How are you using social media to attract and retain employees? Are you telling a consistent story internally and externally?
Today I discovered how travel company Thomas Cook Group plc is using social media for recruitment and thought I’d share it with you.
I’ve written about the company a couple of times in recent months, looking at how it communicated its rebrand internally and I also shared insights into their internal communication.
It has just launched a new careers website touting the latest in website responsive technology, allowing job seekers to peruse the site on desktop, tablet, phablet, and mobile, anytime, anywhere. The new site is rich in content, providing viewers a variety of videos featuring testimonials from staff explaining why they like to work for Thomas Cook, its culture and benefits.
This is all part of the company’s ongoing transformation strategy, and reinforces its dedication to “place its customers at the heart of everything it does” with the introduction of careers.thomascook.com .
The first in a Group-wide initiative, the all-new UK responsive careers website has been developed to attract the very best individuals to join the already highly talented teams at Thomas Cook.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook said: “Showcasing the Company’s people, heritage, strategy and values, the new careers site is brimming with informative content. The site hosts a myriad of job opportunities from across the business including; retail, call centres, overseas, the airline, customer services, e-commerce and head office functions. Candidates can be guaranteed a greater understanding of the Company, and its customer-focussed strategy, through the information on the new site.”
The website has new video testimonials from Thomas Cook employees. In these videos, selected team members explain their jobs within the Company giving potential candidates a good idea of various roles within the business.
I like the fact the website highlights its values:
- Succeed as One Team: We support and trust each other, and work as a single, worldwide high-performing team.
- Deliver for our Customers: We are here to deliver the best possible customer experience today offering value, flexibility and choice while innovating to meet the changing future needs of our customers.
- Engage each other: We recognise Thomas Cook people are the heart of our success. We are determined to energise and inspire each other, seeking out ideas and making sure we’re all clear on our direction.
- Drive for Results: We are resilient and have the courage and determination to succeed, and hold ourselves accountable for making robust, fact-based speedy decisions for lasting value.
- Act with integrity: We maintain the highest ethical standards and transparency in our work, and in our dealings with customers, partners, stakeholders and fellow employees. We keep our commitments, and are honest, fair and trustworthy.
Connecting with the company
Building on the “high-tech, high touch” approach of Thomas Cook’s business structure, the new site also hosts links to a range of new career specific social media platforms including: Facebook , Twitter , YouTube , Instagram , Pinterest , LinkedIn and Google+ .
I
‘ve had a look at their profiles and the image at the top of this page includes some of them.
So why are they using so many channels?
Well according to the company: “The new social platforms will provide job seekers with a variety of information, no matter their social media platform preference, and the ability to keep up to date on the latest job opportunities that will be posted to the website, as well as glean some insight into the daily life and culture at Thomas Cook.”
“The videos on the new careers site reinforce Thomas Cook’s position as one of the UK’s most desirable employers,” explains Justin Morrison, Senior Trainer – Overseas for Thomas Cook. “I was one of the employees that joined Thomas Cook for one summer. I was totally clear that I had no intention of staying for a career, and that was 17 years ago! If you’re to join our Company you will get great training, you will have somebody there to guide you through your role with a totally clear and transparent career progression programme. You will be part of a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, totally diverse workforce and that is a great thing to be part of.”
You can watch the video here:
“As the Thomas Cook Business Transformation carries on at pace, we are looking to recruit additional first-rate talent for our organisation,” says Sandra Campopiano, Chief People Officer of Thomas Cook Group plc. “I am delighted that we now have a careers site that reflects our ever changing organisation – one that not only conveys our passion for inspiring personal journeys for each and every one of our customers, but also our focus on recruiting the very best to our business.”
What do employees at Thomas Cook think?
“Thomas Cook as a working environment is a great place to be, it’s incredibly dynamic” Charlotte Fraser, Social Media Site Content Manager
“All of our customers are different, and our main goals are to connect customers and design a site that works for them”, Jamie Pow, Senior UX Web Designer
“If we do have that shared vision, I think we can create some remarkable stuff.” John Lucas, Head of Product Core Sites and Airline
“When I think about Thomas Cook I think about innovation, new technologies and teamwork!” David Hilton, Head of IT, e-commerce and Distribution Systems
What do you make of the approach? I like the fact there is a crystal clear link to values and you have real employees sharing their stories rather than glossy stock images.
To me, their approach appears authentic and you get a real sense of the reality of working for Thomas Cook.
As ever, I’m interested to know your thoughts – you can comment below or Tweet me @AllthingsIC.
Rachel
