What’s The One Thing Businesses Should Ask Their People But Almost Never Do?
Nearly every business has invested in some form of engagement survey or employer brand research.
But the insights you gain are only as strong as the questions you ask.
Far too often, I see organizations and HR departments ask the same repetitive questions asked over and over again. Do any of these questions sound familiar?
- “How do you feel about coming to work every morning?”
- “Are you proud to tell people about your job?”
- “Do you feel valued?”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with asking these questions, but right thinking and poor execution will never uncover the real learnings you seek. Instead, we need to take a step back and truly contemplate what motivates people to succeed.
At Ph.Creative, we believe that what employees are really looking for is purpose, impact and belonging. While a nice canteen and an array of delicious lunch options might provide people with temporary happiness, these external things will rarely (if ever) bring internal fulfilment.
As the saying goes, “Any many can win when things go his way, but it’s the man who overcomes adversity that is the true champion.”
If you want to build an employer brand that resonates with people on an intimate and personal level, you need to quantify how personal purpose and organizational purpose align.
And it all starts by asking a simple question: “If it was your job to dissuade someone from joining your organization – and you couldn’t lie – what would you say?”
Your real superpower lies in the harsh realities of your organization
When you ask this question across your organization, you’ll be able to aggregate responses and pull together some powerful answers. It’s a great way of flipping traditional employer brand research on its head.
Think about it: if your recruitment marketing leads only with the positives of what it’s like to work at your organization, then you aren’t going to inspire the right talent to want to join.
It might seem counterintuitive, but by asking this question you shine a light on what’s really going on under the surface. In doing so, you’ll likely receive some brutally honest answers. You might hear tough stories of vulnerabilities or challenges that employees must face and overcome.
We call these stories the “harsh realities” of what it’s like to work at your organization. While the term “harsh realities” might sound like a negative, these experiences are actually the moments of magic that will transform your ability to attract more of the right talent to your organization.
These messages galvanize internal and external audiences, because people can empathize with how it feels to work at your organization. We’ve all seen those videos of smiles, high fives, and cringingly bad messages of “It’s awesome here every day” and nobody believes them for a second. Instead, we shoot straight over to Glassdoor to dig into what’s really going on.
Equally though, building a strong employer brand isn’t just about being more honest. The real superpower lies in turning a perceived negative into a positive.
Perception is everything – find talent that sees “problems” the way you do
When we’re faced with a challenge, getting around it and dealing with it makes us grow, become stronger and feel a sense of fulfilment.
The challenge, the adversity or the negative situation that employees most overcome – that is the positive. This is exactly what you need to be promoting, not the fancy new canteen.
You must lean into the harsh realities of your organization and attract talent that takes pride in facing these moments head on; that find fulfilment in overcoming challenges; that see trials and tribulations not as problems, but as the very thing that inspires them to wake up every morning and face the day.
Remember, it’s not just about balancing the “negatives” and “positives” of your employer brand. It’s about uncovering the negatives, finding the adversity in that moment and using that as fuel to inspire the right talent to want to help you solve these challenges.
You must be able to compel the right people to act and with that very same message, repel those who wouldn’t thrive or find value and meaning as part of your team.
When you identify talent that see your “problems” as something they want to face and want to overcome, then you’re well on your way to building a motivated workforce that is driven by true impact, purpose and belonging.
Ask explorative follow-up questions
Once you’ve asked employees, “If it was your job to dissuade someone from joining your organization – and you couldn’t lie – what would you say?”, you need to follow up with more explorative questions to discover the character traits, values, behaviours and tolerances in order to be comfortable that the reasons your audience shared are accurate.
Below are three examples of typical responses that you might hear from employees:
· “There’s very little work-life balance at our company. People dedicate their lives to their work here because they have a deep passion for what they do, the impact they make and purpose we all contribute towards. IF you like to put in your 8 hours a day and switch off, you probably won’t like the expectations, deadlines, demands and peer pressure you will experience as a result of not being available to your team for at least 12 hours a day.”
· “People with egos don’t last at our company. If you need praise, recognition or any latitude based on your capability, you won’t find it here. We’re humble and have a ‘we before me’ attitude, so people shy away from supporting overly self-serving people.”
· “Being brilliant isn’t good enough here, if you’re not willing to share, collaborate and support others, you won’t like what you find here. Some people prefer to work alone and have very clear boundaries and defined parameters for their role and responsibilities. For us, we find a sense of purpose and inspiration by working together and collaborating across disciplines in pursuit of shared goals.”
In each of these examples, you can see that when you dig deeper into the stories that your employees provide, you can discover the biggest sources of pride and passion within your organization. Pay close attention to the challenges or obstacles that people mention and go one step further by asking, “How did you overcome that?”
Usually, you’ll hear powerful stories about when people had to deploy new skills or lean into particular aspects of their character. This is the gold-dust that will help you compel more of the right talent to join your organization and repel those that wouldn’t be a good cultural fit.
As a minimum, your external audience needs to be given enough information to rationally and emotionally evaluate whether they could find a sense of belonging and value being part of what you’re presenting to them.
If there’s a lesson to be found within a story, then your audience actually feels what it’s like to be the hero. They also feel what it’s like to learn the lesson; to see the world through the eyes of the employee and understand the motivation and desires they’re experiencing, too.
These lessons and messages become unforgettable, which is why they’re such a powerful tool to boost internal engagement and amplify your external recruitment marketing strategies.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to tap into the harsh realities of your organization and turn them into your biggest strengths, then you can pick up a copy of my new book, ‘Give & Get Employer Branding’, available now on Amazon and at all major book retailers.
Recruiter Enablement; Communications Leadership
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