Hiring? Here's how to stand out like a purple cow
Seth Godin is a leading voice in marketing and business. His unconventional ideas about marketing, creativity, and leadership have shaped how the modern world thinks about business.
Known for his highly ethical approach to building relationships with customers; Godin's blog is one of the most read in the world and he’s the author of several bestselling books, including This is Marketing and The Purple Cow.
Godin’s wisdom offers powerful insights for leaders and hiring teams.
In one of his early books The Dip, Godin writes:
Best is subjective, I (the consumer) get to decide, not you’ The world is selfish. It’s my definition, not yours. It’s the world I define, based on my convenience or my preferences.
The lesson for hiring teams? The balance of power has shifted. Today, talent decides what’s best for their own preferences and circumstances.
People expect work to work for them.
Here's another lesson from Seth for talent attraction and people teams:
Without a brand story, you’re invisible.
Godin teaches us that even if someone is listening, your offering of a little cheaper, a little bit better or a little bit easier is a waste of time. They’re open to hearing your story only if it’s truly remarkable; otherwise, you’re invisible.
The lesson? People don't connect with facts alone - storytelling is the core of good content and marketing.
I wholeheartedly believe that recruitment is marketing and to be effective at attracting the right people, we have to create an emotional connection through the recruitment campaign and compelling stories.
My favourite advice from Godin comes in his Purple Cow Theory.
Spoiler alert: In a crowded market; boring job ads don't cut it.
The Purple Cow theory teaches us that ordinary is often invisible. Imagine driving past fields of black-and-white cows . . . after a while you’d stop noticing the cows, because they’re they all look the same.
But what if you saw a purple cow? You’d certainly remember that!
Ordinary is forgettable. To stand out, you need to be extraordinary.
The lesson when you're hiring? Ditch the beige, cookie-cutter job ads.
Don't be boring.
If you want your job and organisation to stand out and be noticed, you need to get creative with compelling engaging content and bold, distinctive employer branding.
Seth says a brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.
Taking Godin’s marketing wisdom to the world of talent attraction and engagement:
Your employer brand is a set of experiences, stories, relationships and perceptions which are at the core of a person’s decision to choose to work for you over another employer. Your brand is why they choose you, and why they stay.
As a communications-professional-and-writer-turned recruiter, I know modern recruitment is marketing and I'm on a mission to share this approach with the nonprofit sector.
With authentic, compelling and insight-led content; you can cut through the noise and achieve excellent recruitment results, even on a tight budget.
Here's how you can attract the right talent without breaking the budget.
Flexible talent support for NFP leaders
I am deeply committed to making recruitment easier for nonprofit leaders.
I support leaders and organisations to attract the right people through:
traditional recruitment solutions
flexible unbundled recruitment support
helping you review and improve your recruitment approach
helping you understand and articulate your real EVP through employee research
leveraging this research to develop authentic recruitment content
building campaigns that reflect culture and the employee experience
consulting and advisory work to develop talent attraction strategy and capacity.
If you’re curious to know more, send me a message or get in touch for a chat.
As a communications professional and writer turned recruiter, I know modern recruitment is marketing, and I'm on a mission to share this approach with the sector.
Each Friday, I share talent attraction advice and insights. The Nonprofit Talent Edge will help you become more intentional, creative and proactive with your recruitment.
Have a great week.
Cynthia