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If you’re a home service business or green industry contractor, you know how hard it can be to get skilled labor to help manage all the demands for projects. When it comes to hiring -- the lack of laborers in the United States makes it an employees’ market, so it’s time to up your game when it comes to recruiting to stand out as THE place to work in your local market. Watch today’s video to learn how to leverage the power of storytelling with your existing employees in your digital marketing to attract top talent.
GIE+ EXPO & Landscapes EXPO Takeaways From Louisville, KY
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Last week I went to Louisville Kentucky for the GIE + EXPO and Landscapes 2017, the largest green industry conference in the world. I got to visit with some out-of-state clients, tour downtown Louisville, and I moderated a Breakfast Of Champions table with the National Association of Landscape Professionals on the topic of: How To Recruit Top Employees and Best Customers Through Digital Marketing.
Landscaping & Home Service Industries Face Labor Shortage
It was abundantly clear, based on my conversations with landscape contractors and managers from green industry businesses, as well as many recent articles, that the lack of skilled laborers is the biggest issue facing the green and home service industries.
Recruiting Is A Marketing Activity
It’s a well-known fact that there’s a shortage of laborers in the United States. Not only are you looking for laborers… but you’re looking for skilled laborers… and skilled laborers who can show up on time, come back again next week, and maybe even become a dependable part of your team for many years. That’s a pretty tall order - and the men and women who fit the bill know they can pick and choose where to work. They’re going to research prospective employment options online -- and what they find, or don’t find, about your business’ employment opportunities could make or break them contacting you. Here’s one way you can help them find you and choose to work for you through your marketing.
Tell the story they want to hear.
Too often -- careers pages and job ads read like legalese, and not enough like something that would inspire someone to work for you. A great way to inspire potential hires is to share real stories of existing employees.
The story of the employee who left, got paid more, and came back…
A great story I heard at my Breakfast of Champions table was from a manager at landscaping company located in a urban area with lots of competing landscaping companies. One of his employees left to work for a competitor for a pay increase… but later found he really disliked working for that company. Although he was making more per hour -- he had fewer hours per week and actually made less income. Worse, he disliked the culture of the company and how he was managed. He later came back.
Tell the story in videos, career pages, reviews, and social media
That is a GREAT story to get on video! Share that story on your careers page, in your job ads, in your social media, and have your employees share reviews on sites like Glassdoor, Google My Business, Yelp and Facebook - so other potential employees can find them.
Contact us to find out how you can improve your digital marketing to recruit more employees
Of course, there’s way more than just this story idea to recruit top employees. Many contractors will say they’re too busy with referrals to focus on marketing. Over 60% told me they had no need for marketing because they’re too busy recruiting… but they also didn’t even know if they had a careers page on their website -- and most had never even looked at their site on a smartphone.
What else could you be missing? Have a digital marketing expert from Ramblin Jackson take a look and we’ll let you know how to fill in the gaps so you stand out as a top place to work online. Contact us for a Million Dollar Marketing Meeting at ramblinjackson.com/million/
