How to Use Storytelling to Recruit Your Next A-Player
By Stanley Meytin
Video storytelling can break down barriers to connecting with your next hire.
Every company has the potential to be an amazing company. In fact, nobody sets out to own or operate a mediocre company. Of course, not everyone succeeds in reaching their goals of being the next Google or Facebook. But the world doesn’t need another Mark Zuckerberg; the world needs more of you. What works for guys like Zuckerberg is that they should up as themselves, completely raw and make no apologies for it. What the world’s companies do need, however, are the kind of employees that Zuckerberg has been able to recruit. Everyone knows the story of how Facebook got started and as a result, everyone on the planet has thought at one time or another how cool it would be to work at Facebook. Stories have that kind of power. So what’s your story? What if your story had the ability to bring you A-class employees and high caliber people that can take your company to the next level? Maybe you haven’t given it much thought but storytelling can be your golden ticket to recruiting your next best employee.
Share the Wealth…of Knowledge
Many companies like to close the doors to the outside world and carefully control the information that is released to people. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out the best time of day to post on social media, how much to write, say, share, what images we need, etc. But what we should really be focusing on is sharing the knowledge we have in as many ways as we can. Video storytelling, for example, allows companies to portray a very real and authentic version of themselves while sharing important information. When you consider how video storytelling could be used in recruiting methods, you might create a video to share with any potential new hires that walk them through your company and its values before they ever step foot in the door. When you share information about your company, the inaccessibility falls away and more people are attracted to what you have to offer.
Storytelling Bridges the Gap
One of the best ways to find out about any company is to talk to someone who works there, or who has worked there in the past. If you want to make a lasting impression on a new hire, consider how you can use video storytelling to share personal and professional experiences of your employees with potential new hires. Perhaps you might have a highlight reel of the best days in the company, or perhaps you have a raw video of people working through a problem together. Perhaps – and yes we know this is a bit of a stretch but we’re really excited about how impactful this could be for your company – you bring back a previous employee to talk about what it’s really like to work at your company. Talk about a stand-out approach to hiring, right? Your stories need to take your potential new hires from where they are to where you want them to be. And you can do that with information. And video is the perfect medium for delivering such a message.
Lessons Learned
Want to make an impact on your future employees? Share all of your lessons learned with them through video showcase that has employees talking about how hard everyone worked and how people pulled together and how they got the job done. You might even talk about how something fell through the cracks or how you lost an account: everyone knows it’s not sunshine and rainbows all the time. When you are frank about what goes on behind the scenes people feel like they know you better and can relate to your cause. When you share your struggles and your wins, those struggles and wins become the struggles and wins of your audience too. What’s more, it provides your future employees a chance to connect with events that happened before they ever stepped foot in the building. Lessons learned are valuable for everyone so don’t hide from them: share them!
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By Stanley Meytin
Video storytelling can break down barriers to connecting with your next hire.
Every company has the potential to be an amazing company. In fact, nobody sets out to own or operate a mediocre company. Of course, not everyone succeeds in reaching their goals of being the next Google or Facebook. But the world doesn’t need another Mark Zuckerberg; the world needs more of you. What works for guys like Zuckerberg is that they should up as themselves, completely raw and make no apologies for it. What the world’s companies do need, however, are the kind of employees that Zuckerberg has been able to recruit. Everyone knows the story of how Facebook got started and as a result, everyone on the planet has thought at one time or another how cool it would be to work at Facebook. Stories have that kind of power. So what’s your story? What if your story had the ability to bring you A-class employees and high caliber people that can take your company to the next level? Maybe you haven’t given it much thought but storytelling can be your golden ticket to recruiting your next best employee.
Share the Wealth…of Knowledge
Many companies like to close the doors to the outside world and carefully control the information that is released to people. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out the best time of day to post on social media, how much to write, say, share, what images we need, etc. But what we should really be focusing on is sharing the knowledge we have in as many ways as we can. Video storytelling, for example, allows companies to portray a very real and authentic version of themselves while sharing important information. When you consider how video storytelling could be used in recruiting methods, you might create a video to share with any potential new hires that walk them through your company and its values before they ever step foot in the door. When you share information about your company, the inaccessibility falls away and more people are attracted to what you have to offer.
Storytelling Bridges the Gap
One of the best ways to find out about any company is to talk to someone who works there, or who has worked there in the past. If you want to make a lasting impression on a new hire, consider how you can use video storytelling to share personal and professional experiences of your employees with potential new hires. Perhaps you might have a highlight reel of the best days in the company, or perhaps you have a raw video of people working through a problem together. Perhaps – and yes we know this is a bit of a stretch but we’re really excited about how impactful this could be for your company – you bring back a previous employee to talk about what it’s really like to work at your company. Talk about a stand-out approach to hiring, right? Your stories need to take your potential new hires from where they are to where you want them to be. And you can do that with information. And video is the perfect medium for delivering such a message.
Lessons Learned
Want to make an impact on your future employees? Share all of your lessons learned with them through video showcase that has employees talking about how hard everyone worked and how people pulled together and how they got the job done. You might even talk about how something fell through the cracks or how you lost an account: everyone knows it’s not sunshine and rainbows all the time. When you are frank about what goes on behind the scenes people feel like they know you better and can relate to your cause. When you share your struggles and your wins, those struggles and wins become the struggles and wins of your audience too. What’s more, it provides your future employees a chance to connect with events that happened before they ever stepped foot in the building. Lessons learned are valuable for everyone so don’t hide from them: share them!
What story would you like to share?
Whether you want to launch an idea, spark a movement or simply get people talking about what you do, you have one shot
at delivering your message in a way that matters. Let’s make sure you do it right.
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