Enexis made recruitment more effective by activating the right employee networks

About Enexis Netbeheer

Enexis Netbeheer represents one of the six grid operators in the Netherlands. The main task of this company is to install, monitor, and maintain the gas and electricity network in the Netherlands. Additionally, Enexis Netbeheer plays a crucial role in transporting energy facilitating the transportation of electricity and gas from solar parks and windmills to homes and businesses.

‍

Challenge

For Enexis, the challenge was to become even more visible to potential employees, strengthen the employer brand, and recruit new candidates. To achieve this, they sought a way to increase their organic visibility and recruit new candidates through the channels and networks of colleagues. The difficulty was to find a scalable approach.

‍

Previously, they sent an ad hoc email to employees asking them to post a video on their social media channels. "Nine out of ten times, that email was sent by a team leader, but there was little to no response," said Erik van ‘t Wout, Recruitment (Marketing) Engineer at Enexis Netbeheer. The additional steps employees had to take, such as saving the photo and typing a message, were a significant barrier. The communication department did post on social media, but only on the company pages. "It is widely known that following a company channel, which is not a person, is less enjoyable," Erik said. "This got me thinking: how can I introduce something within the organization so that employees can easily share fun content, such as videos and photos about Enexis and job vacancies at Werken bij Enexis?"

‍

Approach

With these challenges in mind, Enexis Netbeheer started using Apostle in early 2022. "If you want colleagues to share posts about the organization, you have to make it as easy as possible," said Erik. Various colleagues from across the country were gradually added to the Apostle platform and onboarded with kick-offs on advice and under the guidance of Apostle.

‍

A strong focus was placed on recruitment, including employer branding, hiring technicians, promoting open days, traineeships, and more. "I have a strong network on my social media channels, but for the target audience we are looking for in our job openings, my colleagues in those roles have a much more specific network," Erik explained. Therefore, technicians and supervisors were explicitly asked to provide compelling content from projects and post it via Apostle to fill job vacancies.

‍

Two communication professionals are currently dedicated to creating posts in Apostle, and the content strategy is taking shape. With hiring a recruitment marketer and expansion plans for the coming year, Enexis sees the professionalization of the Apostle process. The goal is to better reach and recruit the target audience of Enexis, with a significant portion of 5000 employees. 

‍

Results

Since using Apostle, employees have shared much more content about Enexis on social media. Why? "Because sharing has become very easy," Erik explained. "Due to colleagues sharing more posts, the online reach has grown." With 125 employees, they have reached at least 429,000 people. With a relatively small group of brand ambassadors, Enexis is making a significant impact! As a result, Enexis has become much more visible to potential employees, and the employer brand has received a boost.

‍

Collaboration

"What I find powerful about Apostle is that it's simple. You can make it big and complex, but you don't. The personal contact is quick, high-quality, helpful, and easy-going. Your organization has little staff turnover, so I’m constantly in contact with the same people. I find this very pleasant," Erik noted.