Opgroeien

The core message for Opgroeien as an employer became “Together for opportunity-rich growth.” This clear message became the basis for a flexible employer branding strategy. “Opportunity-rich” was the basline, but there were some creative derivatives such as “talent-rich”, “shine-rich” and “care-rich”. The result? A recognisable and powerful identity for the brand that appeals to both internal employees and external candidates.

To unite all 3,500 employees of Opgroeien and increase engagement, we first launched the new employer brand internally. The message was visible in the entry hall of the head office, through digital screens, newsletters and a special edition of the staff magazine.

By embedding the message into the everyday work, we created a strong foundation and fostered internal pride.

This internal engagement proved to be the basis for the success of the external campaign. Strengthening the internal culture and creating internal ambassadors are crucial steps for an authentic employer brand that appeals to candidates.

Another important step was the online recruitment strategy. Job advertisements were rewritten to mirror the identity of Opgroeien as an employer, while the visibility of the job ads was enhanced by making some tweaks on the employer page of the website.

Also, we created company pages on platforms such as VDAB, Indeed and Glassdoor. This improved visibility and reached a broader audience of potential candidates.

Targeted ads through Meta, LinkedIn and Google stimulated a higher influx of candidates, especially for positions that proved to be hard to fill.

The first campaign wave (December 2024 – January 2025) delivered results that clearly exceeded our targets:

• 14,872 clicks on advertisements (target: 5,787)
• 1,093,908 impressions through Meta and Google Search
• CPC Meta: €0.23 (benchmark: €0.70)
• CPC Google: €0.90 (benchmark: €1.00)
• +1,570 clicks through VDAB Business+
• On average 137 job application clicks per shortage occupation vacancy through LinkedIn

These numbers prove that the combination of a lucid employer identity, targeted campaigns and optimisation of touch points had a substantial impact on the recruitment and visibility of Opgroeien as an employer.

The employer branding strategy of Opgroeien will continue to develop in the future. The focus will be on strengthening the brand identity and talent retention.

Through continuous communication and targeted campaigns Opgroeien will continue to present itself as a top-notch employer, not only by attracting talent, but also by creating a working environment where employees feel valued and where they can grow.

We laid the foundation for an attractive, durable and impactful working environment that aims at the development of employees and the organisation.