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August 11, 2022

How To Optimise Your Attraction Campaign In A Hybrid World

4 min read
By The Smarty Train

In 2020 the world was forced to switch to virtual attraction campaigns. Two years on, many organisations now have the luxury of choice between face-to-face, virtual and hybrid campaigns.

More choice, however, makes decision-making harder: 70% of employees want flexible remote work options to continue, yet 65% of the same employees are craving more in-person time with their colleagues. Trying to cater for both audiences at the same time isn’t easy either: 71% of event facilitators report that connecting both in-person and remote audiences is their biggest challenge. 

If you’re responsible for attraction campaigns or programmes, it can be hard to know which option is best for your people and your organisation.  Whether you’re running your attraction campaign face-to-face, virtual, or hybrid, here are three considerations to make in today’s hybrid world to ensure your campaign is optimised for greatest impact:

1) Be clear on your organisation’s hybrid working norms

We’re still navigating the correct behaviours, etiquette and norms are hybrid working, despite 98% of meetings in 2021 having at least one remote participant.

What are the appropriate greetings and etiquette in hybrid settings? Should cameras be on or off? Should people be on mute or un-muted?

Not knowing your organisation’s norms can lead candidates to feel uncomfortable through the attraction experience. It can result in them to moving their focus away from the experience you’re providing and focus instead on unanswered questions. This applies to 1:1 meeting, large-group experiences and everything in between.

How can you make your attraction experience more comfortable for candidates?
  • Agree with your team and facilitators what your norms are and communicate these consistently. How do you welcome people to your session? How do you take questions? What do facilitators do if the doorbell rings in someone’s home?
  • Virtual housekeeping is critical for addressing any unknowns before they become sources of anxiety or uncertainty for your candidates. Make sure, for example, they know what to do if their laptop isn’t working, or their internet cuts out.
  • Remember, even if your norms are clear to you, they very likely are unknown or brand new to people outside your organisation. This is especially true for young people who have had relatively less insight into the world of work due to the pandemic. Whether your attraction is face-to-face, virtual, or hybrid, be clear and up front on your organisation’s norms and etiquette. Assume nothing is obvious or prior knowledge.

 

2) Build connection & community

Globally, only 21% of people are engaged at work. Despite this, research shows that organisations that focus on keeping their people engaged benefit from 23% higher profits and an 18% increase in productivity. An engaging attraction campaign can be the first step in bridging the engagement gap before your potential recruits have even started, by helping establish a connection to their role and to your organisation.

How can you engage people through attraction programmes in a hybrid environment?
  • Community is a powerful tool for unlocking, changing, and re-locking the way we feel, our actions and thought processes. Creating key moments of bonding with colleagues from across the organisation can help build meaningful connections throughout your attraction campaign.
  • Create virtual or physical water cooler moments throughout the attraction experience. Think of incorporating (virtual) coffee breaks, (virtual) breakfast mornings and conversations with people across your business that are not just about work.
  • Leave room for networking. In a hybrid environment there may be fewer opportunities to connect with prospective colleagues from across the organisation and gain insight into the business. Consider ‘networking’ experiences designed for hybrid. Involve leaders from across the organisation. Give candidates an opportunity to connect with each other.

 

3) Invest in inclusion

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are no longer “nice-to-haves”. They’re must-haves: 90% of people now believe DEIB is everyone’s business, and 83% of people agree that virtual spaces should not excuse ‘providing accessible spaces in the real world’. When it comes to DEIB in a hybrid setting, there are many considerations to make: is a virtual learning environment for neurodiverse people? Does your audience have tech barriers? Are they able to travel to your office? How can people feel comfortable being their most authentic selves? The list goes on.

How can you make inclusion a priority in your Hybrid attraction campaign?
  • Proactively ask your audience what steps you can take to make your programme more inclusive and accessible to them. Reach out and ensure attendees have the right spaces, equipment or are able to access the virtual or F2F space your attraction programme is in. If they don’t, then address it early.
  • Include colleagues from across the business with various backgrounds and stories. They can be role models for your audience.
  • Provide recordings of your attraction programme so that people can review the session at their own pace, in consideration of people who are neurodiverse or have chronic illness and may not be able to access your content in real time.

 

Looking for Hybrid attraction inspiration?

Our award-winning collaboration with Johnson and Johnson saw their traditional face-to-face campus attraction campaign transformed into a global, multi-day, virtual attraction event, designed to take participants on a journey to unlock Johnson & Johnson’s core message and values. ​

 


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