You know your job candidates are out there – but you need to pinpoint who they are, where they are, and what to say to them.
Landing quality prospects means delivering messages that say the right thing to the right person at the right time.
Persona Groups, Journey Maps, and Message development will tell you where to reach potential employees and what to say.
How to create your Persona Groups:
1. Define personas by position
Look at the levels of your organization where you need to staff. Start to form archetypes –prototypical examples of the types of workers you attract for any given position. Prioritize according to your more urgent needs. Evaluate each “type” by:
- Female/Male/LQBTQ gender skew
- Age range
- Cultural Background
- Education
- Salary Range
- Values
- Media Habits
NOTE: There may be several Persona types within individual categories. Example: “Nurses” are a multivariate Persona Group, including LPNs, RNs, APRNs, and other types of nurses.
Defining Personas help you illustrate the main demographic, psychographic, ethnic, and cultural characteristics of those you seek to hire. A specific picture of who you want to hire enables specific targeting and message development.
Example: Sofia, the LPN
This is a composite Personal profile based on several individual professionals interviewed in Persona-related research.
- Sofia is 44 years old
- Married, 2 daughters, ages 10 and 12
- Moved to the US from Jamaica, where her mom was a nurse
- Lives in the metro-NYC area
- Completed accredited practical nursing certificate program and wants to be an RN
- Loves the positive impact of her work
- Seeking ways to do what she loves – and keep advancing
- Considering: SNFs, hospice, home care services
- Active on Facebook
- Actively looking at competitive health websites via Google
- Talks with friends constantly about life, jobs, kids.
2. Begin mapping their journeys
For anyone unfamiliar with a Journey Map, it is a graphic that charts the path a Persona is on during a particular phase of their life (in this case, as they seek a job). The Journey Map identifies what actions a Persona takes through the phases of the journey from:
The Journey Map charts the parts of their journey that you are trying to walk with the Persona. It also helps define where you need to provide content, ideas, actions, and opportunities along the way to bring your Personas deeper into their relationship with you as a possible employer.
Journey Maps require work.
You may have to make educated guesses, live with some uncertainty, and improve your Journey Maps over time. Remember in Step 1. Assessment, ask current employees about their journey. This can shed light on how to approach potential employees.
The benefits of Journey Maps in a nutshell:
- A specific picture of a person you want to attract.
- A better sense of how to structure marketing content and messages.
- A shared understanding of targeting between Marketing and Human Resources.
3. Develop Messages
Messages will vary by Persona type, but they should connect the Persona to the Employer Value Proposition defined in Step 1, Assessment.
So let’s stick with Sofia, our LPN. Here’s what some of her key messages might look like:
Become an RN while working for (Name of your organization)
If caring is your passion, work for us
Keep caring, keep advancing
Healthcare Moms: Get a Flexible Schedule
These messages can go to work in text ads, banner ads, job listings, and other tactical outreach. Once they have been exposed to the market, messages can be optimized based on the strongest performers.
Estimated timeframe for Persona Groups, Journey Maps and Messages: 2-3 weeks
Get ready for Step 3: Targeting: Strategies & Tactics
When you’re ready to use data to solve healthcare communications problems, contact us.
