Aligning aspirations: 2022’s war for talent

Aligning digital content to candidates’ aspirations: A quick case study

We recently had a client who recognised the need to keep on improving and they wanted to add some extra TLC when it came to recruiting staff. We’d been working with this client to improve the recruitment section of their website but believed a workshop would help our client, and us, nail down the direction and refine the goals.

Inputs

Two groups of participants. The first the recruiting team and the second new recruits (aka ideal candidates) from six weeks to nine months.

Five fast-paced 45 minute workshops using online video conferencing, break-out rooms and virtual whiteboards.

The sessions were slide free in favour of a more grass roots approach to figuring out our client’s main goal: getting down to the nitty gritty of what really lures potential recruits to choose one company over another. For the first session, we pulled in our client’s recruiters and human resource team to let them vent about what didn’t and to celebrate what did work. In a roundtable discussion with the assistance of some virtual whiteboards to quickly capture their thoughts and ideas, we found out what trends they were seeing, what kind of recruits stood out for them and who their traditional and non-traditional competitors were. Being able to see it all written out in front of them got everyone thinking.

For the next sessions, we wanted to get everyone thinking bigger and providing feedback that was more than politesse and platitudes. We asked the new recruits to think about their recent employment as a stepping stone and asked them to share where they wanted to go after this in terms of their career goals and what they wanted to achieve before they retired — needless to say, our silent observers (the recruiters) nearly fell off their chairs!

It worked and the results were insightful. Trust was quickly established and we encouraged candour in the recruits. Each spoke about what initially attracted them to our client’s business, what proved true once they started; and what surprises had popped up along the way.

Participants told us they wanted to work in and feel connected to a great team; have societal impact; and work in a place with start-up like vibes. That is: value alignment, proactive efforts to support team culture, proof and connection to sustainability and a workplace that isn’t just hybrid friendly but flexible, fun and building towards something. This in turn allowed us to identify ways to better align the recruitment experience from job advertisements, to website, application process and supporting materials to what great candidates were looking for.

The end result: 10% increase in reach and a 50% increase in applications.

Tidbits and takeaways

1. Engage stakeholders in deep and meaningful conversations — even if the end outcome is simply validating what you already have.

2. Map out and review the candidate’s entire recruitment and onboarding experience and work out where you can make it faster and more engaging.

3. You probably don’t need a whole new website. You just need to realign and refresh what you have.