Recruitment: Candidate Experience and Storytelling Lessons from Holly…

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Before today, I’m sure you will have already heard a little bit about storytelling and the importance of being able to tell your brand story to attract the right talent into your business… if you say it quick enough, it sounds simple..

But how does storytelling really affect your world? How do you crack the code? How does the art and science of storytelling really add value to your business goals.Hollywood cracked this code many years ago - the challenge is how does it relate to you?

What if we treated candidate experience like Hollywood treated story telling.

In the next 30mins, I’d like to explore the real correlation between candidate experience and what Joseph campbell calls The Hero’s Journey.

Joseph campbell was the worlds foremost expert on ancient mythology and the origins of Story.
He writes about a definitive number of stories that exist in the world that get told time and time again and more interestingly for us, he broke it down and produced a formula for us to follow. A formula Hollywood have followed for over 100 years.
Until now, I don't believe this has been mapped to candidate experience BUT, We’re not the first people to map Joseph Campbells Hero’s Journey to wider business communications.The Hero’s Journey can be articulated quickly as a message from a mentor to a hero.
The premise of Obi Wan’s message to Luke is exactly the same as Nike’s message to you.Why is it so effective and uplifting - this message inspires us to be the best version of ourselves and appeals to our higher values.We’re wired to make sense of life with the stories we tell ourselves.Our perception is our reality.

A familiar hero’s journey

CX - Candidate experience mapping. hospitality
Here dave is walking through the candidate experience with virgin media.we’re mapping every touch point along the way.we’re mapping the moments between the moments (which I’ll pick back up later)
How does your candidate feel, what are they thinking at every stageHow easy is it to progress through the journey and what’s the memorable moment at each stage too.Finally, we look at the cast - who are the people and what’s their contribution towards making the journey a positive experience.
Who has done something like this for their business?

So here it is in a little more structure - this is a typical candidate process you may recognise.
Along the bottom, what we’ve done is made the first correlation to hollywood with a basic 3 act structure.Does that make sense so far? The attraction stage is like your movie trailer, act one they apply etc etc… Is everyone with me so far?

So, sticking with the basic stages of our candidate experience, what Iv’e done next is map Joseph Campbells Hero’s journey… If you’ve not realised yet, the hero isn’t you, the hero is the candidate.Meet the mentor, you, the brand play the role of the mentor, just like Obi Wan.Screening and assessment is where your hero meets adversity, is challenged and battles their way through until the end where they risk everything and either win, or lose.

So this is exactly the same as before, I’ve simply ordered it vertically.

What we have here is the complete Hero’s journey model as layer out by Joseph campbell.You’ll notice, there’s more points along this journey than I’ve outlined earlier.

The touch points here are the tangible interactions in your process. Many brands will focus on these and these only - they’re absolutely key, but thats a mistake.

you have make sure these touch points are a pleasant experience but without focusing on these next elements, the moments between the moments, it’s near impossible…

Theses additional milestones along the hero’s journey identify crucial points where your candidate / hero is making key decisions on their own - how they’re thinking and feeling, and what they remember at these points are make or break for how the story turns out.
These are the moments between the moments that determine the strength of your story…
Deciding whether or not to apply.Do they have sufficient willing to continue after they’ve applied - how many other jobs will they apply for, how much do they want it at this point.At the innermost cave - big point of self-doubt, loss of confidence and fear can do funny things to a hero…

In the hero’s journey, mythology, Joseph campbell is very clear what happens when the hero crosses the threshold… they go from their world, into what he calls ‘the special world’ where all the action and magic occurs…. this is of course your world, the brand experience at it’s full strength.If you dont influence how the hero feels, what they think, control how easy it is to continue on the journey and what they remember, you’re risking more than you think.
bad reviews, negative word of mouth and even loss of customers never mind candidates.

So there are the key aspects, side by side… apologies for the amount information on this slide but its vital we all understand whats happening at each point of the candidate experience - your hero’s journey.

remember when lots of new cars came out in the 90’s and naughties and it seemed they where all volkswagen golfs under the bonnet… skoda, beetles, mini’s…
all of these movies have the same story under the hood… because these mechanics work time and time again and have done for 4000 years.

The Yellow Brick Road is Career Progression… the first steps are the candidates experience…
To even start this journey down the road…Robert McKee says, The Hero must always have a Point of View. To be clear, the hero isn’t you, it’s the candidate.
This means we must understand the voice of the candidate.align their objectives with yours. understand their point of view.
Your candidate attraction is their first step on your yellow brick road.Why would they start down your road? Lets ask the hero…How much do you know really know about your hero?

The reluctant hero: How will you turn them from passive to active… She will spend up to 2 hours researching your brand before engaging…call to adventure needs to be compelling - there other roads they can start down.
Hollywood uses credentials of cast, crew, ratings reviews and past success + works like hell to get interviews and promotional stories and hype about the main event (the job).Generate and attract communities and reach..Michael Hauge: Inward & Outward Motivation of a HERO.
Aligning what you want to achieve, with what the hero wants and create context. prove/explain context, make them believe their role has impact on the company and their personal goals.
Is she a passive or non-active to active candidate? A change in circumstance forced Dorothy…
How are you convincing her?
If all hero’s start out as reluctant, you need to convince her…
She will spend up to 2 hours researching your brand before engaging with a job application…. What are you doing to ensure she finds positive messages to encourage her to ‘meet the mentor’ and engage with your brand for the first time.

Your Brand: The good witch is the mentor throughout…. your job is tomake them believe in you and believe in themselves…Tell stories of past and present hero’s for them to resonate with.The Trusted guide when crossing the threshold
Brand promise. Not just the words but the evidence, the great advice thats helpful and selfless.
Genuine, Authentic, believe and supportive at all stages…
The mentor figure is always there, including the darkest hours… they can’t fix everything but they can advise and be of comfort.How do you prep your hero to be their best version of themself. give them confidence and self belief consistently throughout.Remind them of the magic with the token (ruby red shoes) or the job they’re applying for.

From a candidate perspective, we are not in Kansas anymore!Threshold Guardian (flying monkeys): Interview Challenges. daft things that make all the difference…. simple detractors from the experience.
How do you processes make the hero feel?Processes: Are you getting the feedback you need? Are they waiting for weeks to come in to be seen….
Practicalities that could potentially damage the optimum experience that the good witch works so hard to create.Asking the same questions multiple times.They struggle to park, or cant find the assessment centre. Coming suited and booted on dress down day… feeling like a muppet, we’ve all been there.

!!!! we had candidates coming to our office by car and their sat nav takes them down the mersey tunnel and made them late - so late they’ve decided, sod it I’m not going…

The enemy: BIG Fear of the unknown, being under prepared.
When they walk into the assessment centre.. what will they be faced with?
More than anything, they don’t want to feel out of place, embarrassed or humiliated by making big mistakes…
When they entcounter the enemy, they’re in your world, not there’s. Most vulnerable (innermost Cave). Fear of the unknown, facing challenges they’re not confident of overcoming.Put on the spot, asked a question and they freeze.When they face their wicked witch, how prepared are the helping them feel? How in control do they think they are?Counsel and coaching for controlling anxiety - the people they speak to, the communications and how are you listening out for the witch?

If there’s one big reason Dorothy says, ‘fuck that, Im not going back to Oz, it’s the witch’. I used to be terrified of that witch..

The ruby red shoes is The job itself.We can all recall the feeling of, God, I want that job. Hero needs to feel like it will add value, its special and it represents where they’re headed in the future… It’s got to be worth facing the witch, right?
It also needs to represent a bit of magic. how is it presented, positioned and framed. Life line - it represents hope and path towards their inward motivation…
helps you create real desire and appreciation. The mentor needs to remind the hero of the magic… or the magic won’t work when they need it to.

Shapeshifters.. people who can detract or attract towards the experience… These were designed to personify the hearts, minds and confidence of the hero… what thoughts and feelings do you need to personify and influence most? Courage and encouragement needed to complete the journey.Hiring managers having a bad day. make or break the experience. Good hiring managers one day, poor people the next - its inconsistent and it’s ruining your story.Some of you still rely on recruiters - they’re part of your cast whether you like it or not… what stories are you giving them to use along the path.Employees - how can they add value to your hero. how can they add insight to you. rising stars, stories of past success… feel felt found.
Commentators: exposure to videos and other materials during the process.glass door, reviews etc, how can you control your shape shifters..

The all-mighty, the all-knowing… the big load of hot air….Whats behind your curtain? whats it really like? meet expectations or it all falls down…Is there an opportunity to relate with the hero… instead of dissappintinment.Overcome/pre-handle objections.. disappointment - bad reviews hurt the franchise…
Are you telling the truth?
Avoid temptation to paint the picture of ‘all seeing all knowing’.

The purpose of every movie scene is to propel the story forward.Famous deleted scenes: head turned into a human bee hiveIF it’s not easy for the candidate, you need to revise the process and delete the scene.Set expectations of what happens next,
make every touch point meaningfulframe the experience from the hero’s point of view… admin/forms, exercises they don’t understand the value form.at assessment, most of them will fail, how can you prepare them for failure and still help them see value in the process / experience.

Blake Synder says ‘If there’s no problems to solve, there’s no story.’transparency can be your secret weapon…

Recruitment: Candidate Experience and Storytelling Lessons from Hollywood

Ph.Creative

Recruitment: Candidate Experience and Storytelling Lessons from Hollywood