What brings; and the glue that holds; the essential ingredients of cooperative and work-integrated learning (CWIE) together, is ‘marketing’. Kevin Wheeler, the CEO and founder of Global Learning Resources and the Future of Talent Institute, and is co-director of the Australasian Talent Conference in Australia, makes the point: ‘Recruitment is marketing’. He tells a short story and concludes that recruitment has a lot to learn from it and from marketing. I submit that CWIE should pay attention:
Once upon a time we sold products much as we “sell” jobs and organizations today. Merchants waited for a potential buyer to show up. The buyer was supposed to know what he wanted and asked for it. Most of the merchandise was kept in drawers or under the counter. A customer had to ask for something specifically and the merchant showed him only one particular item. There was no engagement, no selling, and no touting the benefits of the product.
But department stores such as Macy’s changed all this by displaying items openly and running ads targeted, in particular, to women. It offered well-known socialites the newest fashions and relied on gossip and word of mouth to attract new referral customers. Window displays created dream worlds and played to emotions. They encouraged salespeople to engage with the customers, build relationships, and even try on clothes or demonstrate the product.
My colleagues keep telling me that it unreasonable that the Department of Higher Education and Training policy—the HE Qualification Sub-Framework, §35—holds universities responsible for placing students for credit-bearing workplace learning. Wheeler states that “talent scarcities remain and the primary differentiator between companies often is only their brand, public image, and emotional appeal” and that “talent attraction has never been more difficult” (emphasis added).
Based on the “useful strategies, methods, and ideas” that Wheeler gives, I would like my colleagues to take note:
First and second impressions count—read what Wheeler state about SAP versus Google
What are the views and perspectives of stakeholders in the relevant occupational fields about the academic departments that are teaching qualifications which include work-integrated learning?
What does the Internet presence of those academic departments portray?
Networking for CWIE partners entail marketing
To create differentiation and improve [stakeholder] engagement, [academia] must actively pursue a marketing function.
Good stakeholder attraction and networking starts with design.
Apple is a great example [says Wheeler] of a company with a powerful brand carefully built around. Everything Apple does evokes quality, elitism, beauty, and perfection. From its retail stores to its simplest product, people describe Apple as elegant and sleek, and relate that to the highest of quality. This spreads to Apple’s recruitment brand, which also focuses on being elite, smooth, and innovative. The company’s recruitment site is beautiful and elegantly designed. It attracts you by its photography, videos, and wording.
Based on Wheeler, herewith some ideas:
- Let graduates, key players in the occupational field and students talk about the qualification; the benefits of CWIE participation; and stories from the workplace. Develop a series of short videos, photo stories, or audio stories—there can be a viral effect as people watch [a] video and forward it on to friends who would be a great fit.
- Use the media that are most popular with the target group.
- Use social media to communicate [achievements], and comment on news items, discuss [developments in the field] or service offerings, and provide information to potential [stakeholders]. Many [university departments] have Facebook or LinkedIn pages, but they need to be regularly updated and promoted to be effective.
- Make use of links in communiques.
- Provide tools that [enable] potential [stakeholders] to screen themselves [and the benefits they could derive as potential partner and assess] themselves for culture fit.
Real-time and Continuous Data are required for build the most useful websites and social media tools. Examine data such as the number of hits, retweets, likes, and clicks for patterns and actions. Learn what is working best in engaging the right prospects. Data also can be an engagement tool.
Engagement is about serving up content that interest [prospects] and that gives them something valuable. Social media and engagement are about understanding people, how they react, and what they want. And this is why analytics is core to how [networking academics] understand what attracts and how to best communicate.
Think of [CWIE networking] as a journey. For some it will be the first time they have heard of [the university], others will know some but not a lot, and for others [the university] may be an old story. But no matter, there should be compelling content that enlightens, engages, and keeps [prospective partners] involved.