- Recognise your organisation is a supplier.
- Employees are customers.
- The two simple statements above represent a fundamental consideration. Ignore it or reverse it at your peril. The recession has meant that there are a number of somewhat arrogant employers who believe they are doing their employees a favour employing them. The employer - typically the directors and the culture which they have created- regards itself as the customer, and the employees as the suppliers. This is a sure-fire tactic for the retention and recruitment of the dissatisfied and disengaged.
- Employment/a career with your organisation (essentially the job or role) equates to the product. Think what damage a demotivated employee could cause in your local travel-to-work area, negatively influencing friends and family.
- Potential applicants of the future - your ideal new employees - are your customers, prior to which they are your target market or target audience. Become or remain an employer of choice rather than being an employer of last resort.
- The channel(s) or method(s) by which you reach your target audience is/are your route(s) to market. (For example, routes to your target market of potential employees would include employee referral schemes, social networking websites, job boards, head-hunters and employment agencies, newspaper or trade magazine adverts, job fairs, industry exhibitions, school/college/university events, etc.)
- The employment opportunity is your product offering, within which your organisation is a vital component (in other words, it doesn't matter how good the job is, if the organisation has a tarnished employer brand, or is perceived as such, then the job opportunity will probably be irretrievably tainted).
- The product offering (job opportunity) must contain at least one and ideally a number of USPs (Unique Selling Points) or there is little reason for good people to be interested in working for your organisation compared to competing opportunities with other employers. This is not always around money; it could be learning & development opportunities, flexible working, career advancement, geographic location, work-life balance and/or green and sustainability initiatives. Ideally your organisation should be so attractive that the organisation itself is one of the USPs of the job. USPs must be considered from the perspective of the customer, not the supplier. USPs effectively defines the type of customers attracted to the product.
- The way(s) in which the employment opportunity (product offering) is communicated to the target audience/market equates to your advertising. Spelling mistakes say “don’t apply here if you are a high-performer…we’re not a professional organisation”.
- If you do not know what your USPs are then you need to research what they are (assuming you have one or two...) by asking your best staff why they continue to work for you so diligently and loyally. We have encountered a number of employers in the last few months that do complete exit interviews but neglect to ask current staff “why are you still here?”
