The Hiring Ad That Shocked An Electrical Company

Last weekend my husband was lying on the couch reading the newspaper (yes, he’s one of the few people that still does that) when he drew my attention to a full-page colour hiring ad seeking workers to build the new AUKUS nuclear submarines. He knows I love talking about recruitment, so I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of weird foreplay, or my non-handyman hubby was showing an unprecedented interest in building subs. Instead, after hearing me complain all week about how large corporations wasted money on hiring ads full of useless cliches, he’d now come across a great example.

‘We are the Defence State and we are making history,’ ‘uplifting the capability and capacity of our industry’?‘we are transforming our state, for the next generation and beyond’, ‘the biggest step forward in Australia’s defence capability’.

You get the drift. There wasn’t a single specific attractor – you know those things like salary, career opportunities, work autonomy/diversity and so on, that show how someone’s life might improve if they took this job.

?This is very common. It’s like these advertisers have swallowed ChatGPT, spewing out a string of cliches, yet they’ve forgotten what it is to be a job seeker and what people really want. Here’s two more examples from SEEK:

·?‘Amidst the suspense, the drama & the intrigue is an opportunity to keep the chase alive & the chase is still on for a Regional Guru to join this co.!!’

·?‘Cool, Committed, Caring, Innovative, Exciting and Energetic? We want you to come on board the starship!’

?Let me be clear – no one wants mumbo jumbo scrawled out in 15 minutes, with little thought. This kind of lazy recruitment marketing may have sufficed in the twentieth century when there were more people than jobs, but in the current labour drought it is just damaging. Not only does it show little interest or care for the very people you are trying to attract (that?message comes across loud and clear) but it also lacks the one thing applicants want to know, which is why working for you will benefit them more than working for anyone else. If there is one thing an employer should know it’s this. An effective recruitment ad involves spelling out these specifics in clear and simple language, and should resonate with applicants like an arrow to the heart.

?I experienced this first-hand when Nick, the General Manager of an electrical company asked for help, after failing to employ a single decent electrician for four months. He was now getting desperate and had splashed a lot of money on recruitment agencies, with no success. Their hiring ad was the usual blurb, like every other hiring ad out there so we took the time to identify the true benefits of working for his business as compared to anyone else. Here are some examples (and note none of these were in his original ad):

·?No domestic work?(because apparently many electricians dislike dealing with residential customers.)

·?Plenty of weekend work and travel, if desired?such as our recent projects in Mareeba, St George, Townsville, Rockhampton and Charters Towers.

·?Staff retention rate unheard of in our industry?– We have extremely low staff turnover – many of our people have been with us 10-15 years and our electricians have progressed to become leading hands, project managers and the GM.

·?We enjoy many social events together?– This year we took 70 people to Stradbroke Island, ran a getaway weekend, and for our Christmas Party we’ve booked out the whole second level at Top Golf.?

·?Experience job security – we keep our people employed for the long-term?by managing our pipeline of work. For instance, when COVID struck we sat down and worked out a strategy to keep everyone employed and earning wages, even if no work came in for a few months.

All up, we identified 10 specific factors that made them different from other electrical companies and used real examples to demonstrate each point, bringing them to life for people. Applicants could tell that thought and care had gone into the ad, and in the interviews many said they felt compelled to apply.

Nick had this to say about the result:?‘As much as I thought the ad didn’t suit us (I thought it was a bit wanky) I ran with it. I’d say we got the best interest in an ad we’ve ever had. I had shortlisted 5 candidates, interviewed and employed within 2 weeks.’?He has now axed all the agencies, brought hiring in-house and continues to enjoy hiring success.

And just to let you know, after giving up on his career with AUKUS subs, my husband moved on to fighter pilot. ‘Look at this he said, ‘see the world, upgrade your ambition, establish a legacy.’?I talked him into going out for a coffee instead.

********************************************************************************

Interested in how HR innovations can dramatically boost business results? Come along to the next PCAP Tribe meeting in Brisbane on 18 July and hear guest speaker Hayley Cooper, CEO of Harnex, the largest Australian manufacturer of cables, harnesses and looms, share how she went from being a top-down traditional leader struggling to get people motivated, to turning her whole business on its head through ground-breaking innovations. She increased her profitability by 81% in a single year and now has a waitlist of great people wanting to work for her.?Click here for more information.

Enjoying this newsletter? You can sign up to my full newsletter which includes free tools and templates plus the latest HR research and news by clicking here