Hiring people for manufacturing is tough. Based on our experience with other companies and current data from the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the number of vacancies in the industry has long been higher than the number of candidates. In Northern Moravia, this is an even bigger issue since the region is depopulating and the workforce is aging.
Under these conditions, we knew we had to find compelling arguments to attract new workers to the Dormer Pramet.
Arguments like this are not so easy to find — and it wouldn’t work if we just made them up. We needed to build the recruitment communication strategy for Dormer Pramet on in-depth interviews with their employees.
„Since 2017, the Czech labour market has been tense. The utter lack of skilled people peaked a year or two after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. The education system is unable to supply a sufficient number of qualified workers to the market, so the only right way forward was to strengthen our employer attractiveness and brand.“
Radek Hudos
— Communication Manager, Dormer Pramet
About the client: Dormer Pramet manufactures cutting tools made of cemented carbide, used by companies in various industries, from automotive and railways to the energy sector. They’re the largest producer of these tools in Czechia and belong to the Swedish Sandvik group — a global leader in cutting tools. Besides Šumperk, Dormer Pramet has manufacturing plants also in Brazil and India. In Šumperk, Dormer Pramer is one of the largest employers, giving work to 670 people and being closely linked to local history. Almost every family in Šumperk has a relative working at Dormer Pramet.
We talked to newcomers as well as seasoned veterans. We interviewed people in different roles, people wearing blue as well as white collars. We chatted with former employees as well as with people who work in manufacturing companies nearby.
Our research involved 23 in-depth interviews. With our set of meticulously prepared & throught-through questions, we were able to fully understand:
„Our goal was to find out what employees truly think about working at Dormer Pramet. And people are much more willing to share their feelings with external researchers (aka us), than with their HR specialists. To put our interviewees even more at ease, we anonymised the research report. It still tells Dormer Pramet knows what factory workers value the most and what they’re not so keen about, but it doesn’t point a finger at anyone. Thanks to that, the employees were really open with us.“
Kateřina Kalivodová
— Copywriter, Hook & Tell
The answers in our research repeatedly showed that despite the company's size, people in Dormer Pramet don’t feel like cogs in a machine. Compared to other manufacturers, Dormer Pramet has clean-room production and skilled work, not just component assembly.
Having to work shifts is the most typical drawback of many manufacturing companies. However, we found out that when employees do have to work shifts, the setup at Dormer Pramet suits them. They work 12h shifts, two mornings and two nights in a row, and then enjoy their four days off. This finding was a game changer for our communication strategy.
Armed with fresh insights from our interviews, we managed to flip what seemed like a clear disadvantage into a persuasive reason for joining Dormer Pramet. Our creative partner in crime Smeczka translated this key insight into three visually striking creatives. To leave nothing to chance, our PPC expert Optimio immediately tested the creatives on Facebook in a pre-campaign – which verified our assumptions and helped us obtain data-backed results.
„When coming up with the campaign visuals, we focused on dynamism to capture the viewer's attention— in the form of small animations and dynamic graphic shapes. The company’s signature orange color played right into our hands. We made it even more striking and complemented the designs with technical blue to ensure we didn't forget the industry Dormer Pramet operates in.“
Tomáš Zindulka
— Idea Maker, Smeczka
„Even if you know the audience inside out, it’s hard to estimate offhand which creative concept will resonate with a target group. That's why we always like to run a pre-campaign before the official launch, to test various concepts. In doing so, we primarily look at the level of interaction and the subsequent (micro) conversions.“
Jiří Matoušek
— Account Manager, Optimio
The results of the pre-campaign were clear: the message "Good Employer and 4 Days Off" was the undisputed winner. We immediately aligned all our career communication efforts around this powerful theme.
We injected authenticity into the new recruitment website copy by directly quoting what people told in our interviews — to address directly and clearly what applicants cared about. We detailed every benefit, thoroughly explained the shift model and what it offers. Naturally, the design of the final website was expertly crafted by the team at Smeczka.
We committed to showing the faces of real Dormer Pramet employees both on the career site and in all campaign materials. Why? Because authenticity is the ultimate currency in recruitment. When new hires meet the actual people they saw on websites and in ads, everything about the employer's promise feels much more honest and believable.
„I really enjoy photographing real employees — they’re genuine and put their heart into it. Their faces reflect what the company is truly like. At first, I have to break the initial shyness, sometimes even fear of being photographed, and get everyone on the same page — that’s my job as a photographer. The chemistry at Dormer Pramet was excellent, so we all enjoyed the sessions. What's more, having people from the company appear in the advertising is an excellent calling card for the employer and a positive signal for people on the outside.“
Jindřich Špaček
— Photographer, STARLING
„The recruitment campaign is going really well. Regardless of whether it's the design of the career website, the graphics on billboards, conducting the employee survey, or any other project related to this activity, I can say with a clear conscience that we are truly satisfied with the results.“
Kryštof Kadlec
— Employer Branding Professional & Employee Experience Expert, Dormer Pramet
