More about the Importance of the Employer's Story

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I've talked in this entry and this one about how employers are increasingly telling the story of what it's like to work in their organizations. Video is frequently the medium deployed.

Recruiting guru Dr. John Sullivan recently talked about The Power of Stories for Employment Branding and Referrals, asserting that:

No recruiting ad, brochure, website, or recruiter pitch can have the same power and effectiveness as current employees telling powerful stories about what it's like to work at their firms.

Observing that "employees need access to powerful stories about the firm in order to use them in attracting potential referral candidates," but that "most companies have no book or central depository that contains a list of all the firm's stories about their people and management practices," Sullivan recommends making stories available "through a corporate or business unit 'story inventory.'" He suggests a formalized process for gathering and distributing stories. Without that, he says, "you are limiting your ability to recruit and brand by letting 75 percent of your stories remain in limited distribution."

Many of his 17 Steps to Make Your Branding Stories As Powerful as Possible (see extended entry) could also be flipped around and applied as personal branding stories for job-seekers.





17 Steps to Make Your Branding Stories As Powerful as Possible


  1. Comparison with Industry Average/Best in the Industry

  2. Comparison with Last Year's Goals

  3. Quantifying Program Results

  4. Defining What is a Good and Bad Number

  5. Awards Received

  6. Degree of Participation

  7. Stories Involving Ordinary People

  8. Stories Involving Diverse People

  9. Demonstrating the Amount Spent or the Program Costs

  10. A Great Program Name

  11. Concern for the Environment

  12. Compelling Quotes

  13. Testimonials from Individuals

  14. Add a Video Clip

  15. Add a Picture

  16. Add a "Wow"

  17. Add a Web Link





1 Comments

Thank you Kathy for highlighting the importance of employers telling their stories to candidates through video. By all accounts, the job market is moving in this direction and companies have to open up and show who they are in order to attract the best people. The tips you provide here are spot on and will be extremely helpful to any employer that is planning how to showcase their company more effectively. From what we’ve seen at CareerTours, employers who use video and other interactive means to tell their stories have a far more successful recruiting process. —Aaron Bare, CEO, CareerTours

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