by Joe Thurman
Building a company is a mixture of art and science – creating a baseline of who you are targeting, why you are targeting them (based on performance) and how you will target them – and this is essential to a strong talent strategy. As a result, more companies are making a significant investment into what they are calling “employer branding" because attracting the right people to your organization and team is top of mind for executives in today’s world.
Just like any product on the market, there is good employer branding and there is bad employer branding; and changing employers, just like most buying decisions, is driven by emotion. The notion of Personas is nothing new in the world of consumer marketing, but many companies skip this step in employer branding in an effort to expeditiously build a really cool (honestly, only slightly better in most cases) career page. They sell their company to the world and fill the top of their recruiting funnel with a variety of completely random candidates…the perfectly executed plan right…so why does it fail?
Three Powers of a Persona-Driven Talent Pipeline
It sounds logical that you would understand your company’s target Personas before dumping tens of thousands and even millions of dollars into marketing, right? Here is why you should spend time creating talent Personas:
1. The Right People
Your brand is not for everyone and the old saying, “You can’t be all things to all people” stands true. Many companies fall into the unfortunate situation of wanting to simply be considered cool and they target accolades such as the sexy awards of “Best Place to Work” or “Most Amazing Culture in the Universe.” “Best Place to Work” is about as subjective of a statement as possible. There is one simple principle that is key – alignment of expectations to produce that “Best Place to Work.” Lack of alignment produces disengaged employees and a lot of bad Glassdoor reviews…simply because the company and the employee are out of alignment. You need to understand the types of people and mindset that thrive within your company. Ensure that you are creating the best place to work for current rock stars and people who have a mindset that will take your company into the future. Understand, your culture may not be considered the best to everyone, and that’s okay! They should seek another employer who better aligns with their desires and character. Your goal should not be to win a ton of awards, it should be winning the loyalty of greatly aligned individuals!
2. Clarity
I’m not trying to be a jackass with this statement but, it is important to remind companies that words actually have meaning, so mean what you say. And furthermore, remember that humans interpret words differently. For example, let’s take the word entrepreneurial. For some people, this word may mean innovative; for others, it may mean autonomy or financial risk. Companies seem to forget people interpret words differently based on experiences starting from toddler-hood up to adulthood. Posting a ton of buzz words to attract people to your company, but not defining how your company embodies these words or what they mean to your company, is a huge mistake. The key to utilizing a Persona-driven process is being empowered to create messaging that resonates with the person you are trying to attract. Choose your words wisely and define your organization’s interpretation. Clarity of the message based on your target Persona is powerful in creating grassroots interest in your company and hiring people who will be intrinsically motivated to succeed.
3. Diversity of Thought
Understanding your Persona creates diversity. Many companies go after diversity in the worst way. They start a diversity initiative and tell people to hire based on meaningless details, unfortunate biases, and other factors that have zero impact on success. “If their skin tone is different, consider hiring them; oh and make sure to sprinkle in a few people who were born in places you’ve never heard of, and if they balance out our gender pool, I’d really like to move them to the next step.” I know all of that sounds crazy, but that is exactly how the actions of a “diversity initiative” play out. Persona traits and strong characteristics have no color, they have no place of origin. Dominant characteristics can be shared between people who come from opposite ends of the world or the other side of the tracks as we say here in America. Targeting Persona traits and helping team members to see the value in aligning based on principles, character, and purpose will help them to target great teammates and will create a positive bias that is not based on demographics and other external factors that truly have little impact on an individual’s alignment with the company. Diversity is one of the most important characteristics of a strong team, and understanding how your Persona resonates with people from all different backgrounds is an amazingly powerful tool!
I would challenge any leader to understand the Persona of their team. Research creative ways to outline the traits that matter to your high performers and strong character employees; then focus on targeting others in the market who align with these traits. You can find many resources online regarding Personas; applying them to talent is a newer practice but give it a try and I’m sure you will be happy with the results.
About Joe Thurman
A passion for technology, entrepreneurship and helping companies succeed is what drives Joe every day. With over a decade of experience in the technology and in the staffing and recruiting space, Joe is passionate about changing the way companies attract, retain and develop talent. Joe has worked with startup companies to the Fortune 100 and is driven to help organizations solve problems.
