Want to Attract More Staff?
TL;DR
There's a talent shortage - you already know this.
It's not going away.
Too many companies still rely on (often very staid) Seek job adverts
Speak with your marketing team to take a marketing approach to your talent attraction:
How to create an "employment brand"
How to be creative in finding talent (beyond Seek ads)
I've included tips and examples for employment branding and job advertising.
Talent Shortages
"A shortage of talent" seems to be on everyone's lips everywhere I go. This definitely isn't a new refrain and the tech sector is still one that's feeling the pinch the most, with 47% of all current job ads being for IT roles (ChristchurchNZ).
It’s also not an issue that is going to go away. At the recent ChristchurchNZ economic briefing, they estimate that by 2050, Christchurch is going to have a shortfall of 50,000 skilled workers.
Rather than re-litigating the reasons or taking away from the many ways that people are already trying to solve this, I want to add something to the mix - how a marketing-led approach can help in one of the burning challenges for businesses.
I hope this post is a conversation starter for you and your team.
Build & communicate an employment brand (are you aware of what it is?)
Think creatively into how you reach potential candidates
We’re A Great Place to Work, We Just Don’t Tell People!
I’m going to make an assumption here - much like many tech organisations who create world-leading products & services, but are not very good at telling prospective customers about them; I wonder if we have a lot of really fabulous organisations that forget to tell the story of what it is like to work in their business?
If you don't actually have a great story - we should talk separately about that!
An employment brand is the image of a company as an employer, and it can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent
If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Always Get What You’ve Always Got
Want to attract more customers staff?
Save Costs
According to the LinkedIn Employer Brand Statistics Report, a good employer brand can reduce turnover rates by 28%and cut costs per hire by half.
It’s getting more competitive
The report also says 55% of recruitment leaders already have a proactive employment brand strategy in place and nearly 60% are investing even more in this space. The talent market is getting more competitive.
I still see many people relying on Seek to promote their vacancies; perhaps with an extra push through LinkedIn. Perhaps this you too?
The job ad is often dryly written & focuses so much on what the tasks of the job are (important), but very little about the culture of the organisation you're asking them to spend their days in.
There’s nothing visually appealing - boring.
This isn't enough.
The Report goes on:
The #1 obstacle candidates experience when searching for a job is not knowing what it’s like to work at an organisation
Candidates trust the company's employees 3x more than the company to provide credible information on what it's like to work there
75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job
52% of candidates look at your website and your social media feeds to learn more about you (only 52%??!)
How does your business stack up?
Have You Talked With The Marketer in Your Life?
You've probably talked with your recruitment "team" i.e. the person in your organisation that deals with recruitment, the external recruitment contractor or agency, or you might be doing it all yourself.
You've gone through the job description, the salary, the benefits you offer and the ways you can promote the role?
How many of you have also talked with your marketer?
That might sound like a bit of a random question, but hear me out!
Your marketing team focuses on customer talent acquisition and converting prospective candidates into valuable customers employees and long-term advocates.
They identify the ideal target customer candidate; ensure the product / service employment brand is well established and positions the company in the marketplace. They identify the key messages that will appeal to the target audience and drive action.
They think about how you are positioned in the market; what your competitors are offering; what your customersemployees want and how to appeal to them in their language; where they are hanging out and where to promote in order to stand out.
They develop a plan and deliver marketing tactics that align with the company employment brand, communicate value and get market cut-through to potential customers employees. They nurture prospects through the buyeremployee-journey, from awareness to consideration, to onboarding and advocacy, as quickly as possible and within their budget!*
*OK I am guessing, that sometimes you're not doing all of this for your marketing activity....but maybe we should talk about that at a later date ;)
And you've got to love this job advert from the Remarkables Sweet Shop as an example!
A Marketing Approach Helps Employment Branding and Talent Attraction
A bit like getting customers, brand-building takes some time, but ultimately will help make your recruitment a little easier, more cost-effective and provide better quality candidates to choose from.
Some Examples
There are lots of examples of great practice already out there, I've dropped a few here to give you some ideas.
Vend
I have always been a fan of how Vend has built their employment brand
They do use a few talking heads in their videos, but they are mixed in well to showcase what it's like to work at Vend, including ping pong and coffee space.
They include photos of people at work in a variety of contexts; talk about awards won, markets they serve and how you can thrive - it sounds like the sort of place you might like to work.
They did a campaign once which included 'wear what you like to work' which was very humorous ("so I wore a banana outfit”) and went a bit viral - sadly the video has been removed so I can’t share it, but if anyone has a link, I’d love to have a copy.
Phocas Software
From an employment branding perspective, my favourite company at the moment is Phocas Software. There are not many photos you see on LinkedIn that include an inflatable unicorn! It would appear there's one in each of their global offices!
They don’t just control social posts from the central team; employees are encouraged to post content on their LinkedIn employee section.
Custom D
CustomD in Christchurch has also been doing a good job in the last year of building its profile, as a fun place to work, as well as for customer attraction - a new office in the CBD, social events & winning awards.
Orbica
When Delphine was the GM at Orbica they did a series of posts about the team - like this one
They have a Work for Us page on their website where they talk about biscuits & fruit - not expensive benefits, but it’s nicely positioned
Jade Software
I like the way Jade Software showcases its perks. I also think it says something about the company's leadership and culture with their focus on decreasing the pay gap. You might argue that this should be a given and that they still have one, but it's interesting to see they are the only company that talks about it and I'm guessing they are not the only organisation that has a pay gap.
