If you’ve spent just a few minutes on the recruiting front lines, you already know how difficult it is to attract top talent these days. And while I'd like to say brighter days are just around the corner, the truth is far more sobering – recruiting is going to stay challenging for the foreseeable future.
That's not to say, of course, that your only option is to throw your hands up in the air and leave it to the recruiting fates. In fact, as I'm about to discuss, showcasing your company culture might just be the secret weapon you've been looking for to start winning the battle for new hires.
First and Foremost: The Importance of Your Company Culture
I’m not going to go on and on about the forces driving the Great Resignation or what tilts this job market so heavily in the candidates' favor. After all, you've probably read more than enough commentary on that subject at this point.
Instead, I'd rather focus on ways to combat those powerful tides. To that point, put yourself in a job seeker's shoes for a moment and try to imagine the qualities and traits that separate the best positions and organizations from the countless also-rans. While compensation and benefits are obviously critical factors, there's a good chance job satisfaction and the overall employee experience came out on top, especially if you happen to be a millennial.
That’s why your company’s work culture and employer brand play such a critical role in your ability to attract, hire, and retain top talent. Simply put, the days of tolerating a substandard work environment and lousy company values for a decent paycheck are behind us. Today, things like a sense of fulfillment, personal and professional development, and overall engagement with an organization and coworkers have the greatest impact on employment.
So what is the common denominator joining these essential qualities and traits at the hip? You guessed it – your corporate culture. Put another way, the better you are able to showcase the culture you've worked so hard to develop and grow, the more sway it will have in a candidate's eyes. That is, assuming you're able to leverage your culture across your recruiting strategy. So on that note, let’s see how you can use your culture to drive recruiting.
1. Video Content Puts a Flattering Spotlight on Your Culture
I thought it best to start with the most obvious point. As we've discussed here at OneDay time and again, video is the most engaging, needle-moving content format you have at your disposal. Yes, informative copy and immersive photography are important, but neither hold a candle to the power video has in capturing your audience's attention.
Therefore, it just makes sense to use this potent tool to shed the most flattering light possible on your company culture. Once again, your culture is the ultimate difference-maker, a true competitive advantage in recruiting if you're able to bottle that magic into compelling video content. Fortunately, we have some ideas to help you on that front as well.
2. Share Employee-Created Content on Social Media
People want to feel like they belong. That they are working for a greater good, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and their perspective counts in a significant, meaningful way. Thus, letting your people create and share content focusing on your organization, their position and coworkers, and your work environment is essential in helping recruits picture themselves thriving in your community.
Further, given the absolute power of social media in today's world, sharing that employee-created content across your social media platforms gives candidates a direct and open window into your culture. To that point, it's hard to think of a more impactful way to convey what it's really like to work in your community.
3. Focus on Employee Recognition
A sense of appreciation goes hand-in-hand with an employee feeling like they belong in your community and workplace. Something like employee recognition, as obvious as it might seem at first glance, flies under the radar at too many communities these days. And when it does, leadership is foregoing what could otherwise be a powerful competitive edge in recruiting.
Suffice it to say, focusing on employee recognition – ideally through quick-hitting, emotion-driving video content – is another great way to provide a window into your company culture and workplace. When recruits see that you value your people and team building, taking the time to recognize their successes and milestones, both personally and professionally, a few simple but heartfelt employee spotlights for a job well-done will automatically distinguish your community from others.
4. Highlight Special Activities and Events
Last but not least, there's something to be said for a workplace that strives to be unique, fun, and even exciting for its people. Suffice it to say, by highlighting the special activities and events you hold in your community for your team members and residents, you are simultaneously flashing a giant neon sign that illuminates your company culture and core values to prospective employees.
Once again, think about a potential candidate scrolling through countless job descriptions, most of which look nearly identical at a passing glance. However, your posting – the one with the neon sign – sticks out like a sore thumb, just in the best possible way.
For example, if you embed a video highlighting those activities and events – and your culture, by proxy – in a job posting or even in a recruiting email campaign, you're leveraging the best, most attractive parts of your community. Needless to say, that's yet another powerful advantage for you.
Sure, this might seem a bit foreign if your human resources team or hiring manager haven't yet integrated video into your hiring process or talent acquisition strategy. However, I assure you that practice quickly makes perfect. And as always, OneDay will be here providing the insights and tools you need to transform your company culture into a genuine game-changer for your recruiting.