modern solution and can take advantage of speed and transparency. A feedback tool that automatically collects feedback from applicants and reflects their view of the employer plays a role here.
Background: treating applicants like customers
LLOYD is constantly looking for new employees in Germany and the company is also expanding strongly in this country. Currently there are 33 retail stores.
The target group is difficult to find on the labour market. “We feel the demographic change and the shortage of skilled workers. Making things even more difficult are the high fluctuation in retail and the large selection of employer alternatives in the industry,“ says Gordon Behrens, Head of Human Resources LLOYD. In some cities, such as Munich, things are particularly tight. “Our employees in the centres can often see their next workplace right under their noses,“ Behrens reports.
Against this background, LLOYD must be easily recognizable as an attractive employer. Speedy processes play a special role. “In the market, the best applicants are won by those who are simply faster. We need software with the perfect candidate journey that supports maximum decision-making speed,“ says Behrens: “We want to treat applicants like customers and make their application as easy as possible.“
Implementation: the quick step into the cloud
Against this background, LLOYD has introduced the all-round recruiting solution softgarden.
Previously, the company had used a different applicant management solution, where applicants first had to register. At some point, the system became too inflexible due to the increased requirements. LLOYD was hardly able to change the solution and make it more applicant friendly, for example by means of short applications or the possibility of linking the application with the Xing profile.
LLOYD had looked at ten recruiting solutions before deciding on softgarden. There were three finalists, which were evaluated against the background of the company‘s individual requirements using a list of criteria. This included, for example, connecting the career portal, possibilities for the simple publication of advertisements on different portals, communication with applicants, reporting, data protection, technology, costs and internal opportunities.
The main reasons for choosing softgarden were its ease of use and high process orientation. LLOYD integrates many managers who play a key role in recruiting in the process. “Our store managers were immediately able to operate this intuitively,“ recalls Behrens. LLOYD was convinced by both the high level of convenience in the one-click application process and the ease of use for those involved in the recruiting process.
With the implementation of the new software, LLOYD also took the step into the cloud in recruiting. “At the beginning we did not really believe it, but after two days the actual implementation was completed and the system was ready for use,“ Behrens remembers.
Results: Time and resources saved, image measurably improved
The involvement of store managers has improved significantly. This has significantly reduced the communication effort in the decision-making process at LLOYD. “In no time at all, we were able to get the store managers into the reviewer role, they even enjoy it,“ says Behrens. Overall, this saves the company time and resources. LLOYD‘s retail activities have resulted in around 300 staff movements per year with a core workforce of around 700. Today, LLOYD only needs one third of the tim eto fill an open position than before softgarden was introduced. This is an invaluable advantage in a market that is more and more candidate-oriented.
Multi posting allows LLOYD to easily access all possible job markets from the system. The necessary effort has significantly reduced.
LLOYD was initially sceptical about the softgarden feedback solution. This allows employers to automatically collect feedback from applicants and new employees and publish them on employer evaluation portals as well as on its own website. This way, LLOYD now receives standardized feedback from applicants and employees, which automatically becomes visible. Since the beginning of May 2018, the retail company has been publishing this feedback on the employer assessment platform kununu.
LLOYD is very positively surprised by the result. “We already knew that we placed a lot of value on good applicant communication before.But this kind of feedback is great feedback for our work,” says Behrens. We were able to increase our kununu score from 3.7 to 4.1 since the feedback tool was introduced. Our excellent application process is now visible to everyone,“ says Behrens. This is important because LLOYD wants to stand out positively from the mass of employers in the industry.
The feedback tool is also an important source of information on how LLOYD can improve as an employer, for example in onboarding. LLOYD uses the feedback, which the responsible managers can read using the tool, to test specific offers. “For example, our colleagues who take care of trainees can immediately see how the new trainees really feel about us as an employer,“ Behrens explains.
Outlook: involving store managers more strongly in recruiting
“It will become even tighter in the short term. Our branch managers must understand, that they are the first recruiters on site. They need to know the competitive situation of the relevant local employers. Even better, know where they stand, and actively approach talent. In the future we will still need our career website, our job advertisements, and visible feedback in the future, but we need to become even more active and communicate more precisely what we stand for as employers.”
Gordon Behrens, Head of Human Resources, LLOYD Shoes GmbH
