Executing a recruitment marketing video plan sometimes requires research and buy-in. This case study is an excerpt from our new ebook, Getting Buy-In for Your Employee Story Project: The Ultimate Guide to Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing ROI.
Learn how Ochsner Health’s talent acquisition team identified the resources needed to build an effective recruitment marketing and employer branding function, and got buy-in for their content project.
Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic healthcare system. They were facing a common challenge: how do they increase candidate applications for critical hiring needs?
In 2019, Brittni Williamson, Director of Talent Acquisition, started researching how other healthcare systems were recruiting nurses and physicians. She realized Ochsner didn’t have compelling content about the employee experience on their career site, while other healthcare systems did. She knew what was unique about their culture, but candidates didn’t.
Creating a library of content that stayed true to the employee experience and the Ochsner brand would take her team a lot of time. Ochsner’s internal marketing resources were focused on the consumer, and she knew her team was already overwhelmed with daily recruiting activities. Meanwhile, they needed to hire critical talent immediately. Britnni knew to execute in a way that was timely without compromising quality, she needed external help. But first, Brittni needed to make her case internally and get buy-in for the effort.
Researching needs
After determining what candidates needed to know about the Ochsner employee experience, she surveyed where the gaps were in their messaging. Then, she identified who she would need to get on board with the effort:
- All talent acquisition team members—those who were direct lines to candidates, and who would be sharing the content
- Department leadership—individuals needed to champion their ideas and advocate for funding
She scheduled meetings to gain support, and plan a budget and timeline.
Finding a partner
Then, she met with vendors to find the best solution to her problem, looking for an agency that could authentically communicate Ochsner’s culture and bring to life what it meant to work as a nurse or doctor there. Stories Inc. was selected based upon their expertise, samples of their work for companies facing similar hiring challenges, and flexibility in scope and budget in order to be a true partner. This was important as Brittni needed to gain support for the project and provide details for the solution, but wasn’t sure yet on what funding would be available.
Brittni says, “I knew Stories Inc. was the right fit, not only from the great examples of quality work they provided, and the array of project options that they offered. But also from their communication style and their level of enthusiasm to help our team.”
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Getting buy-in
Next, the TA team identified its financial stakeholders—the department leaders who would benefit from the recruiting results the project would produce. The department leaders needed to have the authority to approve the investment. Brittni also needed those financial stakeholders to champion the project, as she would later enlist their help in selecting their employees to participate in the project. In Ochsner’s case, the financial stakeholders and project champions were Chief Nursing and Physician Officers across multiple facilities.
The team developed a presentation to use in a road show effort amongst their stakeholders. In addition to using Ochsner specific data to help illustrate the problem, they used Stories Inc. work examples and sample timelines, relying on visuals to help sell the solution. Before each meeting with the financial stakeholders, Brittni sent a brief email overview of what would be discussed prior to the meeting. She also requested pre-meeting insights as to what the stakeholders felt candidates needed to know about working at Ochsner.
Ochsner’s team started each meeting with examples of what ROI the content project would produce. They saved the dollar ask until after showing the need and the solution. Brittni listened to the leaders’ concerns and key questions, and adjusted future presentations so each meeting was more focused and convincing than the last. For example, early on she realized the stakeholders/leaders thought the opportunity to celebrate their employees through the project was an important reason to proceed. So, that point was included in subsequent presentations.
Going for “yes”
Ochsner’s goal for every meeting was a firm “yes” to the project. Brittni says, “I considered the words ‘I have to think about it’ a failure.” They received unanimous support to partner with Stories Inc. and create content for use across the candidate journey, especially to build awareness, drive consideration for open opportunities, and communicate their unique culture in competitive markets.
Dozens of employee stories were uncovered stories from 18 employee storytellers, resulting in 11 nursing videos and 8 physician videos and a completely-refreshed employee photo library.
Because this project was so successful, Brittni earned the trust of her leadership. She was able to get more resources for other brand initiatives, including another recruitment marketing video plan for one year later.
Brittni says, “I knew Stories Inc. was the right fit, not only from the great examples of quality work they provided, and the array of project options that they offered. But also from their communication style and their level of enthusiasm to help our team.”
Want to dig deeper in the content we created for Ochsner Health?
You’ve got this
Inspired by Ochsner Health’s case study and Brittni’s journey? You can do this, too! Our ebook has all the tools to communicate the ROI of the employee story projects and execute the recruitment marketing video plan that’s essential to your success. Plus, inside you’ll find special resources for communicating your needs and making a case for your project, like a custom ROI calculator and presentation deck template for presenting to leadership.