Once upon a time, people would be content to turn up to work, do what they did, and wait patiently for the pay cheque at the end of the month. According to HR experts, those days are over. Now we all want so much more – namely, to do jobs we believe is worthwhile. In light of this, PR teams have an increasingly important role in telling stories that appeal to new recruits.
Work has become an altogether more values-based activity, involving soul-searching – and lots of Googling (apparently nearly two thirds of job seekers will research an organisation online before deciding to apply for a role).
Feeling worthwhile
More of us than ever before feel that “what matters most is the end results” of our work, states this article, published by HR News; and we’re concerned with finding evidence of “engagement on an individual and organisational level”.
This is great news for employers in the UK housing sector, who are easily able to demonstrate the massive difference their employees make to people’s lives, and to share information about their organisational impact on entire communities.
However, in order to maximise their chances of attracting values-driven employees, housing providers must push these stories out onto the internet, making them easy for potential applicants to find.
The relationship between PR and recruitment is growing closer. Whether it’s through an organisation’s own website and social media channels, or via media coverage, employers need to find ways to successfully communicate their values, and the ways in which they are achieving their organisational objectives.
Attracting Millennials
In its ‘Meet the Millennials’ report, KPMG states that 2020 will mark a big shift in the global workforce: it’s the year that millennials are set to make up half of all employees. Members of the millennial generation – those born between 1980 and 1995 – are “unique” in their “social consciousness”, the report explains.
“[They] need to know the reason for doing a task before they do it. As the generation of immediate gains, they prefer to understand the value of doing something upfront. Why should they invest their time in this task and how does it fit into the bigger picture?”
This means that millennial job seekers, in particular, must be able to buy into an organisation before they will consider applying to work for it.
Before they are invited to interview, these social media-savvy jobseekers will often try to track down evidence that other people who are just like them, with similar backgrounds and motivations, have already been able to carve out a successful and fulfilling careers with their potential employer.
Sharing stories online
This means that award wins, like those recently secured by Stonewater’s Sue Shirt and Fortem’s Caroline McGrogan (both See Media clients) at the Women In Housing Awards, can be especially powerful, as they demonstrate that an employer has a culture of investing in individuals and celebrating their successes.
According to KPMG, the average millennial will stay within a given role for a maximum of three years (their ability to find out about new possibilities means the next challenge is never too hard to find).
A stint at any one organisation is viewed as a crucial part of an individual’s career, and new recruits want to see that an employer empowers its people – and provides them with the skills and experience they need to be ready for future opportunities.
Employee experience
This ethos is defined as “employee experience”, and it has been cited as one of the HR trends to look out for in 2020. It’s the “journey the employee takes within your organisation, from attracting and hiring talent, on-boarding and engaging new employees, steering performance and development, to off-boarding”, explains HR News.
At See Media, we specialise in securing opportunities for employees all levels of an organisation – team leaders like Look Ahead’s Victoria Manlow, and frontline workers like Castle Vale Community Housing’s Becki Winkless – to take ownership of their contributions towards their employer’s overall mission.
These articles not only help individuals to build their personal profiles, they encourage future team members to do the first thing our clients need from them: submit an application.
Then, they can go on to smash the interview, do worthwhile work – and, hopefully, live happily ever after.
