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By Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
If you’re spending mega-bucks on
“Help Wanted” classified ads, tap into the incredible power of free
publicity to strengthen your recruiting and retention campaign.
If you have a meager budget for classifieds, it’s all the more reason
why you should be relentless about capturing all the free print space
and broadcast time you possibly can to spread the word about your job
openings and pleasant working environment.
Here are other ways you can use free publicity to position your company
as an employer of choice. The tips were taken from
Creative Recruitment and Retention Strategies, two cassette tapes on
how to use free publicity to recruit and retain.
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Write articles for trade journals
and industry publications positioning the authors as experts and
explaining what makes your company different from the competition. You
can even talk about your aggressive recruiting strategies. See the
tips booklet
113 Tips for Recruiting Valuable Employees.
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Write letters to the editor of
newspapers, magazines and trade publications. Carefully weave into the
letters reasons why your company is a great place to work and the type
of people you hire. Include contact information, such as an e-mail
address, under your signature.
See Special Report #4: How to Write Crisp, Compelling Letters to the
Editor.
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Don’t forget community shoppers,
alternative weeklies, gay newspapers, and African-American and
Hispanic publications.
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Pitch story ideas about the labor
shortage to reporters and tell them what you are doing to recruit and
retain employees. It will give you a chance to explain all the reasons
why people should work for you. See
How to Write a Pitch Letter More Powerful Than a News Release.
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Appear as a radio or TV talk show
guest who can offer expert advice on a particular topic. During the
interview, mention that your company is recruiting.
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Publicize your unusual training
programs. Job-hunters in some industries such as biotech know they are
in such demand that they can pick and choose between companies that
offer the best training.
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If your company is an employer of
choice, get your CEO onto the public speaking circuit to talk about it
and possibly attract the attention of people who aren’t necessarily
job-hunting. If the CEO isn’t a great speaker, a speech coach can
help.
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Pitch story ideas to your local
business journal. They write frequently about employee recruitment and
retention. See
How to Use Business Journals to Tell Your Story.
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Publicize your company’s pro bono
projects, charity fund-raisers, volunteer programs or anything else
that positions you as a good corporate citizen.
Help With Retention
Here are ways to use free publicity
to keep the great employees you have worked so hard to recruit and
retain:
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Flag the local media about unusual
events and fun parties at your company. A feature story in your local
weekly or daily newspaper, or a feature photo, is almost like the
media outlet giving your company its stamp of approval. See the tips
booklet
107 Tips for Keeping Valuable Employees.
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Frame and display favorable media
articles about your organization throughout the company—in the
employee cafeteria, in the lobby for visitors to see or anyplace where
people gather.
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Place articles by and about you at
your web site.
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If you rehire people who once
worked for you and left, feature these “boomerangs” in your company
newsletter. Be sure to mention in the article why they came back. This
reminds your other employees that the grass isn’t necessarily greener
someplace else.
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Apply for “best places to work”
awards. If you win, plaster the fact that you won on
everything—marketing materials, voicemail messages, fax cover sheets,
a sign in front of your building, and on your web site. This keeps the
award top-of-mind among current employees.
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Use employee testimonials, with
photos, at your website. Include quotes from them about why they like
working for you. It will make them feel like stars.
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Smart companies make employee
recruitment and retention a joint project of their human resources and
public relations departments and make managers of those departments
responsible for working together. Too often, HR and PR work
independently and miss valuable opportunities to cross-promote and
toot the company’s horn even louder.
Now get going. Somewhere out there,
there’s a media outlet that’s just waiting for your great story idea--and
hundreds of active and passive job-hunters eager to find out about you.
Direct comments or questions about this article,
including requests for reprint rights, to:
Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
Phone: 262-284-7451
JStewart@PublicityHound.com
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