Discourage applications to improve consultant productivity. Mike Ellingham – Part 3/3

Be effective by removing the unnecessary candidates. Less is more but best is the right people.”

This follows part two of my three-part talk to Mike Ellingham about recruitment marketing, agency and employer branding and consultant productivity. Mike is Director of MESO Marketing Limited.

Steve: What technology most enhances consultant productivity?

Mike: I think productivity should be more focused on getting the right candidate. A lot of productivity is focused on processing lots and lots of applications quickly. My view is you should put-off candidates more. You should be more about: “This is the type of person that really works well for our brand”.

A good example is work we’ve done for the store recruitment at World Duty Free. We created lots of video content about what it’s like to work there – the negatives as much as the positives. It’s a challenging place to work – you have to park a long way away from where you work and you have to go through airport security – so those negatives might actually put-off some applicants leaving you only with ones that are really excited about working in an airport.

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The applicants that you are interviewing are really motivated and engage with your brand. Your ratios are up and your productivity is much better because you have “put-off” candidates who would have dropped out because they don’t like the working environment.

Another example is work we did with Northgate Vehicle Hire. Unscripted video interviews with employees throughout the business – not just managers but mechanics, drivers, purchase ledger clerks and service assistants. Candidates are telling us that the videos make Northgate seem a really friendly and down to earth place to work – and they are more engaged with the brand as a result.

Steve: So, less is more.

Mike: In a way. To get productivity try to narrow down your applicants to people that are really engaged and really want to work with you. Be effective by removing the unnecessary candidates. Less is more but best is the right people.

Steve: Brilliant. Thank you very much.

Mike Ellingham (@mikeellingham) is Director of MESO Marketing Limited.