Dan Heath explains how Manpower turned job offers into memorable moments for temp workers. They mailed welcome kits with gift cards and swag, then sent photo frames that encouraged new hires to post "I got the job" pictures online. The frames generated thousands of likes and built loyalty to the staffing firm.
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Let me start with an idea that's kind of an easy win. There's a company you may know called Manpower that provides temporary staffing for other companies like Amazon or IBM or many other places. So the presenting problem was that the employees work for Manpower, but then, of course, their work takes place at IBM and they work on IBM challenges and collaborate with IBM people. So the employees don't develop that much of a bond with Manpower. And the leaders at Manpower thought that was a shame. They wanted to build a relationship so that if that employee ever needed temp work again, they'd think of Manpower first. So some leaders at Manpower had read the Power of Moments and they wanted to apply some of the ideas. So they started by sending a welcome kit in the mail to people who they were able to place in jobs. It had a Starbucks gift card and an alarm clock and a T shirt and some other swag. It was. It was a generous gesture and a way to commemorate the hiring moment. The other thing they tried came out of some creative brainstorm about the moment of the job offer. They printed up these frames that employees could hold around their head, and the frame said, I got the job. And so the employees would take a picture of themselves and post it to social media. Now, the Manpower folks honestly weren't sure how this was going to go. They weren't sure the candidates would want to take the pics. And they thought maybe people in their networks would feel like they were bragging, but they were dead wrong. As it turned out, it was a huge hit. And, I mean, if you think about it, if one of your friends got a new job, you wouldn't feel like they were bragging about it. If they posted to social media, you'd be thrilled for them. So as a result of this promotion, these employees got thousands of likes on these posts that were simply a tribute to a job offer. So there's a question for you to consider. How could you make it easy for your new hires to celebrate their new job? It makes you look good, it makes them look good, and it draws attention from a whole ring of friends and even strangers that are drawn in to wish them well.
