This post is part of our series on team storytelling. Job candidates care an awful lot about their possible future team. But even within the same organization, teams vary (sometimes widely) from one to the next. The most effective talent branding efforts use team member stories to showcase the value proposition that the specific hiring team or business unit provides a candidate.

Every employer brander’s dream: brand recognition so strong that the general public already understands you as a workplace and employer.

Every recruiter’s headache: working for the business unit or team that offers an experience different from that overall brand perception, and having to adjust this misconception in candidates’ minds.

Team Value Proposition

As recruitment marketers, giving candidates insight into the employee experience is the goal. To think every employee experiences the workplace in the same way is unrealistic. Our approach to marketing those experiences has to adapt accordingly.

That’s why you need to highlight your Team Value Proposition, along with your Employer Value Proposition.

If your team operates differently than the rest of the organization, a brand misconception can result in recruitment consequences: 1) Attracting candidates that would be a fit for the rest of your organization, but not quite for your team and 2) Missing out on candidates who opt out of the application process, not realizing your team would be their perfect fit.

For Deloitte’s Delivery Centers, using TVP to widen the candidate pool

For Deloitte’s U.S. Delivery Centers, the challenge was the latter.

Candidate perception of a career at Deloitte includes regular client travel and interesting projects. But traveling is not possible for all people, and many candidates likely opt out of the process on that criteria.

But what if you were able to work on the same innovative projects, minus the travel? Consider Deloitte’s U.S. Delivery Centers, which are the permanent homes to several thousand Deloitte team members that support innovative client projects on a remote basis.

Because most people did not know their business model, creating content unique to the USDC was step one. Deloitte’s brand team created a series of videos highlighting the business unit. Even while distinguishing the unique business model of the USDC, the culture of innovation and superior client service still rings through (they are still a part of Deloitte, after all).

Highlighting the personalities of the team was important, too. While the more traditional consultants spend most of their time on client site, USDC team members spend each day with their team at the delivery center.

Attracting a specific candidate for CVS Health’s PBM team

The team at CVS Health’s Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) is unique within CVS Health. The team was responsible for high level, strategic process improvements. They were able to attract consultants from top tier consulting firms once those candidates understood the types of problems the team was solving. And, the team needed different messaging and marketing from the rest of CVS Health because of the specialized nature of the work.

Marketing to candidates who had solved different process improvement problems was key, and a lot of that talent could be found in top tier consulting firms. CVS Health could also offer a work-life balance that those traveling for client projects might appreciate.

And because the team was so small and close-knit, each team member had their own video to share more about their passions outside of work and how CVS supports them.

Team Storytelling to solve recruitment challenges

Different teams offer different opportunities and experiences throughout your organization. Celebrate that! And then, communicate it to your candidates.

For Deloitte’s U.S. Delivery Centers, sharing team content allowed them to widen their potential talent pool. In contrast, for CVS Health’s PBM team this meant doubling down on a specific talent group with skills they knew fit their team.

Whatever the recruitment challenge for a team within your organization, capturing and sharing team content is a great place to start.