We don’t often post infographics, but I did like this one that Chris Landry from Colourfast sent to me, so I thought I’d share it.
Chris says “There is a lot more to logo designs than meets the eye. The colour, font, and shape of a business logo have certain associations that influence how a customer perceives your business…the importance of choosing an appropriate logo for your business becomes all the more important.”
The application process is often the neglected Cinderella of the recruiting journey, so it’s no surprise it’s a common source of job seeker dissatisfaction. If a company wants to beat their rivals to recruit the best, the one thing to avoid is frustrating applicants when they try to apply. There’s one sector that’s pioneering an innovative and customer focused approach to the Cinderella of the recruiting process. And it might not be one you expect.
We’ve recently been looking at how universities reach out and help potential students, and we think they offer some fantastic lessons for corporates. The best way to show this is to share the story of one real-life student who, for the purpose of this blog, we’ll call Sally.
Sally is a student with impressive grades who’s looking for a university place in 2014. At first glance, the journey from school to undergraduate doesn’t look that different to how it’s always been, with open days to attend and application forms to complete. But although the process may look like it hasn’t changed much, intense competition for students has prompted many universities to raise their game in one key area. And that’s how universities engage with potential undergraduates.
From initial expression of interest, right through to the final decision on her application and beyond, the universities Sally contacts respond with personalised emails and SMS that engage, remind, and offer additional help. The same customer-focused approach is applied again, at Open Days, this time in person. Sally is also offered the chance to provide feedback on her experience as her application progresses, through surveys and quizzes. A feedback quiz performs several functions here. Hopefully it’s a fun way of engaging students to begin with, while also conveying a strong “We listen” message from the university. And it’s also a good way of gathering data on how well the application process is working in the target market.
The personalised communications strategy doesn’t end when Sally receives her first offer of a place at university. Remember, Sally is a student with impressive grades, and she soon has more than one offer on the table to choose from. The universities she’s applied to seem to be well aware of this. Their offer communications are also personalised and designed to engage (One simply says: “Sally – Yes!), and are accompanied by additional material on scholarships and accommodation. And if that wasn’t enough, Sally gets information on student acceptance and rejection statistics as well. Put all these personalised communications together, and there’s an obvious core message here that says: “We think you’d a great asset to have at our university, so choose our offer!”
The University of Aberdeen wasn’t one of the institutions that Sally contacted, however it does provide another great example of innovative and personalised candidate outreach. If you’d like to out what life at Aberdeen might be like, just try out their personalised video form. Don’t worry – it still works if, like me, your own undergraduate days are long distant!
Of course some people will say that there’s a difference between student outreach and candidate hiring. And they’re right. At the same time however, it’s obvious that there are strong parallels here, with academia and business both competing hard in their respective sectors to seek out and recruit the best.
We’ve only touched on a few selected aspects of how universities “recruit” in this blog, but we’re convinced the university approach offers some important lessons for online corporate recruitment.
“Our employees are our greatest asset.”
How often have you heard (or even said) something along those lines?
It’s become a cliché, but only because of the truth it conveys. Without the people who work in it, an organisation is worth very little. Both businesses and brands are shaped and defined by people.
Communicate’s Corporate Reporting and Human Capital conference on Friday will demonstrate how to measure and communicate the value of the people in a company through corporate reporting.
Incidentally, I know there’s ongoing debate about use of the term ‘human capital’: human capital isn’t the most people-friendly phrase, conflating the idea of financial capital with people, as if people were not more important… On the other hand, thinking of people as human resources is no better, implying the commodification of people. We’ll stick with ‘human capital’, at least for now, as it does include an implication of value. (Juliet Bourke discusses just this on one of the Deloitte’s blogs.)
Increasingly, companies are trying to become more ‘human’ in their approach, in the recognition that the people in the company matter, and do indeed have value, both intrinsically, and for the company. And then the very human need for storytelling and narrative is a key feature when engaging investors and other stakeholders with your business—because of course these external stakeholders are people too.
But how do you communicate the particular skills and expertise of your people to investors?
And just how do you measure employee experience and communicate your employer brand?
Andrew Thomas, publishing editor at Cravenhill Publishing, says,
“This conference is about how companies can put people at the heart of their annual report. Organisations often fail to recognise or communicate the value of their employees as assets. This conference will look at effective methods for measuring talent and will explore how that value can be shared with investors and stakeholders.”
Discussion at this half-day conference will explore whether a standardised framework of metrics is feasible – including the science and psychology of accounting for human capital. Speakers will look at how organisations communicate and report on their human capital in their annual reports, and will highlight the key areas in which people at all levels of an organisation are critical to financial performance.
It should be very interesting indeed, bringing together academics, HR and IR experts, the FRC, IIRC and CIPD, and consultants.
For more information please visit the conference website.
Mike Miranda from the Clear Law Institute offered to write a post for us about communicating compliance requirements in plain language. I spend a lot of time reviewing corporate websites, and sometimes the compliance sections are the hardest (and slowest), because of the complexity of the language, and the density of the information. Plain language matters!
Over to you, Mike…
When we talk to each other we generally speak in plain language. Have you ever met someone who purposely uses terminology that unnecessarily complicates the point? If you have, you’ll quickly understand the importance of using plain language in conversation.
The same can be said for those in the legal field. Legal jargon is usually meticulously written and confusing to follow, and for good reason: when drafting a contract this practice has purpose, especially for the contractor.
But when dealing with compliance requirements the goal is to make these requirements known and simple to follow. In order for that to happen the point should be expressed clearly and plainly as to avoid any confusion and/or misconception of the intentions stated.
As a matter of fact, studies show that attorneys took twice as long to translate “legalese” as it took brain surgeons to comprehend medical jargon.
So it’s safe to say simplifying the text will save time, which saves money and improves compliance, which will translate to fewer complaints and less to resolve.
How do we define “plain language”?
It is communication that your audience will understand as soon as they read it or hear it. It will enable them to find what they need, understand what they find, and use what they found to meet their needs.
This streamlines the process of conveying information to your audience.
In a corporate setting, this would allow your company to reach its goals more quickly by eliminating any slack caused by the uninformed. The more someone understands what’s required of them the more efficient they will be.
When you’re dealing with a large company, this difference can be worth millions. For example: every few years the VBA (Veteran Benefit Administration) reaches out to all veterans and asks them to update their beneficiaries. If a veteran dies without doing so the VBA has to identify an eligible beneficiary through extensive research. Each time they do this it costs them thousands of dollars in staff time. So they decided to rewrite the letter they send to veterans in plain language.
The original outreach yielded a 43% response rate. But the response of the plain language outreach went up to 65% and the VBA saved $5 million in staff time over the course of each mailing period.
These are some things to keep in mind when preparing a compliance presentation in plain language:
Thomas Jefferson once said “The most valuable of all talents is never using two words where one will do.” Remember this saying, it will serve you well!
Thanks Mike!
Mike Miranda is a writer and PR person for Clear Law Institute.
Hiring the right people can be expensive. Most of the online HR specialists we talk to don’t like spending valuable time reviewing job applications from candidates who aren’t right for a role. And they certainly don’t like investing key resources in training a new recruit who leaves the company six months later, because the job isn’t what they thought it would be.
We think the key to successfully recruiting online is providing great content on a career outpost. But what do we mean by “great content”? Well, we think its content that operates on a number of levels. For the purpose of this post, however, we’ll take a look at two basic objectives for your content. Firstly it has to be content that provides clear answers to most (if not all) of the questions jobseekers might have about new roles and the hiring company. Secondly, it has to say something about company culture, so your next recruit understands what drives their potential new employer, and what it’s like to work for them.
There are lots of great examples of good carefully targeted career content out there, and for this post I wanted to talk about one particular site we’ve recently been admiring.
At first glance, the J. D Wetherspoon career outpost is a smart, modern-looking site, with new roles (and their locations) prominently displayed on the home page in an eye-catching rotator section. But look closer and you’ll find much more to like on this deceptively simple looking website.
The first thing that really caught my attention was the impressive depth of information on employee rewards and benefits for different role types. By being clear and up-front about what kind of reward new recruits can expect, J. D Weatherspoon is quickly answering the core question that all recruits have: What’s in it for me? Sharing detailed information like this also sends out a powerful and subtle message about the company culture, suggesting openness and a desire to take care of their employees.
The hospitality chain takes a similar in-depth approach when discussing training, with content shaped to convey another powerful cultural message. Under the Career Ladder title, there’s lots of detail on development options for specific role types, and a link to the next natural role on the career ladder. The focus on development and next steps here says one thing to me – This is a culture that provides opportunities and clear promotion paths for the ambitious and aspiring.
And then there’s the company recruitment magazine. Now, there may be some of us who think downloadable PDFs are a little old-hat in a world of Twitter updates and recruiting apps. A well-designed, easy to read magazine can still be useful however, especially if it reflects those key company messages found online. The good news here is that J. D Wetherspoon’s recruitment magazine does just that, with a clear “Why work for us” message included alongside employee profiles, training options, and how to apply tips.
With both the online and downloadable content reflecting the same emphasis on reward and development, this can mean only one thing – There’s obviously a consistent and well thought-out strategy for career communications going on here, which is also very nice to see.
So, in conclusion…
The J. D Wetherspoon site may not look radically innovative at first glance, however it really does deserve a second look, as it’s well-designed with plenty of valuable jobseeker content, and, perhaps most importantly, promotes some key cultural messages about the company.
Of course no website is ever going to be perfect, and the pace of online innovation means there is always going to something new to learn for even those best in class websites. If you would like to find out more on how to take your careers content to the next level, why not drop us a line and we’ll be happy to share our knowledge.
Have you ever taken an English Springer Spaniel for a walk? They hunt about, quartering the ground, following their noses down trails and truffling in the undergrowth to track down whatever it is that has seized their attention. And they come back wet, covered in mud and burrs, but triumphant with the excitement of the find.
I spend at least part of every day taking an extended walk through corporate websites. I’m looking to see how well they communicate with their intended audiences, so I hunt about, covering all the ground and following interesting trails. And, just like my springer, I’m also delighted when I find something unusual or particularly pleasing… though I do tend not to get muddy.
Our focus here at Corporate Eye is the corporate website, and how best to use it to support your corporate brand – and, just as important, how to avoid the risk of damaging the brand.
We know that it is a complex task, with a lot to consider. After all, we have over 1000 criteria we use to assess a big corporate website, never mind the work we do to help clients select the right software and agencies.
So it is always fascinating to go to one of the Communicate or Transform conferences on this topic: they bring together a mix of expert speakers, including those with front-line experience of making corporate branding work, and those with deep expertise in related areas.
Since we have a particular interest in employer branding at the moment, the mix of speakers at the Transform Europe conference looks great; among others, it includes people responsible for employer brand for EDF Energy and IHG, and also includes experts in sensory marketing, audio branding and experiential branding.
Fascinating… a corporate website may rely heavily on vision, at the moment, but there is usually some audio available. Sensory branding may be mostly intended for retail, but it will be very interesting to see how it might be applicable to the corporate website.
I suspect, though, that olfactory branding on a corporate website is going to be a long way off. It’s going to have to be a virtual scent trail for me still…
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Find out more about the Transform Europe conference on 21 April
Check out the shortlist for the Awards too.
