Authenticity is the Key to Successfully Recruiting Passive Candidates

In the spirit of Sarah Palin's humor, here's a joke we say in my hometown of Atlanta, GA:  What's the difference between a great brand and a boyfriend?...Great brands remember your birthday. 

Okay so it's not as zingy as "lipstick," but I'm also not running for Vice President.  I took a personal holiday today in order to Lifehack and get organized.  While I did notice some dust-bunnies bigger than my blackberry, the real surprise came when I finally checked my mail after ignoring it for 2 weeks.  As I pulled the stack of papers out of my little metal box, I was ecstatic to see that I had received several birthday cards from my alma mater, car dealership, and favorite retailers and brands.    

I hastily opened each one and DARED there to be a single pre-printed card with a general message.  When I saw signatures, I was flooded with the instant reassurance that my hard earned dollars were indeed well spent with brands that were more thoughtful than just a pre-printed card with a general message.  This made me smile.  Great brands know how to make their customers smile. 

My favorite was a handwritten note from a young lady named Deborah at Nordstrom.  I bought a pricey watch from her a few weeks ago and while her original intent was to write me a thank you note, she didn't say thank you at all.  She said things like "I really enjoyed talking with you" and "you seem very fun".  She drew smiley faces and she used both upper and lower case letters interchangeably.  She did not dot every i and I believe there was a dangling participle or 2.  Her y's and g's were so loopy that they intersected with the words that were directly below.  It was by no means professional in the traditional sense, but it was genuine...in the "wow, that was nice" sense 

Perhaps it is a requirement that Nordie employees send notes to valued customers, but that still doesn't take away from the meaning of hers.  Because as I got down to the "God Bless" in all caps at the closing, Deborah's note let me know something important--that she is still able to maintain her voice and her values within this megabrand's infrastructure.  Values like loopy g's followed by the letters o and d.  

It made me want to go visit Deborah again.  Better yet, it made me want to work right alongside her.

I've visited some pretty fancy "why you should work here" sites these past weeks but nothing speaks louder to your culture than the candid rhetoric of your front line employees.  This epiphany isn't anything particularly new but it is still relevant.

As we continue to dwell in an information age where companies can buy their cool from any given design firm and the front line employee has gone digital, it's important that whatever message potential candidates hear is an authentic one.  Oh and by the way, in the information age, everybody is a potential candidate...