Wie Employer Journey Mapping
mit datenbasierten Personas zum Gamechanger wird

Imagine entering a room full of people. They all wear the same company logo on their chest, but each individual thinks, feels and acts differently. Some are highly motivated, others quietly frustrated. Some want to be proactive, others prefer to go about their work in peace. And you - as a manager or HR manager - are supposed to lead this group, bind them to the company and develop them further. But how can you do this if you don't know what motivates people? Welcome to the employer journey - a journey that often goes unnoticed, but is crucial.

We don't really know our employees

Maybe you work in the HR department of a corporation, maybe you are responsible for HR matters at a start-up. Perhaps you have lost valuable employees in the last six months. All highly qualified, all with similar reasons: "I don't see any development prospects", "Communication in the team isn't working", "I didn't feel seen". Scenarios like these are part of everyday business life. Although one of the goals of the specialist department and HR is to retain employees in the company, they fail in this task if they lack a detailed insight into the day-to-day work, development and character of the specialists.

What is Employer Journey Mapping?

Employer journey mapping closes such knowledge gaps by visualizing the entire journey of potential and existing employees with the company. An employer journey map therefore includes all points of contact that employees experience with a company - from their first contact to their last day at work.

It's a change of perspective: away from processes and structures and towards employees' experiences, emotions and decisions. Whether application, onboarding, development meetings, conflicts, successes, everyday situations or even termination - each of these touchpoints triggers enthusiasm or frustration, promotes loyalty or causes alienation . The goal: to understand where, how and why people decide for or against the company.

The problem: many companies think they already know what motivates their employees. However, these assumptions are often based on individual cases, gut feelings or general trends. The fact is: without a deep understanding of the needs, values, fears and desires of employees, employer branding and HR development become a guessing game.

data-driven personas as glasses for the inner view

data-driven personas represent different types of employees in a company. Each of these types differs in terms of character, working style and resilience as well as the requirements for good leadership. data-driven personas are based on valid data obtained from interviews, surveys, data analyses and the careful evaluation of moods, patterns and statements. This information is used to create detailed sedcards that provide information about touchpoints and potential challenges within the company. In short: data-driven personas make it possible to recognize in detail what really motivates employees.

Practical example: How Employer Journey Mapping and
data-driven personas work together

Employer journey mapping without personas describes processes, but not experiences. It names stages, but not meaning. data-driven personas bring life to the Employer Journey Map. They illustrate how differently employees perceive the same touchpoints. What is motivating for some is stressful for others. What was meant to be good leadership is not perceived as such by all employees. With data-based personas, linear process maps become multi-layered experience spaces. data-driven personas make it clear where which touchpoints can be optimized for whom. A simplified practical example shows the difference data-driven personas make in employer journey mapping: A medium-sized company in the engineering sector decides to map an employer journey map with data-driven candidate personas. The employer journey map covers the first 90 days of new employees at the company. The aim is to reduce early fluctuation, strengthen the employer brand and optimize onboarding for new employees.

Develop data-driven personas

The company uses open job advertisements to analyze the desired skills, personality and professional experience of the required specialists. Detailed data analysis is carried out on the basis of this information: this includes findings from internal feedback discussions, interviews and employee surveys as well as quantitative data from secondary market research. Byclustering this information several times, the company obtains three different target group matrices. These form the basis of extensive persona sedcards that provide a detailed insight into the lives of potential employees. For the sake of simplicity, the following example contains greatly reduced personas. However, they illustrate what is important in Employer Journey Mapping with data-based personas.

• Lena, the learner (27)
  Career starter, looking for personal development, clear feedback structures, mentoring and a sense of belonging.
• Thomas, the technician (43)
  Experienced specialist, loves routine and efficiency, expects professional appreciation and little organizational overhead.
• Mina, the co-creator (35)
  Teamlead with ambition, looking for influence, strategic communication and real participation.

Create and visualize a journey map

Parallel to the development of the persona, an employer journey map is created, which in this case covers onboarding and the first 90 days at the company. In order to include all important touchpoints in the journey, it is important to develop this as a team. For example, the visualization of the employer journey should not only include HR managers, but also team leads from the relevant departments and, if necessary, employees who play an active role in the employer journey.

The map contains touchpoints such as:

• Welcome e-mail
• First working days
• Introduction to the team
• Feedback discussions
• IT equipment
• Distribution of tasks
• Further training offers

Transferring touchpoints from the journey map to data-driven personas

The next step is to transfer the stages of the Employer Journey Map to the values, character and requirements of the data-based personas and compare them. This shows how the data-based personas perceive the respective steps.

The personas experience the following touchpoints of the customer journey:

Deriving learnings from the Employer Journey

The comparison of the data-based personas with the corresponding touchpoints of the employer journey provides the company with a solid basis for decision-making in order to optimize onboarding in a persona-centric manner. In our example, the company derives the following measures:

1. Personalize onboarding:
   Instead of "one size fits all", the company wants to modularize onboarding in the future. For example, new employees will select content according to persona type and place a stronger focus on familiarization with new topics or getting to know different areas and teams in the company strategically.
2. Introduce a mentoring system:
   Employees who identify with Lena's profile receive structured support with weekly reflections and feedback meetings. This reduces uncertainty and increases their opportunities to develop more quickly within the company.
3. Rethinking communication:
   Managers receive training on how to deal with the respective personas. With the help of these "persona glasses", they learn, for example, how not to overburden Thomas and how to involve Mina in decisions in a meaningful way, for example through strategic projects and co-creation.
4. Use feedback carefully:
   As a young professional, Lena needs regular feedback in order to integrate more quickly as an employee in the company and reduce her insecurities. Thomas, on the other hand, is annoyed by frequent feedback meetings. As a "doer" who tends to work in the background, feedback should be given as needed and with restraint.
5. Individualize further training: Mina is given more autonomy to define her own learning goals - including budget responsibility and access to strategic formats. Lena, on the other hand, receives a defined induction plan as a newcomer, including events and mentoring to help her network with others in the company more quickly.

Result: Higher satisfaction in the onboarding process

Employer journey mapping in combination with data-based personas increases employee satisfaction, reduces early turnover and strengthens the employer brand. Training for managers helps them to feel more confident in dealing with the individual needs of new employees. In short: data-driven personas , in combination with a well thought-out employer journey map, help to map and adapt processes in the company in detail from the employee's perspective - for maximum employee centricity.

Employer journey maps for satisfied employees

The combination of data-based personas and a sensitive journey map creates a new perspective - one that is not based on assumptions, but on genuine empathy and evidence. This is precisely what makes Employer Journey Mapping a strategic tool for companies that really want to shape the future. The Persona Institute provides support: with consulting, the design of needs-based market research strategies and the development of data-based personas and employer journey maps. Sounds interesting? Then arrange an initial non-binding consultation right away.