1 Introduction

Finding highly qualified employees is a squeezing bottleneck for companies all around the world. In western industrial countries, the market for well-qualified employees is almost empty. Especially companies in rural areas have serious problems to win young professionals.

There are many social media applications, describing personal experiences with the employer – however, they mostly do not show the everyday challenges of a new environment for a family. Thus, the decision-making process needs to be supported by employers in all phases via appropriate communication channels. For generation Y applicants, online-channels as well as mobile applications are the most relevant sources for gaining information about employers.

The application process is digital – even first personal contact, job assessment and contract negotiation processes can be performed online. Several new concepts like edutainment – a trend to enrich recruiting websites with playful elements – help employers to get more attention from the potential applicants [1].

However, there still is an information gap: employees prefer to live in a decent distance (up to about 80 km) to their workplace. However, especially smaller companies do not provide relevant information for potential applicants about the facilities in the area around them.

To enhance the performance of such hidden champions’ recruiting activities in rural communes, a case study of the rural region Black Forest in Germany is performed by Offenburg University and the start-up company FAMIGO. Our research aims to identify the needs and wishes of applicants, especially those with families. This objective is achieved by three empiric investigations: a series of expert interviews to gain insights into the companies recruiting practices, a user experience study to identify the needs of families while testing a prototype, and finally an online-survey to learn more about the current process of applying [2].

Quantitative and qualitative studies allow assessing, how attractive new information sources are for the target group and for companies. Furthermore, we identify and evaluate the important needs of applicants with families when relocating for a job. Hidden champions in the Black Forest region, like the Hansgrohe, Duravit, Herrenknecht or Sick can use the outcomes to enhance their job platforms with information the applicants need and thus boost their chances to succeed in the “war for talents” [3]. Moreover, hidden champions in rural areas all over the world can use the strategies described and evaluated in our work.

2 Related Work

An important goal for human resource departments in many companies is to highlight open positions to potential applicants and convince them to apply. There are several characteristics, which influence the effectiveness and success of recruitment. Part of those are payment, the company’s benefits, or working hours (job characteristics), but also the company’s image, work environment, and the location (organizational characteristics) are important [4]. In this chapter, we discuss relevant work for assessing the effects and the acceptance of a platform, which gathers and presents information for applicants from generation Y.

2.1 Target Group: Generation Y

Considering an enormous number of employees in Germany, who will leave their workplace due to retirement in the next few years, companies will have to replace them with younger staff from generation Y [5]. There are different definitions of the time range for that generation. For our study, we define generation Y as follows: it includes every person, who is born between the years 1980 and 2000 [6]. Thus, nowadays the age range of persons of generation Y is between 19 and 39. By 2020, already 46% of the global workforce are from generation Y [7].

Existing literature evaluates differences between the generations in work values, job satisfaction, attitudes towards work and career as well as the work-family conflict [8]. It is an important to note that generation Y’s dedication to family [8] and private life increased compared to previous generations.

Many of young graduates choose their employers based on the companies dedicated to social responsibility also for their staff – preferring organizations, which match their own values and ideas [9]. To be able to recruit the needed young talents in the future, companies should adapt their human resource management to improve the attractiveness for generation Y [5]. If companies do not manage to adjust to the shifting expectations, they may encounter the problem of acquiring less qualified talents from the younger generation and therefore fail to gain a competitive advantage [9].

2.2 Challenge Job Relocation

Moving to a new location still is a big challenge for most potential employees. Recent studies show that apart from the financial aspects, moving has an immense impact on partners, children’s education, and care for relatives [10]. When making a work-related decision, employees consider their family situation very carefully.

This can influence their choice in accepting a new job or starting their own business [11]. According to Martin “[…] the more the relocator prepares for his or her move, the better should be their psychological well-being following the move” [12]. The employee’s well-being is also important for the company, since content workers are more willing to actively improve their workspace and are more likely to stay with the company for a longer period of time [7].

2.3 SME Employer Branding

According to Sonntag [13], small and medium-sized companies often struggle to communicate their advantages to possible applicants and market their company brand effectively. To counteract this problem, a good public image is necessary. Rampl [14] shows that work content and work culture have the greatest impact on the creation of a strong employer brand.

In order to communicate with generation Y effectively, a company should not only focus on recruiting activities to improve its instrumental attractiveness but also towards symbolic characteristics of an ideal employer. Therefore, companies need to use new applications for inbound marketing on recruitment websites and social media [15].

2.4 Job Decisions with a Family

Typically, the decision to change the job is not an easy one, because it can bring many challenges: adjusting to a new company culture, relocation cost, and changes in family or social life are just a few examples. The most common issues are not doing enough research, overestimating oneself, and only thinking about short-term solutions. Also, the difference between expectations and reality on the job can result in dissatisfaction and poor work performance [16].

Since the assessment of risk is a very important influence factor in the decision-making process, gaining secure knowledge and background information about the future situation and the surrounding environment, e.g. by gathering information a family-orientated platform, reduces the uncertainty of job changes.

2.5 Companies’ Problems of Recruiting in Rural Areas

In order to gain more information about companies’ recruiting challenges in rural areas, we conducted a semi-structured interview with 18 recruiting professionals. In total, we asked 18 questions regarding the current employee situation and ideas, how a family-oriented information platform should be designed. 15 out of the 18 participants stated that they have problems in recruiting professionals due to their company’s rural location. As reasons they mentioned the high competition for employees and the almost full employment in this area. Six out of 16 stated that more than 10% of their applicants do not originate from the area – especially for jobs in leadership positions, IT or marketing. To take these jobs, the applicants might have to relocate. When we asked the companies, what they do to attract persons to their location, we collected several actions: helping employees with social matters like finding a kinder garden place or day nursery, highlighting the beauty of the area, or offering recreation activities.

Nine companies stated that they see no need in integrating additional information on their website to increase the attractiveness of their location. Four affirmed they already do, or are planning to include family-oriented details on their websites. However, after presenting the concept of the family information platform FAMIGO, 15 of 18 companies showed specific interest in this concept. They saw potential in standing out against their competitors, attracting applicants from more distant regions and offering additional information also for the current employees.

3 Information Platform to Increase Companies’ Attractiveness

We showed that hidden champions in rural areas often have problems to recruit employees due to their remote location. Furthermore, many do not sufficiently present their specific benefits to potential applicants. To solve this problem, the start-up company FAMIGO offers an online platform that aims to bundle relevant information for applicants and their families in one place. To do so, it connects the municipalities, the associations, the economy, and the citizens with each other to create a regional communication network. All involved parties contribute their existing information. The collected data is enriched with important details, and arranged in a central content hub.

Especially for the companies, FAMIGO offers a service in the form of a white label website. The website works as a mobile and desktop version. Every company can adjust the template to their corporate identity and design. They can combine information about their corporate benefits with relevant data from the network. This allows users to seamlessly transition between the corporate website and the communication platform.

To implement the service easily, it uses standardized Application Programming Interfaces (API) like REST, SOAP, XML and JSON. The access to the platform can be integrated everywhere on the corporate website – for example in the career portal or the page “About Us”. The modular system allows companies to freely prioritize and sort the different categories according to the relevance. Thus, applicants with families can easier access the information they need during the application process. Besides, the current employees have the opportunity to learn more about their living environment and attractive activities as well. Thus, FAMIGO potentially helps companies to underline their location factor, strengthen the location marketing and present themselves as family-friendly [17].

Since this application is a prototype, we conducted a user experience study to determine the requirements of the target group. For the study, we created a prototype version of the family-orientated information platform with Adobe XD CC.

4 User Experience Study

The aim of this study was to find out how the target group responds to the concept of a family-oriented information platform, if there is a demand in this kind of service, what information the participants consider as relevant, and the impact on the employer. The prototype was designed for use on an iPhone 6s Plus and adapted to the corporate identity of the company Hansgrohe (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.
figure 1

Prototype of the information platform FAMIGO used for CXT testing.

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4.1 Participants and Task

The study was conducted with seven participants who all have a family with children. It was set up in the user experience laboratory of Offenburg University. With the participants’ consent, the process was monitored, and recorded. To minimize external influences on the participants’ behavior, the procedure contained following steps each time:

  • After a short introduction into the topic, the use case was explained.

  • Then we asked the participant to answer the first part of the AttrakDiff2 online-questionnaire.

  • In the next step, the participants had the following task: “Put yourself in the position of an applicant, interested in the presented job vacancy of Hansgrohe for a position as a business consultant. Imagine having two children between four and eight years who are interested in sports. Your preferred place of residence should be within a 50 km radius of the company’s location Schiltach. You are looking for information on available kinder gardens and Waldorf schools.”

  • While working on the task, the participant should express actions, feelings and thoughts aloud.

  • After task completion, the participant answered the second part of the AttrakDiff2 online-questionnaire.

  • Following this, we conducted a semi-structured interview.

4.2 Methods

To gain information from the participants three methods were applied: AttrakDiff2 online- questionnaire, think-aloud, and a subsequent interview. AttrakDiff2 is a product evaluation online-questionnaire developed by Hassenzahl, Burmester and Koller [18] to focus both the usability and the pleasurable aspects of an experience. It is based on a model that divides the product experience into four elements:

  • the product quality intended by the designer,

  • the subjective perception and evaluation of the quality,

  • the independent pragmatic and hedonic qualities

  • and the behavioral and emotional consequences.

The method does not measure specific physiological emotions, but assesses the emotional impact of a product. It measures its attractiveness based on two sets of scales: pragmatic scale (measures usability) and hedonic scale (measures emotional reactions) [19]. The questionnaire consists of 28 sets of scales for users to evaluate. The scale’s poles are opposite adjectives related to the four elements mentioned before (e.g. “confusing —clear”, “unusual—ordinary”). Each set of adjective items is ordered into a scale of intensity [20].

The think-aloud method allows gaining insights into a participant’s mental processes. While working on the task, the participants were asked to express their thoughts and what they are doing. The great advantage of this technique is the directness of the participant’s feedback. By immediately expressing thoughts and actions, a later rationalization of their choice is avoided [21].

The third method, the interview, allows gaining deeper knowledge on the application’s overall impression, the didactic design, the operation and navigation, the comprehensibility and the motivation. To guide the interviewer and address all relevant topics, a semi-structured interview with 28 polar and open questions was used. As the interviewer could discuss the participant’s answers directly, a deeper qualitative understanding of the participant’s insights could be achieved.

4.3 Results

For the question “What do you think about this platform?” the responses regarding the concept are mainly positive. One participant states, “I like it – I really like it” while another says “great idea”. On a Likert-scale from 1 (very bad) to 5 (very good) the seven participants rate the overall impression of the prototype in average with 4.5.

When we asked, if they were aware of similar platforms, five out of seven answered negatively. The other two participants stated that one could find similar information on municipal websites and different travel platforms like TripAdvisor with the advantage of having ratings. In total, six out of seven participants stated that they would use this kind of platform and that an employer offers an additional benefit with this service.

To find out which information the users need most, we asked the participants which factors they consider most important for work-related relocation. Since all participants have children, we differentiated between the most relevant information for them and for their children. The most requested data revolved around childcare and schools, since the participants considered this most important both for them and their children. Additionally, they were interested in the environment, trips, and attractions in the area. For their children, the parents consider information on regional sports club as very important. An interest in information about certain residential districts, like pictures and rental prices, was also mentioned.

The opinions on the relevance of information about commuting to work differ. While some perceive this as important or very important, the participants using a car find it less relevant. To show the participant personalized information, six partly personal questions were asked. Since privacy on the internet is a hot topic, the benefits of asking private questions on this platform needed to be investigated. Regarding the particular questions, six persons had no concerns about data privacy at all. Only one person stated that he had a “slightly bad feeling”.

One of the most relevant aims was to find out, if providing a family-oriented information platform has an impact on how potential applicants perceive a company. Apart from the fact that persons do not need to search the information on different websites, which makes the relocation easier for them, they also draw conclusions about the company. Indeed, the participants associated a good work climate and increased interest from the company for an employee’s personal and family life. They stated that the platform makes the employer more attractive and could increase the chance to apply. Only one participant expressed concerns of a negative influence on the employer. He stated, that for higher positions (e.g. business consultant) the platform might create the impression that the employer underestimates the competency of the applicant.

The evaluation of the AttrakDiff2 online-questionnaire was conducted in form of a portfolio matrix with a diagram of the mean values of the assessment elements. The expectations before the UX-study are represented in blue and the experiences after in orange (see Fig. 2). In the portfolio matrix, the expression of the hedonic quality (HQ) is shown vertically (below = low expression) and the expression of the pragmatic quality (PQ) horizontally (left = low expression). Depending on the expression of the confidence rectangle, the product falls into one or more of the character areas. Both confidence rectangles are small. Therefore, it can be assumed that the test results are more reliable and less coincidental. In both terms of expectations and experiences, the prototype is classified as “desired”.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

Portfolio with the average expression of the elements PQ and HQ and the confidence rectangles for the experiences and expectations of the prototype (Color figure online)

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The assignment in terms of pragmatic quality is clear. The prototype is judged to be very pragmatic. For the hedonic quality, the character assignment is not unique, because the confidence interval goes beyond the character range. The user is only encouraged to use the prototype. In general, the expression of the two elements after the experience with the prototype is marginally lower.

The mean value diagram in Fig. 3 shows the average expressions of the four elements. Regarding the hedonic quality-identity (HQ-I), the prototype is above the average range in terms of expectations (1.80) and experience (1.84). Thus, the prototype offers users a good possibility of identification. Concerning the hedonic quality stimulation (HQ-S), the prototype is within the average range for the expectations (1.24) and the experience (1.04). It corresponds to the usual standards of the users. The attractiveness value (ATT) of the prototype is above average for both, the expectations (2.37) and the experience (2.37).

Fig. 3.
figure 3

Mean expression of the four elements of the AttraktDiff2

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5 Survey

To gain more information on the process of applying for a job, we conducted an online survey in December 2018. In total, 208 persons completed the survey (61.5% female; 38.5% male). The age ranges between 20 and 69. Only nine were older than 39, which is the maximum age for generation Y. 152 of the participants do not have children yet, while 56 do have children (27%).

We used a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). For some questions, the range was adjusted (1 = very unimportant to 5 = very important). The survey was structured into three parts:

  • The first part focused on personal experiences regarding the job search.

  • The second part concentrated on how users search for their new place of residence during the application process.

  • The last part explained and evaluated the information platform FAMIGO.

5.1 Hypotheses

Based on the related work and the user experience study, we developed and evaluated the following hypotheses (H):

  • H1: For persons with children, the location during the job application phase is more important than for persons without children.

    We assumed that persons with children start to investigate a company’s location during the application process, as for those factors such as school and daycare for children are important.

  • H2: Persons with children prefer to live in rural areas.

    As one might think, persons with children prefer rural areas as there is less traffic in smaller cities and often a calmer environment for children to grow up. In contrast, persons without children are often expected to live in a city:

  • H3: Persons with children are more likely to inform themselves about the company’s location right after viewing the job advertisement.

    For the human resource department of a company it is important to know when a potential employee starts to investigate the company’s location because they must know where to communicate the location’s benefits on the website.

  • H4: The platform makes it easier for persons with children to find a job compared to persons without children.

    It is interesting to see if the platform is preferred by persons with children rather than by those without children. The outcome of this evaluation also gives an indication of the information such a platform should include. If there is no significant difference between persons with children and those without, information for both groups is equally important on such a platform.

  • H5: The higher the level of education, the lower the willingness to share private data.

    Mostly specialists and management positions are needed in rural areas. Thus, the level of education of potential employees is high. As the platform aims to provide the best information for each user, it needs to ask questions on the family situation and the location preferences. Therefore, it is important to know, if specialists with higher education are concerned about such private data.

5.2 Results

The survey shows that only 28% of the participants look for a job on their mobile phone. The majority of 63% use a desktop PC for the online search and 9% use a tablet. Therefore, other than one might think, for the process of a job search a desktop PC is still very important.

The location becomes important early in the process of applying. The majority of 62% states that they examine the location when they first read the job advertisement. 32% analyze the company’s location before sending an application. Thus, the location is important even before application.

When taking a closer look at the process of gaining information on the company’s location, the survey shows that the majority uses Google Maps as a source (84%). Thus, Google Maps is the most used website while looking for the location and its surrounding. Furthermore, Wikipedia with 49% and the search engine Google with 45% are used, as well as websites of the city or commune with 37%.

To find out which aspects are important for the career website of a company, participants were asked to rate the statement “I expect data and facts about the company on the career site.” The result show that participants do expect such information (M = 4.46, SD = 0.68). On the contrary, information about the company’s location area is less used on the career website (M = 2.81, SD = 1.16). In general, a company in a city area is preferred (M = 3.48, SD = 1.06) to a rural area (M = 2.50, SD = 0.97). When it comes to transport, the connection to public transport is slightly more important (M = 3.91, SD = 1.08) than a good connection to the highway (M = 3.37, SD = 1.04). Also, the participants appreciate enough available parking spots (M = 3.58, SD = 1.08) (Table 1).

Table 1. Participants’ preferences: mean values and standard deviations (SD):
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With t(103) = 2.14, p < .05 the result supports hypothesis (H1): For persons with children, the location during the application phase is significantly more important (M = 4.36, SD = 0.84) than for persons without children (M = 4.07, SD = 0.88).

Regarding hypothesis H2, the preference to live in rural areas, with t(94) = -0.63, p > .27 there is no significant difference between persons with children (M = 2.94, SD = 1.15) and persons without children (M = 3.05, SD = 1.21).

Regarding hypothesis H3 (Persons with children are more likely to inform themselves about the company’s location right after viewing the job advertisement), with t(110) = 2.41, p < .01 there is a highly significant difference between persons with children (M = 0.75, SD = 0.44) opposed to persons without children (M = 0.58, SD = 0.50). So indeed the parent will focus on location earlier. For this hypothesis, we used a scale from 0 to 1, as we just looked at the early process in the application (“right after viewing the application”).

Regarding hypothesis H4 “The platform makes it easier for persons with children to find a job compared to persons without children”, with t(99) = 2.91, p < .01 there again is a highly significant difference between persons with children (M = 2.16, SD = 0.89) opposed to persons without children (M = 2.57, SD = 0.90): persons with children are somewhat more doubtful regarding the platform.

Finally, regarding hypothesis H5 “The higher the level of education, the lower the willingness to share private data”, with t(104) = 0.16, p > .43 we found that the level of education does not significantly impact the willingness to share private data: the mean result for persons with a university degree is M = 3.96 (SD = 0.65) as opposed to M = 3.98 (SD = 0.73) for persons without a university degree.

6 Conclusion

As pointed out in the introduction, this work aims to identify the needs and wishes of applicants during their decision process as well as the impact of an information platform for companies, which provides specific information for families aiming to relocate into rural areas (FAMIGO). In this conclusion, we summarize and discuss the results of the UX-study and the three significant hypotheses from the survey.

Finding 1: UX-study Confirms Prototype as “Desired”

For applicants with children looking for a new job, the most relevant information are childcare, schools, attractions, trips and information about the area. Overall, an overview of relevant regional information is considered necessary to make a decision. The FAMIGO-prototype was classified as “desired” in the UX-Testing, which means it supports user during the application process. With regard to the hedonic elements, there is room for improvement. Adding new features and exciting content or interaction styles could further increase the users’ motivation, engagement, stimulation and attention. Finally, the information platform is considered “very attractive” by the users.

Finding 2: For Persons with Children, Location Is Especially Important During the Application Phase

Job selection dependents on many factors – but a very important one is the location and region of the company. Especially persons with children must consider several additional factors like availability of childcare institutions, variety of kinder gardens, and quality of schools. It is important to balance children and work. Also, when it comes to location, activities need to be offered for children as well as for parents. In particular, rural areas have to better show their benefits to compensate for the disadvantages in comparison to cities.

Finding 3: Company’s Location Is Already Important at the First Sight of a Job Advertisement

The survey showed that persons with children are significantly more likely to inform themselves about the company’s location at the first view of the job advertisement. This indicates that the platforms branch point needs to be located directly at the job advertisement, in order to offer support at the right time and place. Furthermore, a branch point to the family information platform needs to be included on the career site and the company’s presentation site.

Finding 4: An Information Platform Is Appreciated But Also Looked at More Skeptical by Parents

The platform is rated a helpful tool to find the right place when deciding to relocate for a job. Thus, the overall concept of FAMIGO is supported by the. However, persons with children look significantly more critical at the platform. Thus, the platform should clearly address users with and without children.

Finding 5: A Family-Oriented Information Platform Contributes to the Employer Brand

The platform unites benefits for users as well as for companies. The UX-study showed that a family-oriented information platform, created in the look and feel of a specific company, increased this company’s reputation as an employer: it is perceived as family friendly. Furthermore, the platform is seen as an advantage over competitors.

6.1 Recommendations

The results of this study can have an impact on companies in rural areas. Six recommendations have been derived to address location issues and make rural companies more attractive for families:

Recommendation 1: Bring Needs and Information Together

Applicants from Generation Y, and especially those with children, have distinguished needs for their relocation. The most relevant areas of information are childcare and schools. With a family information platform like FAMIGO, it is possible to bring these needs and information together. Although parents have proved to be more skeptical than persons without children, a working family-friendly information platform is considered a helpful tool for finding a job by persons with and without children.

Recommendation 2: Make the Region Easily Likeable

Identify, what is special about the area, select some of the highlights from different cities and villages, as well as from various categories like child care, schools, sportive activity and events. Communicate this information with up-to-date data, appealing pictures or videos and the contact information particularly for childcare and schools.

Recommendation 3: Communicate About the Region Both at the Carrier Site and on the Job Advertisement

Early during the process of applying for a job, location is a key factor to decide whether to apply or not. The majority of users examine the location when they first read the job advertisement and clearly before sending an application. That is why it is important to present information about the region at the career site and even in the job advertisement to convince more persons to apply for the job.

Recommendation 4: Data and Privacy Matter

Data and privacy play an essential role in the recruiting process. If a family-oriented information platform requests personal data to personalize the results, it is crucial to indicate that the data will not be stored or used for purposes. That said, users of Generation Y are willing to provide such information if the benefits are clearly recognizable.

Recommendation 5: Do Not Concentrate on Mobile Devices Only

Be aware that the majority of applicants, even from Generation Y, still uses desktop PCs when searching for a new job. Thus, when developing a family-oriented information platform, the desktop version is at least as important as the mobile one.

Recommendation 6: Strengthen the Employer Brand

Providing a family-oriented information platform has a positive effect on the employer brand. Potential applicants consider employers providing such a service more innovative, expect a better working atmosphere and most of all they look forward to a more family friendly company. This can be a tremendous advantage for a company in a rural area that has to compete with others located in seemingly more attractive urban locations.

6.2 Limitations and Future Work

Some limitations of the study should be noted. First, the study concentrated on the needs of the generation Y as well as companies in rural areas. Further research may consider extending the study to generation Z or companies within another market. An additional limitation is that the study focused on German users, so the cultural characteristics of other countries could not be considered. Future research could explore the impact of these cultural values on the requirements and acceptance of a family information platform.