You are hired! 10 Creative Ideas you never thought of

Think back at your own career. How did previous employers tell you “You are hired”? I personally had lots of different jobs in my career. I must say that in 70 % of cases I got the good news of “You are hired!” via letter, 10 % over the phone and 20 % straight after the interview. But let’s be honest, how uncreative are these methods? Is your company doing the same? Think again, is there not a more exciting and innovative way of passing on this great news to a new hire?

I love people and companies who take a more creative approach in their corporate challenges on a daily basis. If you were a Hiring Manager, how would you tell a candidate “You are hired”? I would use this opportunity to make every new hire feel important and special, in a way that nobody has ever thought of. A memorable experience? Yes, absolutely. One that will stand out in comparison to other companies.

Is there any risk?

However, be warned…. there might be still a little risk that the new hire would decline the offer because s/he got a better offer in the meantime from another company, or decided to still remain in the same company due to a salary increase. It’s therefore important to take a quick decision (once you think you found the right candidate) and be sure that that person would really love to work at your company. It could be a quite embarrassing scenario to make an extra effort in telling a candidate “you are hired”, and then finding out that the candidate is going to reject your offer….

Every company, every industry, every job and every group of staff is different. Bear in mind that what might work for one company, might not be suitable for another company depending on the company’s size. Nevertheless, here I would like to reveal how you can also turn this positive experience for a candidate into an even more memorable WOW moment.

10 Creative Ideas to tell your future employee “You are hired”

• You are hired — Idea # 1: The individual video message. Forget sending a standard letter in which you are telling a candidate that you offer them the job. Instead, create a video message in which you look, sound and act very enthusiastic about the fact that you will take this candidate aboard. The more personalised your message is, the better you will come across! Once you’ve created it, forward it via email.

You are hired — Idea # 2: The team video message. If you want to take idea # 1 to an even higher level, the video should not be just created by the HR Manager or the company’s manager, but instead include the whole team (or at least those staff members that the person will be closely working with in the future). If you are working on a Mac you can create some really stunning trailers by using iMovie. Take the opportunity to show a candidate that you and your team really look forward to seeing this person joining your company. An approach like this would also be effective for employer branding purposes. I could imagine that many would be tempted to share it via social media, too (after maybe having handed in their resignation letter to their current boss).

You are hired — Idea # 3: The surprise at lunch time. Invite the candidate for lunch without revealing your final hiring decision yet. Create a “surprise” moment and ask the waiter in advance to put a special note in the candidate’s menu. Once the candidate has a look inside the menu a congratulation note will pop up and put an instant smile on the person’s face.

You are hired — Idea # 4: The home-delivered treat. The HR Manager or direct supervisor could go and visit the candidate at their home in the evening hours with a congratulation card and a bouquet of flowers (for ladies) or a luxury box of chocolates (for men). An alternative could also be a cake which reads not “Happy Birthday” but instead “You are hired”. Or if you are someone who loves personalised gifts, get a mug printed with the candidate’s picture (if you don’t have one you might want to check on social media accounts, e.g. Linkedin) which says “You are hired”. Fill it with chocolates and make sure there are no nuts in it, just in case the person might have a nut allergy! If the candidate doesn’t live locally, you might consider hiring a courier service to forward your great news with your chosen little treat.

You are hired — Idea # 5: The card with the TEAM picture. If you are still keen on sending the great news via snail mail, then still try to make it a bit more creative. Write a congratulations card with a picture of all staff members. Make sure every team member signs it (or at least the closest employees that this employee will be working with) and adds a short welcoming note to it.

You are hired — Idea # 6: The t-Shirt. Get a t-shirt printed which will read in the front “You are hired!” and sent it to the candidate with a small congratulation card. The benefit? It can be worn by the employees also in their spare time. On the back side it could show your logo or your corporate slogan. It would make sense getting these t-shirts printed in bulk (in different sizes) and giving it out to every future employee, too.

You are hired — Idea # 7: The whiteboard animation. This idea might be quite time consuming, however, it would stand out! Get someone to create a whiteboard animation in which you briefly tell the story on how the candidate impressed the interviewer. Tell the good news of “You are hired” and add some applause jingle to it at the end. Send it then via email. (There are many available micro jobbing websites which can provide you with these kind of services, e.g. on http://www.Fiverr.com).

You are hired — Idea # 8: The handwritten personalised letter with 3 postcards. Send a handwritten personalised letter to the new hire and add 3 corporate pre-stamped postcards to it. At the front your corporate postcard says “I just got hired by … company xyz”. Having these postcards pre-stamped has the advantage that they will be definitely send to friends/relatives and not just end in a drawer for which you need to go and buy stamps! If you get these postcards printed in bulk, you will surely get them at a reasonable price. All you need is just to add the stamps on it. The bigger your company is, the bigger the impact of spreading the great news!

This is an idea I learnt about when I was writing my MBA dissertation on recommendation marketing back in 2004. As you can see this idea can be applied not just to spread news about a company’s new products, but also for post-recruitment purposes! Think again: employment branding!!!

You are hired — Idea # 9: The Tweet on Social Media. Spread the great news via social media. If you want to make it even more impactful, add the team video message to it. However, be cautious when applying this strategy. Use it only for those candidates who do not currently work. It would be inappropriate and problematic to publish this officially if the candidate’s company is not yet aware of the candidate’s upcoming departure. You might also not be 100 % sure that the candidate might accept your offer! So, be cautious with this approach!

You are hired — Idea # 10: Throw a surprise party. Invite the person to the office (without revealing the reason for it!) and throw a surprise party. It would be great if everyone in your company could attend this social gathering after official office closing hours. Give the person a warm welcome that they have never experienced before. Show them that you care!

Now I would be curious in finding out which approach your most favourite one is. If you were a boss, how else would you pass on the great news to your employees of being hired? Do you have any interesting stories and experiences to share? I would be very happy to hear from you.

Always try to do things a bit differently, more creatively. If you are like me, who enjoys creating memorable moments for others, stretch your creativity a bit further and as Steve Jobs would say “think different”! But don’t just think, DO it differently!

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