Guarantee that YES to your offer

So far, we have thought through how use video to attract, educate, nurture, convert and interview talent. And, it’s worked – we’ve found the person we want to hire! It’s a happy day. In most enterprise organizations, these offers happen for multiple candidates and hiring managers every day. So, while it may feel run-of-the-mill for recruiters, the offer is a HUGE day for the candidate. Let’s never forget this.  Huge, and often stressful.

Candidates who are getting offers have a lot of informational needs. Primarily, they want to know how much you’re going to pay them. Hopefully this has already been discussed and will not be a surprise! They also want to know about benefits, starting date, what their career progression looks like, what resources they will have to do their job, and right now, they want to know how you are going to handle this whole global pandemic thing.

From an emotional standpoint, people who are getting an offer go through a myriad of emotions. They are anxious before they get the offer. They are going to be excited or disappointed based on the dollar amount on that offer. Then…if they have a current job or other opportunities in the pipeline, they are going to get anxious all over again, because they must quit their current job or shut down their search.

While it would be easy to think this is a 100% positive day, it’s not always that way. The candidate’s information and emotional needs in the offer stage are off the charts. This is when they REALLY have to decide.

This is when they are really going to need to be reassured and reinforced. This is the moment where they are deciding to say good-bye to their current work-friends, or turn down the introductions and referrals of their network and gamble on your team. They need to feel excitement. They need to feel connection. They need to see things that will make the decision easy for them.

The videos that will help them through the offer stage are simple, but supremely impactful:

Hiring Manager Message

Similar to the interview video from the hiring manager (link), a simple video from the hiring manager telling the candidate that they are excited to offer them the job, reinforcing why they were given the offer and anticipating them joining and having an impact. An important part of this message is calling out the special strength or qualification that led the hiring manager to make the offer.  Just a simple statement such as – ‘”I’m really impressed with your project management skills,” or “your social media experience will add important expertise to the team,” will make the candidate feel special and appreciated. It is high touch and high tech, and helps the candidate know that the manager is excited about them joining the team.

Teammate Message

A short welcome video from the team, similar the hiring manager’s, is so meaningful. Think a 15-second clip of the team sharing how excited they are to begin working together on amazing things. The message will be truly impactful if shared after the written offer to help quell the candidate’s fears of changing teams.

L&D Message

Given all the resources your organization puts into learning and development, it would be a huge miss to leave it out of recruiting.  And now is when it has the most leverage.  Ask your head of L&D to record a short, 20-second video stating the philosophy and mission of the L&D team.  Reinforce the commitment to employees learning, being challenged and advancing in their careers.  The candidate wants to hear these words and see it come from an individual who is responsible for making it happen.  Do not over produce this video, an informal video delivering the message with conviction will be successful.

As you begin to craft your Video Strategy to support the candidate journey, you’ll be thinking through a few key elements. Things like overcoming video pushback, camera shy employees, and more. You not only need to consider the candidate, but you’ll also need to get buy in from your leaders and your future on-screen talent. When you use video to help candidates choose you, you are showing them the real story of your brand. You’re building not only relationships (internally and externally), you’re building advocates.

In tomorrow’s piece, as we talk about the pre-start phase, we will tackle content distribution and how to get more traffic on your video content by having a thoughtful distribution strategy. If you’re ready to jump right in and start building your Video Strategy, download our Video Strategy Framework now.