#TransitionToGreatness Ramping up hiring in Pandemic?

If you're recruiting in the trucking industry right now, you're probably wondering:

How do I ramp up hiring during these uncertain times while still communicating authentically?

There's more uncertainty about our world right now than there has been in decades, maybe a century, and the stakes are higher than ever. And along with healthcare providers and grocery workers, Truckers are key to fighting through. We all have unanswered questions—including scientists, doctors, national leaders, and employers. Uncertainty is uncomfortable. Job candidates want answers and, as always, painting a rosier picture than the reality just doesn't work. That's a recipe for unnecessary elevated turnover. 

Authenticity is our organization's True North. It's what we should do, not just what we can do. The Lean Lexicon calls True North "the ideal state or perfection in the business". Of course, we never achieve perfection, so the guidance of our True North serves as a litmus test for all media and communications. Being genuine is my strongest recommendation for recruiters and recruitment marketers when so much else is uncertain.

**Hack - We ask Truck Drivers to write or record recruiting and retention messaging. It gives our communications street cred!

Matt B, a tank Driver in the midwest, told us about his experience a couple of weeks ago :

"Made one trip into a grocery store and stocked up on spare dry and canned goods and a case of water. I have my microwave and instant pot so I'm not going hungry.

 I haven't seen any truck stop out of anything critical and NONE have shut down or refused shower services.

My best summary:

It's a little more difficult, but for anyone willing to adapt to the situation and be patient, life does and will go on. Lots of good people in numerous industries are pulling together and trying to keep everyone happy, healthy, and sane.

(A few negative Nellies will still find the bad side, nothing we can do.)" 

That's just one Driver's experience, but these real-life road experiences - in the Trucker's own words - beat the clever copywriter again and again from the credibility standpoint with our mature Trucker audience.

Here's Marlin Paul, entirely unscripted, telling his story. It was shot well before Coronavirus but still speaks to the target Trucker we're attracting.

We simply ask Drivers about themselves, their experiences, and we share their true stories. In our industry, this is almost better than a Marketing department. We took a fun look at Employee Generated Content & talked 'Authenticity' ad nauseam here.

Craig Bee is one of our most positive, loyal, and hard-working Truckers. He shares uplifting & job-related content daily throughout this weird new normal. We utilize his content to celebrate him (our employee), but also to attract like-minded candidates. The realness of the stories is the attraction.

This is how our True North guides us through this 'transition to greatness' period. And it's working. No need to sugarcoat or spin the hard work or the challenge. This is Craig. Craig is out 3+ weeks living in a truck from Illinois to New York to Alabama to Cali delivering food materials. He tells us about his bad days too. These last 2 months have been extremely stressful for Over-the-Road Drivers! But Craig does it with pride and grace and optimism. It's like a magnet to pull the right Truckers.

Seth Godin says that if your job is giving people good news, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing a good job. And the opposite is also true. So, tell the truth! Going to the dentist hurts less if you have a dentist who cares about you in the process. Driving over-the-road during this pandemic is not going to be easy, but it can be done. Our Drivers are providing social proof of that.

Amidst pandemic ramp-up when margins are shrinking, Drivers are concerned, and advertising budgets are near zero, we're holding firm to our Authenticity strategy using employee stories in place of paid ads to merge the recruiting and retention messages and repurpose our real-life Hero stories into talent attraction content.

Real Trucker photos, real on-the-road experiences, real big trucks (sometimes a little dirty), ups-and-downs, real stories, real jobs, real culture, real brand = Authenticity, our Trucker Recruiting 'True North'.