VersantWorks

Don’t Be Boring and Other Advice for Effective Campus Recruitment Marketing

Imagine this, a senior in college walks through a campus career fair and encounters the following messages from employers:

• Join [insert company name] and contribute to our growing success. 
• [Insert company name] offers exciting career opportunities for college graduates. 
• Begin your career at [insert company name], the leading provider of [insert anything]. 

What will this student do? Probably keep walking. So if your campus recruitment marketing is this boring, you better have a cool factor that competes with Google or Apple, otherwise you’re in for a challenge. To be successful in this highly competitive campus recruiting environment, you must identify what makes your employment experience unique and craft your messages in a way that will resonate with this generation (Millennials).

Does your company give back to the local community? Are you recruiting for positions that require travel? Does your campus recruiter have a Facebook page? Be creative and sell what makes you unique. We’re not looking for poetry here, just something a little more interesting like:

• How does paid time off for community service sound? Learn how you can make a difference at [insert company name]. 
• At [insert company name], our culture is driven by teamwork, flexibility and innovation. Connect with us on our Facebook page to learn more. 
• Like to travel? Careers at [insert company name] offer opportunities to see new places and meet new people. 

If you don’t know what your selling points are, or if you’re unsure how to craft your messages, invest in the resources to find out. Of course if you have nothing unique to offer college students, then you have something larger than a communications problem.

- Korre Johnson

Quick Pulse Survey: Millennials and Work

Last month, our VersantWorks team conducted a Quick Pulse survey of 100 college juniors, seniors and recent graduates to obtain their perceptions on work. Why? Because the increasing number of Millennials (born since 1978) joining the workforce is making a significant impact, compelling employers to adapt their recruiting and retention strategies to successfully integrate and engage this generation at work.

Click here to download a PDF summarizing the results of our Millennial Quick Pulse survey.

Here are a few highlights from our findings:

• Pay/promotions was the most frequent response when asked what they look forward to in their careers
• Enjoyment/satisfaction was the most frequent response when asked what they most want from a job
• Necessary was the highest response when asked to finish this statement, “Work is ____.”

Findings from our ongoing research will be used to help VersantWorks and our clients better understand how to attract, connect and engage employees across a multigenerational workplace. For more information, visit: www.versantworks.com/generations

- Korre Johnson

The Growing Impact of Visual Communication on the Workplace

Statistics abound about the growing number of people who simply no longer read. According to the National Assessment of Education, the proportion of 17-year-olds who read for enjoyment “almost every day” fell from 31 percent to 22 percent between 1984 and 2004. Meanwhile, television viewing continues to rise about three percent a year, and 87 percent of kids aged 8 to 17 have a video game player in their home.

Add to that the three hours and 43 minutes per day that the average American spends online, a growing amount of which is interacting with multimedia, and it is no wonder that reading is on the decline. We just don’t make the time in our hectic lives.

Our emerging visual culture has a wide-ranging impact on both recruitment and internal communications. How do we attract and engage the best and brightest talent in a world dominated by colorful screens and dynamic social networks? And, as critically, how do we best connect to multiple generations of workers who are adapting to this shift in communication culture at various rates?

There is no simple answer to this challenge. But there are a few key steps we can keep in mind:

·         Ensure all recruitment and internal communication, written and visual, aligns with and supports your brand and that it provides the purpose and direction needed to drive the action you desire.

·         Identify and keep top-of-mind the various audiences you must communicate with. Take an integrated approach that includes both written and visual channels to reach out to these diverse audiences with messaging that resonates with them.

·         Look for opportunities to take advantage of Web-based video and multimedia in your communication efforts. The days of the stodgy, yet high-priced, corporate video are gone. The opportunity to re-use and recycle digital video and graphic components across multiple efforts drives both efficiency and effectiveness.

·         Devote time to ongoing learning in the area of new media and digital communication. Connecting to the workforce of the future will require mastery of the emerging multimedia storytelling of today.

For additional information, check out our Executive Brief “Aligning a Multi-

Generational Workforce With Your Business Goals” to get our take on the new American workforce.

Job Boards: National vs. Local

You may have wondered if posting your job ad on a national job board is more effective than posting on a local job board. The thing to understand is that the relative strengths of local and national job boards vary by geographic market. Some markets have no local job boards and others have very strong ones. If you do a little media research and ask around, you will find out who the major players are in any given geographic market.

If you have a strong local job board competing in your city, you’re probably familiar with their billboards, television commercials and radio ads. You may have even met their sales reps at local HR conferences and job fairs. All this strengthens their local brands, builds their base of local job-seeker traffic and helps differentiate them from the national job boards who can’t match this local attention. To compete and become more “local”, the national job boards have been partnering with local newspapers (CareerBuilder is known for this, but Monster and HotJobs are following suit). Visit the jobs section of your local newspaper’s Web site and see what I mean.

I’ve found the national job boards typically sell themselves to employers by quoting the size of their job-seeker traffic. Bigger is better in their world. Alternatively, local job boards sell themselves by saying they attract primarily local job seekers (that way you won’t get all those resumes from Los Angeles to fill a position in Boston). As you know, sorting through hundreds of out-of-state resumes is a hassle, and most often quality trumps quantity anyway.

The only way to categorically tell if a national or local job board recruiting strategy is better or worse for a particular job in a particular geographic market is to conduct a test. Post the exact same job on both and compare results. Online postings are relatively inexpensive (compared to newspaper ads) so it’s worth the investment. As part of your test, be sure to look closely at your ATS and interview process to ensure you’re accurately tracking how candidates hear of your open positions. For what it’s worth, I’ve found that national job boards typically cost more than local job boards (CareerBuilder has to pay for those Super Bowl commercials somehow). For example, in Milwaukee a 60-day single job posting on MilwaukeeJobs.com is $275, while a similar posting on Monster is running over 43 percent higher at $395.

Good luck with your recruitment marketing and let me know how your test turns out.

- Korre Johnson

Were you at the ERE Expo in D.C.?

The Fall 2007 ERE Expo bills itself as the "the industry's leading conference on recruiting and talent  management," and for good reason. The level and quality of speakers contributing to this fall’s conference in Washington D.C. has been very impressive.

I particularly enjoyed listening to Cara Beck from Starbucks describe the success of their internal (employee only) career Web site. What makes it so unique? As Cara explains it, Starbucks employees are able to connect and communicate with other employees across the organization through searchable profiles they've created (imagine something along the lines of MySpace or Facebook). By fostering and promoting this employee network, Starbucks recruiters are able to more proactively build and leverage internal talent pipelines. According to Cara, designated hosts create online groups which include features such as blogs, forums and events, all aligned with functional areas in the company.

How does that compare to your company's internal career site?

Do you think it also has a positive impact on employee engagement at Starbucks? (I do.)

- Korre Johnson

Repeat After Me: My HR Responsibilities Include Marketing.

I am in La Crosse, Wisconsin today attending the 21st Annual Wisconsin State Society for Human Resource Management Conference. The tone of many of the learning sessions I have attended so far amplifies a theme that HR professionals are becoming more and more empowered to drive measurable business results.

Dr. Mahesh Subramony led a great learning session where he provided a review of the mounting research that links employee engagement to customer satisfaction. While there are many dimensions to this correlation, I was excited to hear him reinforce how important it is for HR professionals to implement the principles of marketing into their job responsibilities.

Maybe it’s because the conference has an Oktoberfest theme this year (think beer), but I have noticed a great sense of community among all the attendees. I am already looking forward to next year.

- Korre Johnson

Majoring in Technology

The leaves are beginning to change, football season is underway (the Green Bay Packers are undefeated!) and campus recruiting is in full swing. Campus recruiting has changed a lot since I graduated many years ago — this year’s most innovative recruitment strategies wisely leverage the media this generation uses every day: video, Internet and music.

To reach and connect with the right graduates, campus recruiting programs should embrace technology to take advantage of the new cost-effective media available. For example, electronic brochures can be customized for candidates by campus. Flash technology can be used to highlight career opportunities and corporate culture, using videos featuring employees. Deloitte has taken a unique spin on technology and is using employee-generated short films to showcase the firm’s culture and appeal to Gen Y recruits.

These approaches offer candidates an interactive experience featuring case studies and day-in-the-life interviews, presented in an engaging way. The technology also allows you to use your investment in many ways — on your Web site, for campus recruiting events and as content in follow-up e-mails. You can even put your brochure on a jump drive or mini-CD to drive candidates to your career Web site.

To effectively reach Gen Y graduates, technology needs to be incorporated into your campus recruiting plan to attract the best and brightest students. Keep in mind that they are shaped by their times and as such, are confident, hopeful, achievement-oriented, civic-minded and inclusive. They have a need to be connected. In order to reach them, you will need to connect with them. Using media like the Internet and videos allows you to establish frequent, high-quality and relevant interactions with target candidates. It also helps bring your organization to life before you ever get to campus, and ensures that your presence is a memorable one.

Your People Are Your Brand

We’ve all heard it a thousand times, but it’s something we can’t hear enough — employees are the most important part of an organization’s brand. They are the face, the voice and the living, breathing purveyors of a company’s message.

A company can spend millions of dollars on advertising to create top-of-mind awareness, build the world’s greatest Web site and promise to offer the best products known to man, but if the employees don’t deliver on the promise made in the advertising, the brand is doomed.

Here’s an example: I was recently at my now former favorite sub restaurant that I initially visited because of their very creative, high-quality advertising. They do a nice job of creating top-of-mind awareness and promoting a quality product. As I was ordering I noticed a fly on the bread. Now, I realize that the occasional fly is going to find their way in and land in a not-so-appetizing spot. No big deal, a fly can’t eat much anyway. What turned me off was the employee’s response to the fact that I had noticed the fly. When I asked if I could have new, non-fly infested bread, she gave me a frustrated look and said, “What’s the big deal. It’s just a fly?” True, it was just a fly, but the combination of the harmless insect and the not-so-harmless attitude made me instantly lose my appetite. I told her I wasn’t hungry anymore and walked away.

This one person has tainted my view of this very large corporation. If she only knew the power she had. Now, I take my hankering for subs to the friendlier place down the street.

Luckily for the consumer, for every negative experience there are usually several positive ones.

Another example comes from when I recently purchased a new car. The sales person was extremely helpful, not pushy and listened to my needs. I drove away from that dealership confident that I had made the right decision. Not only did this employee leave a positive impression of his dealership’s brand, he also effectively communicated the brand of the vehicle manufacturer. I now recommend this dealership to friends and colleagues and sing the praises of my new Mazda. It’s a job well done by a living, breathing purveyor of his company’s brand.

The moral of this blog is that employees are the most effective, essential communicators of your brand. Make sure your internal brand is as strong as your consumer brand and that employees understand and are aligned to both. Once you have that, you can incorporate them into your marketing campaigns. Put them on the radio, show their faces and bring your Web site to life with video testimonials that tell their compelling stories. Share the human side of your brand. Who better to deliver a message than someone who lives it and believes in it?

Employer Branding, Recruitment Marketing and the 2008 Presidential Campaign

Have you visited any of the current presidential candidates’ Web sites? Anyone involved in recruiting should pay attention as these sites provide great examples of how to apply Web 2.0 thinking to employer branding and recruitment marketing. Here are just a few examples:

www.barackobama.com – Visit the Obama Mobile section of Barack Obama’s site and you will find an emerging media channel being used to capture and retain attention. How do your campus recruiters stay in touch with students? Do you think text messaging would help break through the clutter and encourage them to participate in your next on-campus recruiting event?

www.joinrudy2008.com – Take a look at the video embedded in the header of Rudy’s Story. Here, Rudy Giuliani talks about his promise to voters and his core beliefs. What communication channels do you use to communicate your brand promise and values to job seekers? Would video of employee testimonials help provide job seekers with insight into your unique organizational culture?

www.hillaryclinton.com – You will notice on Hillary Clinton’s site a number of icons linking to social networking sites. Her MySpace page proudly boasts friends such as “Latinos for Hillary”, “GLBT for Hillary” and “Hillary Rocks 2008”. How can your employer brand take shape in this social networking environment? Would the benefits outweigh the risks?

www.brownback.com – Check out The Daily Brownbacker blog section on Sam Brownback’s site. Blogs engage users and encourage repeat visitors since people expect to see fresh content when they return later. Think about your career Web site – after a job seeker applies for a position is there any reason to return? Do you think blog posts from select employees (representing your hard-to-fill positions) could reinforce your recruitment marketing efforts?

You can learn a lot from how these presidential candidates invest their marketing dollars. Over time, I expect to see more and more employers take similar steps toward investing their employer branding and recruitment marketing dollars into Web 2.0 strategies.

- Korre Johnson

Millennials and the Workforce: Get Connected

To successfully connect with Millennials, employers need to tailor their recruitment marketing efforts to speak their language. Here at VersantWorks, that’s what we do. We help our clients customize recruitment messages to specific audiences such as this one. We encourage our clients to recognize certain traits Millennials possess so they can most effectively reach this audience. Per our research, here are some key facts about Millenials to keep in mind for your recruitment efforts:

• Millennials view their career as an opportunity to contribute to a greater good.
• Their ideas and solutions are often technology-oriented.
• They have a strong sense of social responsibility and seek out employers who give back to the community.
• Millennials do not define themselves by their jobs; they want to do excellent work, but their life is not about their work. Work-life balance is very important to them.
• They want to be connected and know how they fit into the bigger picture. They are team-oriented.

So, what does all of this mean? To the extent that your company can deliver on these promises, at VersantWorks we recommend you communicate the following messages to this audience:

• Your company empowers employees and allows them to make an impact.
• Employees have the opportunity to use cutting edge technology and advance their skill sets.
• Your company is socially responsible, contributes to charity and gives back to your community.
• Work-life balance is recognized and encouraged within your organization.
• There are opportunities for employees to collaborate in teams and to connect through outside-of-work activities.

For more information on Millennials and the dynamics of the multi-generational workforce, read our executive brief Aligning A Multi-Generational Workforce With Your Business Goals on this topic. Good luck with your recruitment efforts!

An Effective Employer Brand Leads to Recruiting Success

Last week, VersantWorks had the opportunity to share our experiences helping clients with employer branding and recruitment marketing at the annual MRA HR Conference in Milwaukee. During a breakout session, Versant CEO Will Ruch led a discussion titled An Effective Employer Brand Leads to Recruiting Success.

Our takeaway from this event is that there is still a way to go before the concept of employer branding is widely recognized and understood in the HR community. At the risk of oversimplifying things, we could describe employer branding as merely applying the principles of traditional product branding to the employment experience. Think about it...what steps is your marketing department taking to attract and retain customers? Now compare that to the steps your human resource department is taking to attract and retain best-fit employees.

Leading organizations understand this relationship and are making strategic investments in branding the unique employment experiences they offer. Is your organization making this investment?

- Korre Johnson

Strengthen Your Employer Brand with Job Posting Templates

These days, it is common for employers to use job boards such as Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs to recruit candidates online. What is also common, unfortunately, is that most job postings look alike. When you visit these job boards, you will notice that most postings do not stand apart from one another. They tend to be text heavy and fit a cookie-cutter mold.

In helping our clients negotiate job board contracts, we have noticed that job boards are finally stepping up and offering employers a solution to this problem—job posting templates. As an employer, you want your online job postings to be attention grabbing and convey the culture of your organization. Job posting templates accomplish this and effectively ensure that your postings reinforce your employer brand.

At VersantWorks, we encourage our clients to use job posting templates as a key element of their online recruiting strategy. Take a look at a job posting template we created for The Thomson Corporation. This example on Monster effectively sets Thomson apart from a multitude of other employers vying for candidates’ attention.

Investing in this type of feature will position you to receive increased visibility, credibility and greater brand recognition. In planning your online recruiting strategy, consider job posting templates a strategic solution to increase
your ROI.