The other day, I was in my office speaking with a hiring manager on the phone. There was also another person in the office who does not work in executive search.
This guest was listening to my conversation with the hiring manager, and he overhead me ask this question: “Why would somebody want to come to work for your organization?”
After the conversation was over and I hung up the phone, my guest said, “You really asked that employer some tough questions.” I asked what he meant. “Well, you just asked them why somebody would want to work for them,” he replied.
I told my guest that this was a really important question. By asking it, I was hopeful that the hiring manager would “sell” his organization to me and provide me with some tools that I could use to “sell” the organization to prospective candidates.
The bottom line is that I need to know the value proposition this employer can offer to candidates. It’s the value proposition that will convince a candidate to resign his current position, pull their children out of school, and move potentially hundreds of miles to work for my client’s organization.
Consequently, officials at any company that’s hiring should know their organization’s value proposition, which is what would compel a candidate to do all of those things. So when I ask a hiring manager why somebody would want to work for their organization, I’m really asking them to give me their value proposition.
Below are four things that an organization’s value proposition should include:
- Opportunities for growth—According to LinkedIn’s recent “Why & How People Change Jobs” reports, opportunity is the #1 reason that employees decide to leave their jobs and choose to work for another organization. This includes the opportunity for advancement through the company in the form of promotions and more responsibilities and also the opportunity to add new skills and knowledge.
- Dynamic and appreciative company culture—What an organization offers in this area has increasingly become more important to candidates. It’s not just about the job, and it’s not just about the company—it’s also about the workplace. People want to work for an organization where there’s an atmosphere of teamwork and unity and where employees are shown appreciation for their hard work and dedication.
- Leading status within the industry—Everybody likes to play for a winner, and that certainly applies to the realm of employment. Top candidates gravitate toward organizations that have a proven track record of success and have positioned themselves as THE companies for which to work in the industry.
- Vision for the future—Working for an organization with vision is exciting, especially for the best talent in the marketplace. Top candidates both relish and thrive on a challenge, so they constantly seek those challenges out. If you hope to land a superstar candidate, then you must challenge them with an enticing vision for the future.
You’ll notice that I didn’t mention money and/or compensation. That’s because it takes more than money to convince a passive superstar candidate to uproot their family and move hundreds of miles for an opportunity (although money is still important to candidates).
What is your company’s value proposition? Do you communicate that proposition to candidates when attempting to recruit them and also during the hiring process?
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of organizations. If this is something you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.