In my last post, I talked about how Reluctantly Returning Recent Retirees (or RRRRs) are coming back into the workforce as a result of the recent downturn in the stock market and the resulting shrinkage of their retirement accounts.

Smart companies will specifically target some recruitment marketing messages to these RRRRs.  In order to do this most effectively, we need to start with a creative brief to ensure our message is properly targeted to this market.

From years of dealing with marketing professionals (some very good and some very-not-so-good), I’ve learned that there are as many ways to write a creative brief as there are socially awkward nerds at a comic book convention.  Below is a sample creative brief based on a simple template I’ve used in the past.   Obviously you’ll want to edit it based on the specific types of positions you are trying to fill and the unique offering of your firm, but this should get you started.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Recruitment Marketing Creative Brief Targeting

Reluctantly Returning Recent Retirees

WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH

Engage our audience to spend time learning about career opportunities we offer.

WHO ARE WE TALKING TO

Baby boomers (age 66 to 49) who are recently retired, but considering a return to work for financial reasons.

HOW DO THEY THINK AND FEEL

• They are worried about the future
• They are returning to work primarily for financial reasons
• They feel they deserve a position which reflects their years of experience
• They want to be treated with the respect which they have earned
• They are afraid of being lumped in with “all these young folks”
• They are concerned about competing against younger and more technologically savvy workers

WHAT IS THE SMP ? (Single Minded Proposition)

Your experience and talents are needed, and can earn you the money you want.

WHAT MUST OUR EFFORTS PROMPT THE TARGET TO DO?

Explore our website, apply for a position, send us a resume or register for future openings, get engaged with our staff so we can help them!

WHAT IS THE BEST EVIDENCE TO STIMULATE THIS RESPONSE?

• At any given moment we have more jobs than we have talent to fill (give numbers if possible – i.e. we have 43 new jobs each week)
• Our clients demand experienced individuals who bring a depth of experience with them
• We don’t have time to train “newbies” – we need your seasoned skills and abilities

TONE OF VOICE

Respectful, optimistic, forthright, engaging

Tweet This Post 

How the stock market crash is good for the recruitment industry

 The staffing industry has been buzzing for at least the last 10 years about the looming labor shortage as baby-boomers retire- in ever increasing numbers.  The worry gripping the industry is that this exodus of talent out of the workforce will leave talent gaps which incoming workers cannot fill. 

 We’ve all experienced the pain caused to a business when Chuck retires and we realize the next day that Chuck was the one who knew where the coffee filters were kept, or had the code to turn the lights on after-hours or knew how to reboot that troublesome testing computer.  Now imagine the disruption when 70 million boomers retire, except instead of unique expertise in coffee filter location, they have unique and irreplaceable knowledge in running the city’s electrical grid, or nuclear power plant management, or the logistics of running an aging legacy data center.

 According to the most recent American Staffing Association survey, one in five staffing professionals said the labor shortage is the most pressing issue facing the recruitment industry and fully half said it’s one of the top five issues.

 Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.  The bad news is that the stock market is in the tank and portfolios are down from 30-50%.  Of course there are exceptions – some individuals had limited exposure to the stock market and are doing ok, and others had all their money with Bernie Madoff and as soon as they come out of their daze from realizing they’ve lost everything, they’ll have to come up with “Plan B” for their retirement.

The GOOD news, at least as far as the staffing industry is concerned, is that the virtual overnight contraction in retirement portfolios may convince a number of baby-boomers to put off retirement for a few years and may cause some recent retirees to rejoin the labor force.  I have personal experience with some retired boomers who recently went back to work to earn enough money to maintain their lifestyle, now that their portfolio is struggling, and they are bringing valuable skills and experience back into the job market. 

So the smart thinkers at staffing companies and RPO firms right now should be polishing their sourcing plans and candidate marketing campaigns to target these reluctantly returning recent retirees.  Think about how to tweak your candidate marketing to appeal to that individual who is worried about their retirement funds, and just starting to think about coming back to work.  Those who successfully make this pitch should have access to an entire pool of candidates which was unavailable even six months ago, creating a competitive advantage in both client acquisition, and client service.

I’ll list some specific ideas for how to approach this market in my next post.

Tweet This Post