Your recruitment elevator pitch

According to McCrindle, a large Social Research organisation, the Australian national average in job tenure is:

  • 3 years and 4 months, based on voluntary turnover of around 15% per annum.

Because of this high rate of job change in today’s market, quality recruitment and retention strategies make up some of the most important things a company can focus on.

Last week we discussed why your business exists and how to define a purpose.

This laid the groundwork for developing a strong employer brand.

Now we’ll move on to talking about developing a positive message around why people should work for you.

In other words;

  • Why would someone enjoy working at your company?
  • What sets you apart from other employers in your industry?

When companies don’t have a well-defined vision for why someone should work for them, they lose candidates and miss out on recruiting top talent.

On the flip side, I’ve seen companies who know exceptionally well what they offer to employees – and they know how to talk about it.

Their leaders and recruiters can sum up what they offer to prospective employees in just a few sentences.

Your recruitment elevator pitch

Can you draw attention to the best parts of your business, in just a few words?

Candidates are drawn to these organisations because they know what is being offered – and they want to be a part of it.

And no matter how big or how small your company is, there has to be something special about what you offer to employees.

There’s a whole range of perks you might provide:

  • Excellent compensation and benefit packages
  • Career development opportunities
  • A fun, light-hearted work culture
  • Flexible employee schedules
  • Employee training and career coaching
  • Ability to work from home
  • Close knit work teams
  • Openness to innovation and creativity
  • Comfortable, modern work furniture
  • Quarterly staff parties

And this list just scratches the surface of what you can offer your employees (even without a huge budget).

Take some time to think about the perks of working at your company. Write down everything that comes to mind, no matter how small it is.

In addition to these “benefit-type” items, there are integral ways your business and teams interact on a daily basis. Some may refer to this as culture.

The role culture plays in recruitment

In a recent Entrepreneur article, Greg Besner writes, “Employees are looking at company values, meaning, community, and culture. It’s clear that in order to attract, retain and engage the modern workforce, we need to focus on company culture.”

Your company culture dictates:

  • How managers and staff communicate
  • How problems are approached and resolved
  • The level of communication within the organisation
  • The friendliness and warmth that can be felt
  • The level of employee support offered
  • If employees recommend working at the company
  • And more

Employees see through the behavioural aspects of working in the company to perceive how well aligned your actions are to your purpose.

Now, more than ever, people are seeking meaning in their work.

Consider how you can align the big ‘WHY’ your company existing to the personal passions and causes that get your ideal new recruits out of bed in the morning.

5 questions to hone your recruitment elevator pitch

Ask yourself these 5 questions:

  1. What three words describe our work environment?
  2. What benefits or perks are offered to employees?
  3. Why should someone choose to work for us?
  4. What are my favourite things about working at our company?
  5. What exciting things or projects are you and the team working on at the moment?

You can even formally or informally survey your employees to see what they enjoy most about working for you. Sometimes, they’ll notice new things that aren’t obvious from your vantage point.

Summarise the notes you took from these exercises and put together a few sentences about why someone would want to work for you.

To define your employer brand even further, I’ve put together this month’s download, the ‘Defining Your Employer Brand Worksheet’.

Your employer brand impacts employee engagement, retention, recruitment – and of course, your bottom line.

In other words, it’s important stuff.

Any questions?

If you have questions on this topic or any others, feel free to reach me by email or set up a free one-on-one consultation session, or drop me a comment below.

Thank you!