How To Attract Better Candidates And Build Lasting Loyalty
Proof that there’s a more profound way to hire and keep great talent.
People are attracted to value, and they like what they value. From handbags to hamburgers, brands that achieve position in the minds of their customers and maintain that position, outperform their competition and win the market. Brand positionality is important. With reach, well positioned brands can be hugely influential on buying decisions. This is no different, or shouldn’t be, when you look to recruit and retain the best executive and professional candidates for your organization.
This isn’t just a guess or theoretical, I know. Because this is how we have changed the game in recruiting over the last two years of applying modern marketing and brand strategy techniques to the recruiting process. Our clients get the positionality and reach they need to attract more and better candidates in ways they had never done before. In the process, we also position our clients for new business opportunities, done through the hiring and retention lens. The value we add to the process also includes helping clients monetize their intellectual property and content. This holistic view of hiring and retention adds exponential value to the recruiting function of your business; instead of looking at it as a silo among other department silos, we see the true value of recruiting as adding to your brand, your strength in the market, and adding huge momentum to your business or product marketing. By involving your brand in the story of your people, you’ll be able to see quickly that how you advertise for people is your culture. It is your opportunity to advertise to the world who exactly you are, why you are better and different, and what your mission is beyond the functional.
Many companies sell functional things, from oil and gas to transporting goods. So, you might believe, if you’ve been successful without paying attention to your brand, that all you need to do is go out and find some good functioning people. We say, based on evidence, imagine how much value and opportunity you are missing out on by not leveraging your brand in pursuit of finding the best fits for your organization? Not leveraging your brand in market across your recruiting efforts, means you are missing out on identifying those you really want to reach, the great mass of those not in the job market actively looking for a job. However, using your brand and modern marketing and distribution tactics will both help you reach the out-of-market candidates with something that engages them, while also giving you the analytics behind your recruiting campaigns to inform your own brand.
Research has shown for years that the most valued asset you own is the idea of your brand in the mind of the market. If candidates are largely unaware of you, they might not care if you are company A or B and will be looking themselves at more functional criteria, like salary, vacation days, and benefits. But, put your brand into the mix in a powerful, evocative, and meaningful way, and you have more power in the conversation with the candidate, who will now have a way to differentiate you from the mass of others like you in your market. They might be more inclined to come for the culture and not just for the money. And right there you have a candidate more likely to stay with you through thick and thin because you’ve made them believe.
Think about that the next time you choose your gas station, buy that purse, or order a Big Mac. Ask yourself where your brand preferences come from, because we all have them. And apply the same strategies to your branded recruiting efforts. You will be more successful than if you don’t.
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