Social Recruiting: Share Your Culture

by May 23, 2017Blog, Content | Social Media | Email

This blog post was updated by Sam Von Tobel on 1/20/2020.

Why Companies Need to Embrace Social Recruiting

With falling unemployment rates, companies are faced with tough competition as they try to attract the best and brightest from among a shrinking pool of candidates. The companies who will come out on top are those who are willing to embrace new tactics, including social recruiting.

But there is more to social recruiting than just posting a job listing on LinkedIn or an advertisement on Facebook. To be successful, you need to use these platforms to tell a story, painting your company as a place potential employees will want to work.

Today’s job candidate puts a high value on company culture. As a matter of fact in a study by online recruiting firm Glassdoor, 76% of candidates said they want to want to know what makes a company “an attractive place to work.” Social media give you the tools to showcase your company culture, values and work environment. Here a few ways to do just that:

Focus on Individual Employees

Maybe you have a new employee to introduce or an employee celebrating a special anniversary. Dedicating a post to them clearly communicates that your company values the contributions of individual employees. These stories are likely to be shared by friends and family members helping you spread your message far and wide.

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One of the best ways to highlight individual employees is through an employee profile! These spotlight/interviews give employees a chance to express themselves a little more in-depth than perhaps a short paragraph about themselves on a “Meet the Team” page can. They can talk a little about their job and their favorite things about their work, giving potential recruits a chance to get great perspective on what life and work at your company is like. Featuring some more fun personal information about their hobbies and interests can also give them an idea of the kind of people within your company and help them think, “these people look like fun to work with!” Here is a rundown on how to write a great Employee Profile.

Demonstrate that team members enjoy each other’s company

You can say your employees get along but pictures speak louder than words. So share images of your team hanging out at work or outside the office. Share slice of life images or videos taken around the office on an average work day. That’s why we started publishing our “This week at the Peg”  It gives us a chance to show off some of the odd things we do to break up the day, as well as an inside look at life in our office.

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You have a camera in your pocket so snap lots of photos of birthday celebrations, lunch in the office or after hours fun. I loved this post by the Chapman team showing the employees having fun together at an off site event sponsored by the company.

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Share Your Values

Another way to engage potential employees is to share the things which are important to you, causes you care about or principals you live by. You will be likely to attract candidates who share your values.

We work with the Randall Bean company. It is sometimes hard to put a personal face to a manufacturing firm but the owners of Randall are committed to sustainable farming so we often share photos from their farm where they experiment with different non- chemical farming techniques. I love this image because it captures the peace and tranquility of their farm which is nestled in a valley near the Smokey Mountains

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Additional Benefits of a Social Recruiting Program

While you are presenting your company in a positive light you have an opportunity to reach elusive candidates. These are people who are not actively looking for a job but are drawn to the company you are portraying.

It is easier to find people who are cultural fits when you share your culture publicly. Cats, for example, are a big part of our culture. We make that pretty clear on our Facebook timeline. If you are allergic to cats, it is unlikely you will want to work here and you would know that long before you applied.

Be authentic

At the end of the day you can’t pretend to be something your aren’t. But I am assuming your company is a great place to work. Now it is time to tell everyone else.

Joel Russell joined our marketing podcast, More than a Few Words, to talk about exactly this topic! Joel sees company culture as a competitive advantage and talked about how to use it for yourself. Be sure to check out the conversation.