Movember and The Conscious Candidate

Ah, November. Er, rather, MOVEMBER. That time of year that helps raise awareness of men's health issues*, like prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. And yes, the time of year that also reminds us why many men probably shouldn’t attempt to grow hair on their upper lips.

‍

Apart from showing why, for so many men, it’s good that the moustache has been relegated to the facial hair fashion of decades past, what else can Movember teach us? It provides some insight into why and how companies can embed their support for specific causes into their employer brand, supporting their recruitment and retention efforts.

People tend to meet and make friends when we volunteer. When we participate in a cause, we meet people there who care about the things we do. These causes represent a fundamental part of our values and worldview. The same holds true in the relationship between companies and employees. Not that the ideal is to create a homogenous workforce (ugh), but like does attract like. When a company wears its beliefs on its proverbial sleeve, it attracts the attention of people who believe that the same things are important. This is especially true for young talent –Millennials and Gen Z – who’ve shown a shared interest in the causes their employers support.

Does your organization visibly and vocally support charities or not-for-profit organizations? (If not, what you read ahead might cause you to consider doing so!) If your company does make a point of supporting certain causes, one of the most helpful questions to ask in order to understand the role it can play in talent acquisition is ... ‘Why?’. In some companies, there’s a personal connection to a specific cause; perhaps one of the owner’s friends or family members was affected by an aspect of the charity’s focus. In other cases, it’s a deliberate corporate strategy to identify an area where they can help, often related to the core business so that monetary support can be supplemented by in-kind contributions of some sort. If there is intention and deliberation behind this decision, regardless of what it is, understanding it helps to incorporate it into employment brand messaging.

Organizations differ in the ways they choose to engage with the charitable and NFP sector, and one way is their breadth of focus. Some companies choose a narrow focus, pouring the lion’s share of their support into a few select causes, or even just one. In these cases, the message is about linking your organization explicitly with that cause. There’s strategic value in this approach from a branding and marketing perspective, and it’s mutually beneficial for the donor and the beneficiary. A vocal corporate champion helps to support and draw attention to their chosen cause, certainly.But this kind of targeted support also makes people think of the supporting company when they see the charity or NFP organization doing good work in the community.Other organizations choose instead to support a large number of different causes. For example, some companies provide employees with a matched donation program, or a paid volunteer day, to allow them to choose the organizations they wish to support at a grassroots level. The message in this case, then, is less about one specific cause, and more about the company’s value of giving back to the community in a holistic way.

There are many ways to support charities and not-for-profit organizations, and only some are about monetary gifts. Cash is king, no question. But sponsorships can provide immense value for both the sponsor and sponsored, especially when they're strategically chosen and managed well. Some companies choose to lend support with human capital, and there are even different ways to do this. Many charitable and NFP organizations rely on specialised expertise for boards of directors and committees, and corporate supporters are the best way for them to access it at no cost. And then, of course, there’s all-hands-on-deck volunteerism. There’s a bonus perk for companies that show their support in this way: it can be one way to bring employees together and foster team spirit, and it’s a whole lot more interesting to show that off than monetary donations. Social media posts showing employees contributing to a good cause in a very visual, hands-on way are extraordinarily compelling.

One final note, one of caution. Support for good causes has to be genuine and authentic. We’ve all gotten pretty good at sniffing out companies who don’t really walk their talk, and the stories can get uncomfortably public very quickly. Companies accused of ‘greenwashing’ –publicly supporting ecological causes while their actions tell a different story – and ‘pink washing’ – making a big show of donating money to breast cancer research ... which turns out to be little more than a pittance. Don’t be“That Guy”.

Cause-conscious candidates (currently of the hairy-upper-lipped variety or otherwise) who share your company’s values and your commitment to the community are out there. To attract them, let your employer brand tap into your company’s authentic support for good causes.

*These issues are no laughing matter, so in all sincerity, we encourage you to find out more about Movember here.

‍