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One of my peers, @tivo, just introduced me to Icebreakers, a merino wool clothing maker.  She knew I shared the love the outdoors and the New Zealand-based company made clothing that: a) smelled clean even on multi-day backpacking trips with only stream water and b) was green and sustainable.  Great statements and interesting facts.  However, what impressed me was when my colleague showed me how I can track with a“baacode” where my products wool came from, right down to the sheep.  That’s personalized, something I experienced and it resonated with something I already valued.

I started wondering how this impacts what I do…

• What “value” do I offer? An applicant seeking a job doesn’t alone define value for all parties.  If  I tell applicants how great a place TiVo is to work, that’s insufficient.  I need to show them.  Photos and videos can communicate value more than just text.  It engages the other senses and it involves other voices (and adds more credibility.  I think of it as giving prospective candidates references on our organization.
• Do I empower my fellow employees? The “don’t-call-me,-I’ll-call-you” line doesn’t cut it anymore.  People expect more.  Great, talented people command more.  How can I help my peers share what they know with others?   I’m realizing that it’s becoming more and more critical to help facilitate conversations within the walls of our organization (intranet, chat etc.).  This is also applicable to outside the walls of our organization.   Social media helps somewhat, but enabling self-discovery is key too.  Perhaps a self-selecting quiz to help a candidate see if one would like working at TiVo.  Or, maybe, a sponsoring industry-related webinar by a peers to reach folks in a key skill set area.

Of course it isn’t up to just up to me, it takes (thankfully) a team effort.  I just need to remind myself to keep asking the questions.

My “people”, be they applicants, customers, or fellow employees, won’t follow me by accident.  They’re not sheep.

Tags: applicant, followers, sheep, value

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 4:00 am and is filed under brand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.