Could PR Bring More Talent Into Your Business

I don’t know about you, but when I walk into a meeting with a client the conversation usually starts with an opener something like, ‘how’s business?’

For the past few years when talking to any kind of contractor in the construction sector, that question has usually been greeted with a heavy sigh and an optimistic comment about how business is out there; it’s just harder to find/win/make a viable margin.

Not so anymore. Now, most of the people I speak to tell me that they are so busy that they need to recruit to cope with demand: finding the right people at the right level is proving to be the tough part.

It’s great news for the sector and for the companies that are starting to see the real impact of the upturn in construction. Great news too for anyone looking for a career move. However, it’s a situation that presents its own challenges in terms delivering promises to clients.

So how can PR help companies to attract the right people at the right time? Placing ads and enlisting the services of recruitment consultants are important tools in bringing on board new people, but PR is often the backbone tactic required to raise your company’s profile, build its employer brand and attract good candidates.

Let’s put it into context a little. Two roles come up, they have similar job descriptions, comparable pay and benefits and both offer you a step up the career ladder in your preferred location. One is with a company that has a familiar name but you don’t know much about them. The other is with a company that you read about in the trade press all the time, you know they have some great projects on site and you’ve read an interview with their MD that maps out a clear strategy for growth. Which do you pick?

The value of PR in a recruitment scenario is much greater than a ‘we’re recruiting’ press release when you have a post to fill. By maintaining a strong presence in the media and on social media before the need to recruit arises and ensuring it is dappled with messages that support your employer brand, you can lay the ground work for identifying suitable candidates and persuading them to choose you.

Here are our top tips for using PR to support your employer brand:

·    Ensure your PR is sustained across the on- and offline channels your audiences use

·    Maximise the value of stories about investment in people, training, promotion from within         

·    Demonstrate the company’s success and showcase the calibre of work new employees will         

·    Ensure existing employees see the PR you’re doing so that they can amplify the messages         

·    Maximise the value of content by using it on your website and sharing it on social media