You asked about: Recruiting to rural communities

Question: How do I attract amazing candidates who want to try teaching in a rural community?

Attracting teachers to smaller communities has always been a challenge and it hasn’t become any easier as Canada appears to be experiencing a teacher shortage. What you face reminds me of my first experience recruiting teachers to Fort McMurray Public Schools. 

There was no Canada-wide shortage of teachers, but there was a shortage of teachers in Alberta who wanted to move to what was perceived as an isolated northern community with few amenities and a “harsh climate.”

Over that spring and summer, we succeeded in attracting a sufficient number of applications and interviewing enough candidates to fill more than 100 vacancies. The pursuit of teachers took me across the country, to provinces where shortages of teaching positions produced an abundance of recent graduates anxious to start their teaching careers and willing to go anywhere to do so.

Since that summer of anxiety, I have become an observer of recruitment practices. What works and what doesn’t?

Success seems to depend on the creativity you use to make your organization stand out from the crowd. This should be easy, because in education as in other fields, many organizations rely on a strategy I cynically refer to as, “We’re-Just-as-Boring-As-The-Next-Guy.”

Employers’ advertising state that they are looking for candidates who are dedicated, hardworking, career-oriented team players who enjoy a high-energy environment—which is exactly what every other employer is seeking.

In exchange for an employee’s time, potential employers promise an “attractive remuneration and an excellent benefits package”—just like the other guys are offering.

It’s easy for potential applicants to compare these similar requirements and benefits because everyone advertises where everyone else advertises.

Nothing distinguishes one organization from similar organizations that are hiring. Nothing captures the excitement of their workplaces. “Come work for us. We’re just like every other organization in our field. We’re just as boring.”

Success in attracting applications demands different approaches that will capture the attention of potential applicants.

Humour can be the key. Back in the 1960s, Northlands School Division advertised in the United Kingdom and Ireland for teachers for remote northern communities by warning that, “No Weaklings Need Apply.”

Other organizations combine a mix of humour and vanity to attract applications.

On a screen at the Las Vegas airport a few years, Clark County invited “All Heroes” to apply to teach in its schools—“Cape Included.”  

A recruitment poster in Edmonton’s Block 1912 coffee shop consisted of just a few words—“Qualifications: must be awesome. If this describes you, come prove it.” 

Of course, people applied. Who doesn’t consider themselves “awesome?”

Another factor that may have contributed to the success of those campaigns? They appeared where likely applicants would see them. On the “Fish Where the Fish Are” episode of the CBC radio series Under the Influence, advertising guru Terry O’Reilly describes recruitment campaigns that succeeded because they were creative and were placed where potential applicants would see them.

For example, when recruiting for a new store in Australia, Ikea slipped an extra instruction sheet into every box of furniture sold there. Titled, “Career Instructions: Assemble your future,” the insert advised people who were already customers that they were hiring and provided instructions on how to apply. 

Costs were minimal and the campaign attracted more than 4,000 applications for 280 positions.

My most successful advertisement, as measured by the number of responses,  appeared in the ATA (Alberta Teachers’ Association) News and announced our intent “to hire the 10 best teachers in Alberta.” Anyone who felt they were one of the 10 best was invited  to apply.

Hundreds did!

Another way to “advertise” vacancies is to let parents or customers know you are hiring.

Returning a rental car a few years ago, I was surprised when the person behind the counter announced that, “We are hiring.” I said I wasn’t interested. He was undeterred. Did I know someone who might be interested?

Another potentially productive approach is to ask existing staff, particularly those early in their careers, “Do you know someone who is about to graduate who will be looking for a job?” They just might.

In 2019, McDonald’s restaurants tackled their recruitment challenges with a campaign that invited friends to apply together. “Friends wanted. Be more than friends. Be co-workers.” The US Army has used a similar approach, inviting applications from two friends, married couples and groups of up to five buddies.

I am going to wrap up this article by describing a marketing campaign that we designed for a client that had nothing to doing with recruiting staff but which might be a template that can be applied to attract more applications for jobs in smaller communities.

When a post-secondary institute asked us to develop a smoking cessation campaign targeted at its students, we suggested something that was likely completely different than what they’d expected. We proposed a tongue-in-cheek campaign that focused on what smokers would miss if they stopped smoking.

To their credit, the client took a risk and worked with us to develop posters and bookmarks that focused on the “benefits” of smoking, such as:

• Opportunities to go outside, no matter the weather (illustrated with a picture of a smoker drenched by rain).
• Opportunities to assemble a complete collection of warning labels from cigarette packages.

Based on this experience, I believe that a recruitment campaign that highlights what people would miss if they abandoned urban centres in favour of a job—and a life—in a smaller community, could mention:

• Spending an hour commuting to work every morning and another hour in the afternoon rush-hour traffic.
• Spending most of your paycheque on rent
• Having to drive every time you needed to go shopping for anything
• Being anonymous to senior leadership, who they never meet and seldom see

It’s always going to be a challenge to attract suitable applicants to smaller communities, but creative approaches may make your efforts more successful.

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Interested in spending a few minutes brainstorming solutions to your unique recruitment challenges? Click here to schedule a free, no-obligation conversation with Nelson.

The case for evidence-based hiring

A campaigning politician recently promised that, if elected, he will employ an “evidence-based decision-making model” to resolve society’s problems. This would contrast with his opponents’ practice of “decision-based evidence-making”—seeking evidence to support decisions that have already been made.

Sounds good. Wouldn’t we all welcome a world where decisions were based on the best available evidence?

Yet, while no one would admit to doing the opposite—using an evidence-making approach—the world is full of examples of decisions that were made without first carefully examining the relevant information.

Often, decisions are made first, then followed by a scramble to find reasons that justify the choices of politicians and business leaders. “Evidence-makers” rely on conspiracy theories, “alternative facts” (thanks to former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway for inventing the term), and the deliberate misinterpretation of credible research findings.

It happens in politics, where solutions that are popular (i.e., what gets you elected) may be at odds with approaches that work elsewhere or are supported by mounds of research. It happens in business, where policies are created to address problems that don’t exist.

Alas, it also happens when hiring, when decisions are driven by factors that may be unconscious, such as gut feelings, biases and first impressions.

Detective Hercule Poirot provides an interesting take on the power of the subconscious near the end of the 2023 film, A Haunting in Venice: “My subconscious mind assembled facts ahead of the rational.” 

A rational approach is essential whether identifying a murderer or identifying the right person to hire. When you have a vacancy to fill, you must use interviews and reference checks to gather pertinent evidence before making your hiring decision.

Before beginning to gather evidence, identify the competencies and attitudes the ideal next addition to your staff should possess. Develop questions that will reveal evidence that candidates have what you are seeking. Create a rubric that enables you to objectively assess responses to each question. What would you expect of a potential top performer? What would be acceptable? And what would be an unsatisfactory response?

During interviews, avoid asking opinion questions. Don’t ask candidates, “What would you do if …?” Ask how they have responded to circumstances similar to those they might encounter if hired. 

Don’t ask if they feel collaboration and customer service are important. Instead, ask them to describe a time when they collaborated with co-workers or how they resolved a customer’s problem.

Don’t ask references if they would hire this candidate again or for their assessment of the individual’s performance. Ask them to describe how the candidate has collaborated with colleagues or how they responded to a customer’s issue.

Keep your questions short to avoid providing hints about what you would prefer to hear from the candidate. 

Decision-first hiring often results when interviewers make a quick judgment about candidates. Once judgments are made, interviewers stop listening for evidence that is contrary to their first impressions. 

Keep an open mind. Resist the urge to make early assessments based on what happens early in interviews. Candidates who perform poorly early on may redeem themselves as the interview progresses, while early “front-runners” will fade in the stretch. Collect as much evidence as you can before making hiring decisions.

When you practise evidence-based decision-making, you are setting yourself up for hiring success. You will be prepared to select the right people to fill your vacancies.

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Want to make evidence-based hiring the norm in your organization? Contact Nelson (nmscott@telus.net or phone/text 780-232-3828) to schedule an Interview Right to Hire Right workshop for your leadership team or to learn more about this and other workshops and programs.

Genuine curiosity can lead to more inclusive workplaces

While I was writing Thanks, Again!, I had the opportunity to pitch the concept to a literary agent, who asked a question that changed the trajectory of the project.

“Is there anything in the book about DEI?”

I didn’t exactly respond, “Huh?” 

But apart from understanding that she was referring to diversity, equality and inclusion I was very much lost for an answer. There wasn’t anything in the manuscript about DEI. 

What does an old white guy know about DEI? 

How could staff recognition be linked to DEI? How could recognition contribute to creating a more inclusive workplace, a place where everyone felt they belonged, somewhere they were comfortable being themselves?

I had to learn more before beginning to write Theme 22: Diverse and Inclusive: Recognition for Workplaces Where All Feel They Belong. First, I looked at what DEI experts were saying, but I didn’t stop there. 

What I did next turned out to be the most rewarding part of researching the book. I spoke to people for whom DEI was part of their lives. I showed them what I had written so far and they told me what was missing.

They described their lives as members of a “minority.”

To be honest, I was nervous venturing into their lives. Fear of offending others can prevent us from learning more about the values and culture of those with whom we work. What will they think? Will I be showing my ignorance? Will I be asking questions to which I should already know the answers? 

Fear and discomfort should not stop you from asking questions motivated by a sincere desire to learn. If you don’t engage with people, how will you increase your understanding?

I soon discovered that people welcome the opportunity to talk about their background and beliefs.

By being curious, a bond was developing with those with whom I was talking. I learned about their lived experience, which helped me understand who they are today.

In Thanks, Again, I built on an idea from Micheal Bach. In his brilliantly titled book, Birds of All Feathers, Bach suggests making “diversity moments” part of staff meetings—“when someone shares something about themselves to help educate their co-workers on the diversity that exists around them.”

Related Article: An exercise to better understand the diversity of your workplace

When presenting my Where Staff Feel They Belong at a recent convention, I conducted an impromptu diversity moment.

Spying a woman in the audience wearing a hijab, I approached her and asked if she would be willing to explain Ramadan to me and others in the room. This she did with a simple, easy-to-understand explanation of the daily fast that Muslims observe during the holy month. I believe that most left that session with a better understand of Islam.

Did she mind that I put her on the spot with my question?

“No,” she responded. “I enjoy talking about my beliefs.”

This experience reminded me of another spontaneous learning opportunity several years previously, when I asked participants in a non-credit college communication skills course to identify barriers to effective communication. “Accent” appeared on the resulting list. 

Without thinking about what might go wrong, I asked the three participants who I perceived as having accents to share what they did to overcome this communication barrier.

It may have been that one of the participants misunderstood the question or that she saw this as an opportunity to say something that she felt needed to be said. Either way, the insight she provided was valuable.

“I find it really difficult to understand the accents of people in Canada.”

I like to flatter myself that both these experiences were planned to create a valuable opportunity to learn about how individuals are shaped by their backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.

Whether that was the case or not, these episodes and my experiences while researching Thanks, Again demonstrate the power of genuine curiosity to strengthen connections with others.

Be curious. Ask questions. Be attentive. Listen to learn and understand. Make yours a more inclusive workplace.