Results of a recent survey about recruitment showed that more than a third of businesses have had to delay expansion plans and a third have had to turn away business because of staffing shortages.
In a second survey carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce, the results revealed that of those businesses attempting to recruit, 80% were facing difficulties with finding staff.
I recently helped a client with a recruitment campaign for their top job. We used the archetypes in branding toolkit to guide us and managed to recruit somebody much sooner than anticipated.
How we tackled the recruitment campaign
I treat recruitment in the same way I would any other communications campaign and started by putting together a strategy.
The strategy was quite straightforward in that there was an obvious objective – to recruit, a message – why somebody should apply, a target audience – those who fulfil the person spec, a timescale and tactics for promoting the role.
Standing out from the crowd
The initial job advert was OK but was perhaps a little too generic to attract the attention of the client’s ideal candidate.
Having worked with this client last year to reaffirm their meaning and identify their brand archetype, which was Caregiver, we drew on this knowledge for the advert.
We adapted the language and drew out elements of the job description that we felt would grab the attention of a candidate who shared the organisation’s values and the characteristics of a Caregiver.
Why use archetypes
A job advert aims to sell the role and the organisation but if you paint a glossy picture that does not match the reality, it will do little to build trust with new recruits and could lead to them feeling misled.
Recruitment is costly so it pays to invest in ensuring there is consistency between what you say and what you do and this is why archetypes are such a valuable tool as they provide a compass to guide actions.
Looking to recruit?
If you are about to embark on a recruitment campaign and would like to give yourself a competitive edge, please do get in touch to find out how archetypes can help you attract the perfect candidate.