How do you create a talent pool of driven individuals that are willing to embrace change? See how Randstad did just that

“It gets harder and harder to find the right candidates,” says Viktoria Lindström, Director of Dfind Science and Engineering, part of the Randstad Group.

Viktoria is just one of a number of key individuals that are championing the recruitment agency’s Changemakers campaign, a campaign designed to help Randstad – the second largest staffing firm in the world – attract and communicate with driven candidates that would positively impact on clients’ businesses.

Viktoria Lindström, Director of Dfind Science and Engineering, part of the Randstad Group

“I think the secret is to actually target the right people and also the right personalities because you're trying to find a team member – someone who can really contribute,” comments Johan Gertell – Director Marketing and Communication and Digital Experience at Randstad.

But how does Randstad attract those individuals that are willing to go the extra mile?

Johan Gertell, Director of Marketing, Communications and Digital Experience, Randstad

Big white space

Randstad utilises LinkedIn to communicate its wider message and has invested heavily in the platform. Viktoria adds: “We are a people-oriented company. LinkedIn is very important. It's an excellent tool for sourcing and finding candidates.” According to Viktoria, Randstad has always used LinkedIn and its many advantageous features, but over the last few years, the company’s use of the platform has increased. In fact, Randstad has used LinkedIn as an engagement-based platform, ensuring the company stays relevant.

Andreas Rauch, Digital Specialist at Randstad, explains further: “If you look at how companies use LinkedIn to communicate and engage, you will see one of two things – either a company says ‘we need staff’ or a company says ‘we’re great’. There is a big white space around engagement. We want to occupy that space.”

Randstad’s Changemakers campaign is the company’s answer to the big white space that Andreas refers to. Randstad uses LinkedIn to find its Changemakers. Andreas enthuses. “A Changemaker is a personality that doesn’t just listen in. It’s a personality that pushes through. They feel. They think. They never give up. They understand. They debate. They investigate. They don’t conform. They ask questions. They raise the bar. They fail and they get up again.”

Andreas Rauch, Digital Specialist, Randstad

Using LinkedIn to find the perfect audience

Randstad amassed a list of people and personas that it wished to engage with for the Changemakers campaign. These personas were analysed and identified before being targeted through a mix of channels, including a dedicated website, video, online adverts, social media and email.

Utilising LinkedIn, Randstad created a media campaign for Changemakers featuring specially created video and carousel adverts – the adverts achieved 293,000 views and professionals with senior positions – including CEO, director and owner – interacted with the campaign.

With strong content and targeted profiling, Randstad was able to target personalities that it believed would make the perfect Changemakers. To do this, it developed 26 different creatives, each designed to target particular segments on LinkedIn.  “We saw great success with the video adverts – an 8.4 per cent engagement rate and discovered that our carousel advert was the most effective way of engaging technology professionals, with 1,284 clicks” says Niklas Trieb, Communication Specialist at Randstad.

As a result, a list of 17,000 “super users” was produced. Yet, that list had to be examined again and analysed further. Who did Randstad really wish to attract? It wished to be warm and inclusive. Yet, selective. Andreas explains: “Working with engagement-based campaigns on LinkedIn compared to other social networks is like comparing using a microscope to a magnifying glass. The segmentation possibilities are enormous. “We truly feel that we reached the people we needed, as we now have more than 3,500 actively-engaged Changemakers – the payoff has been great.”

A future network

The Changemaker campaign features thousands of engaged candidates – a group that actively talks to the business with positive and constructive feedback. Now, Niklas, Andreas, Johan and Viktoria are looking to expand on the “campaign” and wish Changemakers to become so much more; a community where two-way conversations fuel growth and development, both personal and business.

Trieb concludes: “A Changemaker isn't just ambitious for themselves – they are ambitious for others and ambitious for the team.
“By utilising LinkedIn, we have developed and created our own community using a professional network of Changemakers and that has positively changed the perception of our brand.