Updated June 2022: Employee Stories Toolkit for Recruitment Marketing Ideas

We are excited to provide a free resource that includes guides and best practices for using employee content and testimonials for employees in recruitment marketing. Many of the tools shared come from our own research on what candidates are looking for and how they determine a best place to work and good company culture.

The strategic guide to planning for employee stories is one we are very excited about. It includes ideas and tips for getting by-in from leaders, aligning with efforts to improve company culture, and department goals. Using employees stories for recruiting can help the entire organization grow.

The 14 employee story campaign ideas we hope are helpful too. You can run a campaign every month and collect authentic content to keep your recruiting engine going strong in 2022. These ideas will help deliver the best candidate experience as well. We've hosted the guide on notion.so because we like the tool, and because it can be replicated.

Check it out at https://toolkit.goodseeker.com.

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Employee Story Strategy Template 👈

We created this guide to help you increase support, sustainability, and ROI of your employee story program.

download pdf. - How to Increase Employee Story Program ROI.pdf

1. Make sure the timing is right.

If you want to add employee stories to your recruitment marketing and candidate experience toolkit make sure you are set up for success.  Ideally, answer yes to all of these questions.

• Leadership has set a tone where the voice of employees matters.
• Leadership has committed to do more to enhance the employee experience.
• If culture is not where it needs to be, we are committed to improving it.
• Our employer brand and reputation is a priority this year.
• We have clear values and want to do more to reinforce them.
• We have someone who will own our employee stories effort.

2. Clarify key roles and work as a team.

We highlight 5 main objectives for your program.  Knowing who is thinking about each and taking action is important.  It could be one person or a team.  In cases where you have more than one person involved make sure everyone is clear on ownership of key roles.

• Task: Document roles and confirm with stakeholders the roles each party plays.

5 Key Roles

1. Planning - prioritizing content needs and timing for campaigns.
2. Collection - responsible for engaging and coaching employees as storytellers.
3. Internal Sharing - ensures stories are leveraged across departments.
4. External Sharing - ensures approved stories are promoted for recruiting, sales, etc.
5. Leadership Support - ensures that leaders encourage involvement from employees.

3. Create internal champions by linking to goals.

Review plans, documents, and resources to find clear links where employee stories can help other departments and teams. This can boost internal support for your program. Below is a list of some of the most likely company documents that will give you clues.

• Task: Inventory existing plans, surveys, KPIs, OKRs, and Scorecards from different teams and departments. Find opportunities to align employee generated stories with company priorities.

4. Have a plan to deliver value ASAP.

One of the biggest barriers to sustained leadership support for employee story programs is not delivering immediate measurable value. Show how the stories you collect will be used internally and externally to enhance existing processes and functions.

• Task: Document the things you will do with stories to make an immediate impact.

5. Create a calendar for key campaigns.

After aligning with company goals plan-out specific campaigns and when you will run them, and for how long. Some may be promoted to all employees, others to specific audiences. For example, if you expect a hiring surge for creative accountants January start collecting stories from creative accountants in September ahead of tax season!

• Task: Build out your calendar and share it with key stakeholders who will benefit most. When ready, consider publicizing your calendar for employees to see. Helps build excitement.

12 Awesome Recurring Campaign Ideas

1. Celebrate Success - monthly campaign to collect stories aligned to values.
2. New Hire Heroes - campaign to collect stories about new hires and their impact.
3. Day in the Life - campaign highlighting an employees' day (by staff level).
4. First Month Wrap - Invite new hires to share highlights from their 1st week or month.
5. Anniversaries -  campaign to collect employees' proudest moment for every year.
6. Intern Impact - seasonal campaign to capture stories about intern work experiences.
7. Campus Recruiting - capture stories alumni who attended schools you recruit from.
8. Career Transition - collect stories to spotlight successful transitions from another industry.
9. Candidate Journey - campaign to capture stories about the candidate journey.
10. Mentor Moments - campaign to spotlight mentor and mentee relationships.
11. Corporate History - invite long-timers to recall pivotal moments and why they matter.
12. Training Time - invite employees to share a success related to prior technical training.
13. Day, Week, Month Celebrations - Administrative Professionals Month, etc.

6. Other critical success factors

In addition to planning, you need the right tools and processes in place. Below are some of the key tactical considerations to help ensure success and value from your efforts. Another outstanding resource to aid your planning is shared by Rally Recruitment Marketing HERE.

• We have a centralized way to collect and leverage stories so they are easily accessible.
• We know that leaders set the tone and have a plan to get stories from key leaders.
• We know the metrics we want to achieve and how we will measure determine success.
• We have identified channels to send consistent reminders, i.e. email, text, newsletters.
• We have a small group of ambassadors who will publish first stories and encourage others.
• If employees are sharing stories to help recruiting, we will approve them fast.

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🎥 WEBINAR: Engaging Reluctant Employee Storytellers for Recruitment Marketing.

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23 Story-Worthy Moments At Work 👈

1. Connected Virtual Culture - Just because you're not in the cube next door doesn't mean you're not crushing it with your hybrid team. Recognize' em in with a story. ‍
2. “Just Doing My Job” - Hearing this often means, “I’m giving it my all because I care.” This a great chance to give credit where its due, and when least expected.‍
3. First Impressions - Whether it's a new hire or the first time working with someone. That first interaction was etched on your brain.  Perfect moment to share a story. ‍
4. A Surprise Mentor - When you've been around the block you owe your sage advice to others. Share positive feedback and reinforce what matters with a story.‍
5. Perfectly-timed Help - So you thought you could do it alone. When someone shows up at just the right time to lend a hand or their back … give them a story. ‍
6. First of Anything - It's not easy to break from status quo, to introduce something new, or to take a chance. Applaud those who try new things big and small.‍
7. Project Progress - Big project with lots of milestones? Applaud small wins and lessons learned. Use stories to show progress and appreciation at the same time.‍
8. Customer Feedback - It’s validation that your efforts matter. Share a story to make sure “everyone” involved realizes their connection and contribution to customer success. ‍
9. Wins (and losses) - Celebrate wins and the small victories in defeat. Ring the bell by sharing a story. It's one thing to be loud, it's another to remember why. ‍
10. Company Initiatives - Build support by recognizing examples that highlight the positive impact and good things that come from new priorities and investments.‍
11. Intern Impact - Give them the gift knowing that their contribution mattered. Sharing intern success stories also make you really attractive to top candidates. ‍
12. Personal Achievements - They finished school while working, earned a volunteer award from the charity you support. Applaud personal accomplishments with a story.‍
13. Capture Lessons Learned - Behind every lesson-learned there's a story that can make us all better next time around. Be bold and share it.‍
14. New Hire Welcome - It feels great to know that you're making a splash when you dive in as someone new. Welcome them with a story when you see them support your values.‍
15. Applaud Team Spirit - Some show pride when it's needed most. They surprise you with their energy and positivity. Applaud them for reminding us we belong to something cool. ‍
16. Partnership Progress - Build strong relationships with partners by recognizing the small successes that you achieve together.
17. ‍Exceeding Expectations - When you get more than what you expect, someone did more than what was expected of them. Let them know by sharing a story. ‍
18. O’ Shoot Moments - Made a wrong step but it all worked out? Recognize those who came through. Then capture a story so others can learn.‍
19. Wearing Many Hats - Some people balance a lot because necessity calls for it. There's a story in what they accomplish wearing those hats and it deserves to be shared. ‍
20. Hidden Talents - “Wow, where did you learn to do that?” When surprise skills and undiscovered talent shows up big, give em props with a story.
21. Volunteer Efforts - Those who give back make our communities and companies better. Share their story to inspire a culture that stands for good.‍
22. Organize This! Behind the scenes it was no easy task to pull off that 100 person zoom call. When they pull together all the pieces share a story to show them it rocked.
23. Fun and Laughs - Work can be serious right now. Recognize those who raise the fun factor for everyone. It takes good people to lighten things up. Their unique ideas deserve a story.

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14 Awesome Employee Story Campaign Ideas 👈

1. Celebrate Success - Monthly campaign to collect stories aligned to values.
2. New Hire Heroes - Campaign to collect stories about new hires and their impact.
3. Yearbook - End of year campaign to capture team's most notable milestones.
4. Day in the Life - Campaign highlighting an employees' day (by staff level).
5. First Month Wrap - Invite new hires to share highlights from their 1st week or month.
6. Anniversaries -  Campaign to collect employees' proudest moment for every year.
7. Intern Impact - Seasonal campaign to capture stories about intern work experiences.
8. Campus Recruiting - Capture stories alumni who attended schools you recruit from.
9. Career Transition - Spotlight employees' successful transitions from another industry.
10. Candidate Journey - Campaign to capture stories about the candidate journey.
11. Mentor Moments - Campaign to spotlight mentor and mentee relationships.
12. Corporate History - Get tenured employees and alumni to share pivotal moments.
13. Training Time - Invite employees to share a success related to prior technical training.
14. Day, Week, Month Celebrations - Administrative Professionals Month, etc. See all 100.

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Stories vs. Spotlights vs. Testimonials👈

Read about the benefits of using each form of content for recruiting and promoting a positive employee experience. There are benefits to all.

Read The Blog Post 📖

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MEET GOODSEEKER:

The original Employee Story Generator makes it extremely fast and easy to collect, manage, and share employee stories for recruitment marketing, culture building, engaging remote employees. Easily bring employee ambassador and referral campaigns to life with stories and ensure that the content your capture also supports priorities like DE&I, activating your EVP, and improving the candidate experience. Every story is an extension of your career site and SEO juice for recruiting.

We also invite you to get started with FREE account on GoodSeeker.

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