Workplace Challenges
The benefits of investing in a corporate imageThe power of dreams, enjoying magnificent forests, personal fulfillment, dedication to making a difference. Those enticing words may sound like something from a self-help guide, but are, in fact, a sampling of the terminology you'll find in today's recruitment ads. |
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 [ 2002-04-10 ] |
Certainly, they're a far cry from traditional recruitment ads, when an employer would simply post the availability of a job, list the qualifications needed to fill the position, and outline its duties and responsibilities.
"It was like a laundry list of jobs," says Helen Assad of Day Advertising, which specializes in recruitment advertising and human resources recruitment. "Most companies didn't even want to include their logo because it would cost more."
According to Assad, the face of recruitment advertising began to evolve as employers struggled to recruit and retain the best candidates. As ads became more complex, employment branding developed.
Just as companies invest in product branding to ensure a desired image is associated with a product, employer branding promotes a company's image within its industry.
Companies soon recognized the benefits of describing their philosophy, management style and opportunities for career advancement in recruitment ads, says Assad. Many work hard at developing a reputation as a great place to work so people pursue them as a potential employer.
"A good recruitment ad will have long-term effects, so a potential candidate would consider working for the company at some future stage in their careers," says Andy Day, president of Day Advertising.
Employer branding also puts organizations in a stronger position to attract 'inactive job seekers', says Viive Tamm of Tamm Communications, an advertising agency.
"People reading (a traditional recruitment) ad had no idea who the company was or what the company was about," she says. "People would respond if they needed to find a job. The ads wouldn't attract inactive job seekers -- people who were gainfully employed and probably not unhappy where they were."
That's especially important when unemployment is low and employers are faced with a shortage of talented employees.
"The last four or five years has been an employee market," says Tamm. "There aren't enough people to go around in some fields, particularly health care. Employers in those fields are placing larger ads. They're talking about their environment. There's less talk about the skills you must have and more about the skills you could have."
Recruitment ads recognize different people are motivated by different factors. At Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, for example, recruiters understand nurses earn the same salary wherever they work.
When developing recruitment ads, they looked at employee opinion surveys to help determine the hospital's strengths. The institution markets itself as the 'Heart of the City', to promote a caring attitude and its prime location.
"It's essential for an organization to know its strengths and what's going to allow them to attract the right candidates," says Dave Cheuy, manager of recruitment and human resources programs.
In addition to attracting potential candidates, an accurate description of a positive environment goes a long way to fostering pride in an organization -- among current employees, shareholders and suppliers -- and will even be noticed by the competition interested in what you have to offer.
"A good recruitment ad should make people currently working for the organization feel good about it," says Day.
(Linda White is a freelance writer based in Brooklin, Ont. and can be reached at linda.white@rogers.com.)
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