Without the right motivational triggers, you won't get today's professionals on board
Your very best account manager is leaving. Time to jump right into action, looking for a new top performer. The enthusiastic job posting is created, with a clear company profile, clear job description and two colleagues telling you what makes working in your organization so much fun.
Yet the job posting doesn’t deliver what you expected and you find yourself empty-handed. Now what?
Nice in the saddle
Meanwhile, on the proverbial other side of the table: the account manager who is comfortable in the saddle. And perhaps cautiously achieving success on autopilot. That feels nice, but it could be more challenging.
Why look for something else when work is just so relaxed? All the jobs that come up are uniform? And companies don’t really stand out? Then you won’t be any the wiser for a change. And you don’t warm up to a job application. Never mind, it’s fine. For now, this professional is still in place.
Difficult to activate
The eager company on one side. The doubting, ideal new employee on the other. He even saw that job posting come up several times. But still it failed to move him with it.
This situation reflects the state of affairs in today’s complex labor market. A labor market in which there is real talent, but in which it is difficult to activate this talent. This calls for a different approach in labor communication. One with convincing information that triggers and activates. This starts with telling a story that connects with the professionals and answers the question: what’s in it for me?
Focus on motivation
Over the years, due to increasing affluence, the triggers to get candidates to apply for jobs have developed further and faster.
- Terms of employment is the best known. From “the big bang,” it has been important in attracting candidates.
- Around the 1970s, more focus was placed on opportunities for personal development.
- Then, around 2000, table tennis tables and hip workspaces came in demand to capture the atmosphere and culture of an organization.
- Today, it is increasingly about satisfaction and making a contribution. Professionals want to feel that their work is useful and that they are working on long-term solutions.
- And let’s not forget candidates’ own personal ambition!
Responding to these developments, we are now working at Velde with a new vacancy concept in which these motivational triggers take the lead role.
– Paul Bettonviel
The motivation triggers
1 – Salary: what will I earn?
Salary is important and always will be. You simply want to be paid well for the work you do, and if at all possible, you want to improve financially when you take the next step. Salary today is less isolated than it used to be. It’s about the full package of working conditions related to pay, appreciation and time.
2 – Personal growth: can I continue to grow?
Over the years, the rewards people receive for work have improved. As a result, the focus for development opportunities has grown. It no longer only matters what you get today, but also what the prospects are for the future. People want to know how they can develop further on a personal level, what the opportunities for advancement are and what steps they can take to do so. That gives them something to work toward.
3 – Culture: do I like it?
You get paid well and can follow a growth path that allows you to influence your career. These certainties mean that people today find it increasingly important that their work environment is also fun. They want to feel at home in a culture that suits them. To work with colleagues they get along with. And to open and close the office door every day with a good feeling. At one company, the periodic outings are a USP, while another has a great interior or has a unique structure or form of cooperation as the foundation of the company.
4 – Assignment: what can I contribute?
You have a good salary, great growth opportunities and every day is a joy to work. What more could you want as an employee? In the current job market, candidates are looking for more and more satisfaction. They are looking for a job that matches what they find really interesting and useful. Contributing to solutions for customers or society in general, is something that is getting more and more attention in this regard. How can I help improve this solution? What contribution do I want to make?
5 – Ambition: what do I want to achieve?
At the heart of all motivational triggers is personal ambition. Where do you want to be as a professional in 3 to 5 years? Developing oneself further and making a useful contribution only becomes really interesting if it brings them even closer to fulfilling their own ambition.
The sweet spot of all this can be found where your organization’s ambition overlaps with that of the professional. That’s where the fireworks are: captivating and engaging professionals with ambitions that match your ambitions. Because both of your ambitions reinforce each other like a flywheel!
The Motivation Circle
Conditions, growth, culture, assignment and ambition combine to form the Motivation Circle. A circle that fully captures the motivational triggers of your vacancy for a professional. As an organization, you may not be able to excel at each point individually, but when combined with all points, you have something very special to offer professionals.
Transparency, more images and less text are the magic words here. This increases the chance that someone will be touched by your vacancy. The video in which our client talks enthusiastically about his company and his ambition has been given a prominent place. Just as essential is the task of the position and the contribution the professional can make to the future plans of the organization.
Put the league on hiatus
With this new set-up for job postings, will all recruitment problems disappear like snow in the sun? That would be nice, of course, but not realistic. All the other puzzle pieces in the candidate journey must also be in the right place.
But the fact is that very few organizations really put the candidate first. If you can spark something with such an inspired approach and get the right people at the table, then you will at least be one step ahead of the competition.
Curious to see what our new job listing looks like in practice? Take a look at our vacancy overview. Are you curious what the motivation circle can do for your recruitment process, please contact us!
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