You’ll Find Better Employees Immediately With This Strategy - Binder #013 Recruiting/Hiring

Do you know the big downside of viewing your services as a “commodity”?

Let me briefly explain the concept… and how it relates to finding great candidates.

If you are a line striping company, and you have 10 other competitors who are also line striping companies, how does your market choose which company to hire?

On paper, they’re all equal. They all “do the same thing”.

If your customers view it that way, there is only one differentiating factor they will consider when choosing which company to hire. (Hint: it is the ‘big downside’ I mentioned earlier.)

The price.

If your customer experience is flat, and your customers view you like every one of your competitors, then they’ll typically choose the lowest price.

A race to the bottom then ensues, meaning your company makes way less money, struggles to “win bids,” and is forced to provide less value to customers because there isn’t enough money to do anything different.

Could you imagine marketing yourself like this? 

“We’re this city’s cheapest line striping company. We succeed by winning as many low-cost jobs as possible to keep the doors open. Come give us a shot!”

Sadly, that exact business strategy is utilized by a lot of line striping, sealcoating, and asphalt companies… they just don’t say it in their marketing. (I just saw a residential painting company here locally promise that “they would match any competitor's quote to paint in your house”... ouch.)

So, if we wouldn’t do that in our marketing, why would we post the same message in our job postings?

A Different Approach to Job Postings

Your job postings should look exactly like a marketing message from your company - lead with value.

Ask yourself:

• Why should people come to work here?

• What makes this place unique, special, or different from everyone else?

• What value would people get from working here that they might not find elsewhere?

• What do people truly want - and how do I paint the picture of what my company does to match that?

The perceived “fit” of a person working for a company is widely considered the number one motivator for someone to apply for a job.

In other words… if the “tone” of the job description matches someone's values, they are way more likely to apply.

Why does that matter to you?

Because companies thrive when value-driven employees share the same values as the company they work for. Qualified applicant rates increase, unqualified applicants drop, and retention rates skyrocket. These employees “find their tribe” when it comes to work.

Obviously, much more work is involved than a clever, value-based job description. The company has to actually do the things they say they do. This is no different than your marketing to your customers - if it is smoke and mirrors, they won’t pay a premium for your services. If your job description doesn’t match reality, people will go to work somewhere else.

Many job ads today in pavement maintenance focus on the job's starting wage and “perks”. Those things matter, but according to research studies on predictive hiring, they should not be the focus of the job ad. Again, this is like marketing your services - the job price does matter, but great customers don’t choose only based on price.

Write your job descriptions from a value perspective - not a price perspective - to get the real talent that aligns with your company, which will rocket your growth potential.