Why is this such a hot topic at the moment and is it relevant to my business?
Have you ever had a situation where it was critical to hire a new person and you struggled to find them in time? Maybe you only received a few CVs and the ones you did interview were not up to the mark?
We needed to hire new marketing recruits at Jola. We attracted over 100 strong applications. What did we do differently?
Firstly we looked at our job advertisement and test-marketed the copy with people we knew would be great for the job. We found out through this process that we were putting off our target audience with the way we were describing the company. We were missing the opportunity to sell things we can offer candidates that other businesses recruiting similar roles couldn’t. We were putting up entry barriers by using jargon and insisting on very specific experience.
We not only changed the language and tone of our advert, but also added salary details, benefits and described what it is actually like working at Jola. We highlighted the career development potential, training and mentoring available and refocussed our copy on the values we were looking for. We looked at challenges faced by working parents, we looked at day-to-day challenges, getting to work, hours of work, place of work and made some significant changes.
All employees can work from home and no longer need to work 9-5. Our entire marketing team works part-time hours around their children. It is acceptable to take time off or work remotely to solve problems at home. We promote our inclusive culture. We encourage all types of diversity welcoming employees with neurodiversity and from the deaf community. We benefit from the complimentary skillsets which help drive the business forward.