Recently I called a new client who had been unsuccessful recruiting on their own, to delve a little deeper into their recruitment problems. The role that they were looking to fill was not anything out of the ordinary, but their industry does have issues with skill shortages. I wanted to ask the client ‘what are your key selling points for any candidate?’. Given that candidates can pick and choose from jobs in this industry, why would they choose you?
The client had to stop and contemplate the question and at first, was unable to really verbalise their key selling proposition. However, we worked together to think deeply about the business and what made it a great place to work.
At first the ideas were silted but the more we explored the business, the more concepts became apparent. By the end of our process, I had a really great idea of what made this particular business unique, the business owner was much more aware of exactly what he had to offer and we were able to use this strategy to recruit candidates who were very keen to be a part of the offering of this particular business.
Another time when asking a client, the same question, the only thing this client could think of was that they had really great coffee!
Selling your business as a choice place to work has a huge effect on your recruitment outcomes. At the very lowest level, organisations can look at increasing incentives, base wage levels, training and development and of course great internal culture (Rynes and Barber 1990).
Your EVP refers to ‘Employment Value Proposition’, which is a long-term strategy that assists businesses to attract staff. A strong EVP positions the organisation in the minds of future candidates as an employer of choice. To locate EVP, candidates may view your Website, LinkedIn and Facebook pages as well as generally Googling to see in what way your business is mentioned online. Of course they also talk to others – don’t forget word-of-mouth!
EVP is all about building a greater brand to attract applicants to the organisation. Think of being more visual and using images of your staff, involved not only in work activities, but after work activities. Build a strong and functional culture in your office. Research has shown that ‘Fun’ cultures like Google actually do have strong impact on staff attraction.
Michael Tews et al (2012) found that fun workplaces were a greater attraction to job seekers than either pay or opportunities for promotion – now that’s food for thought!
Moreover, Mesmer-Magnus et al (2012) reviewed past research that studied 8532 subjects and found that employee humour was associated with enhanced work performance, job satisfaction, workgroup cohesion and health, satisfaction with supervisor and reduce burnout and withdrawal. Who wouldn’t want to work in an environment where enhanced work performance, job satisfaction, workgroup cohesion and health was on the rise!
It does not matter how big or small your workplace may be, developing your EVP does not need to be costly or hard. Start thinking creatively about what makes your place a great place to work, and then communicate that to the marketplace.
At CIRCLE Recruitment & HR you may be lucky enough to come and visit us on ‘Slipper Day’ or ‘Crazy Hat Day’ or one of our cultural lunches! Keep your staff happy, positive and upbeat – they will tell others how good it is at work.
Contact CIRCLE Recruitment & HR if you need assistance in creating your EVP. And now that we know how important humour is in a workplace…. Why does a nurse carry a red pen…. in case they need to draw blood.
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