So much fanfare over the July Jobs Numbers. Here’s what recruiters need to know.

 

It was the first Friday in August. The time slowly inching its way to 8:30 am. It’s only a few agonizing minutes until the jobs number was to be revealed just as it is the first Friday of every month.

The experts had weighed in with their forecast and were bracing the nation for a disappointing number – having predicted 258,000 jobs. This was a precipitous drop from the 372,000 jobs created in July.

A decline in the jobs created made total sense to SCG.  We have closely tracked layoffs for select industries over the past nine years. Those layoffs have been increasing every month over the past 6 months. Those eventually should be reflected in the unemployment rate. Right?

But then, the Bureau of Labor Statistics threw us all a huge curve. They announced the number for jobs created was over double that the experts had anticipated. It came in at an unbelievable 528,000. That’s more than twice the initial projection.  With 3.5% unemployment.

 

What goes into the Bureau’s calculations?

The report is based on two separate surveys.

The Establishment Survey gathers information from 145,000 nonfarm businesses and government agencies for some 697,000 work sites and about one-third of all payroll workers.

This data estimates the number of people on payrolls in the U.S. economy, the average number of hours they worked weekly, and their average hourly earnings, along with several versions of the unemployment rate.

 

The Household Survey is based on monthly interviews of 60,000 households by the Census Bureau. The participants provide their employment status during the week including the 12th day of the month. The BLS measures unemployment by dividing the total number of unemployed people looking for a job by the total number of individuals in the labor force.

 

Here is the official report based on the July data.

 

As impressive as that number is, we cannot sustain 500,000+ new jobs per month with the 3.5% unemployment. Just not enough talent. That is made even more difficult with the nation’s continually shrinking Employment Participation Rate (the percentage of individuals who are working or actively looking for work).

 

Why is this report essential to recruiters?

SCG sees this information as vital insight into the competitiveness of the recruitment landscape. As the market tightens, recruiters face the need for increased budgets and use of invasive strategies to reach the more plentiful – but less persuadable – passive candidates.

 

For a deeper dive…

Open the July Data link above and scroll to the bottom. You will find access to about 25 in-depth reports.

SCG Advertising + Public Relations is a woman-owned, full-service advertising agency headquartered in New Jersey with expertise in recruitment advertising. If you need assistance, contact your Account Manager or visit our website at: SCGADV.COM

Offices: NJ | NY | FL | SD | GA | PA | OH | AZ

recruitment marketing and cats

Recruitment Marketing and Cats

recruitment marketing and cats

Monday, August 8th is International Cat Day!

I was never a cat person. We always had dogs. Then a mama cat gifted me with kittens, twice, and my journey to crazy cat lady began. Don’t worry. We found homes for many and with the support of my favorite vets, we got everyone checked out, vaccinated, and made sure there wouldn’t be more kittens.  Cat behavior is interesting and got me thinking about how it correlates to my recruitment marketing business at SCG.

#1 – Cats are like passive candidates. You can’t force your intentions on them. They have to come to you. If you dangle the right toy/treat/message and wait patiently, they will eventually acknowledge and respond.

#2 – Looks can be deceiving. Our cats are adorable but have a killer instinct, keeping birds, chipmunks, mice, etc. on notice. In recruitment marketing, you need to review resumes carefully and don’t judge too quickly. You also shouldn’t judge on appearance. Some very talented employees may come with tattoos, piercings, or non-traditional hair choices.

#3 – I often find “gifts” from the cats that aren’t necessarily on my wish list. Sometimes it’s about aligning background and experience with the appropriate open requisition and not just judging against the job applied for.

#4 – I’m a morning person. Many of the cats are night prowlers. I try to understand their behavior and adapt accordingly. When hiring for different shifts, think like your candidate. Put your message out on late night radio or tv. It’s usually less expensive than those coveted drive time radio slots or prime time tv. Host a virtual hiring event or just have a chat bot available for questions overnight.

#5 – Like people, cats need to feel welcomed as part of the team. We recently took in a new cat that needed to be rehomed. He hid under the bed for days. Super timid. Then we put a collar on him and his personality dramatically shifted. Suddenly, he engaged with humans and cats alike. It seemed he needed to feel secure in his new home. In recruitment marketing, whether it’s a branded polo shirt, computer bag, coffee mug or something else, welcome new hires with something that says they are part of the team. For those working onsite, also consider a special badge or pin that identifies new hires so that coworkers can spot them and help when they seem lost or might need assistance.

#6 – Every cat has their own language. Who knew…purring is not the official cat language. Some cats vocalize with sounds that are almost words. Our Amelia has a high-pitched trilling meow. Others are almost silent unless they feel threatened and may hiss or growl. Candidates also have different communication styles. In this market, be open to communicating via phone call, email, text…at least in the beginning. Unless it’s critical to the job function, listen to words as much as communication style. Interviewing can be a stressful situation and well qualified candidates may not perform well. When looking for bilingual candidates use bilingual messaging in ethnic media and be mindful of cultural differences/sensitivities.

Catalina is the cat who started it all and is now Queen of the clowder. From a homeless girl in trouble to a beloved family pet who never strays, she’s found her place. May your recruiting journeys be equally rewarding.

Tina Davis

Tina Davis
VP, Account Services
SCG Advertising & PR

Lupe Dragon

The Public Relations Side of Music

Lupe DragonA lot of musicians think that blogs and online publications are an “outdated” way of finding music, but I tend to disagree with that. As a PR professional and a musician myself, I use public relations to help boost engagement with potential fans. When you google my name, you see tons of interviews and reviews of my music from the past four years. These are in the form of podcasts, news coverage, blog posts, and social media content. It’s what we call being “social proof.”

Social proof is “the idea that consumers will adapt their behavior according to what other people are doing.”

Here are some key examples of how you can attain “social proof.”

  1. Expert’s stamp of approval
  2. Celebrity endorsement
  3. User testimonials
  4. Social media shares
  5. Earned media (i.e., news coverage)

Check out this article for more information on examples of social proof. 

A musician without public relations is the same as an author without an agent – an absolute nobody. If the general public doesn’t know you exist, how do you expect to get results?

In 2022, musicians need to be both talented and business savvy. It’s a harsh reality, but if you put even half as much effort into your marketing and PR as you do into your next single, you will be making it easier for yourself to branch out to a broader audience. That’s the reward you’re looking for.

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News – June 2022

Trendwatch Marketing

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.  

Google reimagines search beyond ’10 blue links’

At its Marketing Live event, the tech giant expressed a desire to steer digital advertising toward more interactive features, including AR shopping ads in search results. The digital boom of the pandemic is showing signs of slowing, but tech companies are still priming themselves for a future where habits adopted over the period stick around. At its annual Marketing Live event Tuesday, Google addressed the emergence of what it calls “omnibuyers”: consumers who more intensively research and browse on their shopping journeys both online and in-store. Read more…

NFTs are taking off on Instagram

Non-fungible tokens are finding their place on the social media network. But are marketers taking advantage?  With influencers and digital artists leading the way, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are taking Meta’s Instagram by storm.

Data from influencer marketing platform HypeAuditor shows:
  • Over 20,00 accounts with “NFT” in the bio, most (over 40%) U.S.-based.
  • Over 900 million followers for those accounts.
  • Over 100,000 posts monthly using the hashtag #NFT.   Read more…

Is Google Analytics going away? What marketers need to know

Universal Analytics will be retired on July 1, 2023. What does that mean for you? Here’s what you need to know about getting your website ready for the brave new world. Third-party cookies are going the way of the dodo. The looming cookieless world has many marketers more than a little nervous. With Universal Analytics sunsetting and the rise of what’s being called Google Analytics 4 in its place, digital marketing analytics can be a confusing place, so let’s make things clear… and know that I even got some input from Google digital marketing evangelist Avinash Kaushik too!  Read more…

2022: the year micro-influencer marketing meets big data

With companies looking to build meaningful relationships with longer-term customers before and after transaction, micro-influencers look set to become a permanent fixture of their communications strategies long into 2022 and beyond. Ryan Dean, head of PR strategy at Jaywing, is seeing big brands seek to work with micro-influencers in the name of effectiveness.
With a greater focus than ever on customer loyalty, effectiveness and ROI, how can brands leverage data to better plan, execute and – most importantly – measure the success of their micro-influencer campaigns?  Read more…

Creating New Audiences and Building Community With Creators

The importance and market momentum of creators is growing by the day. Their ability to engage and create moments with audiences can be used by marketers to leverage these masters of the social space and their unprecedented connections with their followers. Meta’s vp, Americas, global business group, Nada Stirratt, and Adore Me’s founder and CEO, Morgan Hermand, joined Adweek’s Social Media Week for a fireside chat about how brands can use creators to attract new audiences, break down barriers and engage with their communities in more personal ways.  Read more…

Marriott launches hospitality industry’s first media network

Marriott International launched the Marriott Media Network, an omnichannel cross-platform ad solution for marketers, according to a press release. The network will initially target travelers in the U.S. and Canada before expanding globally to encompass more than 164 million members of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Once fully deployed, the network will carry inventory that spans Marriott’s owned channels, including display, mobile, video, email and digital out-of-home, the latter of which features in-room television and digital screens. The Marriott Media Network is a full-stack collaboration that leverages Yahoo’s sell-side platform (SSP) and demand-side platform (DSP). The launch, which Marriott claims is a first for the hospitality industry, follows explosive growth in the retail media space as advertisers look to better target and track consumers amid a tightening of data privacy rules on other digital platforms.  Read more…
Top 100 NJ High Schools 2022

U.S. News and World Report – Top 100 High Schools In New Jersey 2022

Top 100 NJ High Schools 2022And The Winner Is…

U.S News and World Report recently released the 2022 edition of their annual top 100 high school rankings for the country. As with previous years, New Jersey scored well, being home to a handful of those top schools. In addition to public high schools, they also ranked the best charter schools, magnet schools, and STEM schools in the country.

The criteria to rank these schools was the same it’s always been for previous years, being college readiness, college curriculum breadth, reading and math proficiency, reading and math performance, and underserved student performance. However, this year, the calculations were adjusted to account for the impact COVID-19 had on education. For example, many schools canceled their state testing for the 2019-2020 school year. Thus, historical data, along with new science proficiency results from 2018-2019, was used to help calculate the rankings.

New Jersey had eight of its own schools placing within the top 100 high schools in the country. Monmouth County Vocational School District accounted for two of those eight (High Technology High School and Biotechnology High School), with High Technology High School also ranking as the #2 STEM School in the nation. Here are the eight New Jersey high schools which made the top 100:

  • (#23) Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies (Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District, Edison)
  • (#49) Union County Magnet High School (Union County Vocational – Technical School District, Scotch Plains)
  • (#61) Bergen County Academies (Bergen County Vocational Technical School District, Hackensack)
  • (#65) High Technology High School (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Lincroft)
  • (#68) Dr. Ronald E McNair High School (Jersey City Public Schools, Jersey City)
  • (#69) Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health (Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District, Woodbridge)
  • (#80) Biotechnology High School (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Freehold)
  • (#93) Bergen County Technical High School – Teterboro (Bergen County Vocational Technical School District, Teterboro)

Additionally, the top 100 high schools of each state were ranked. Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies was once again named the top high school in New Jersey. Below are the rest of the top 100 high schools in New Jersey:

  1. Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies (Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District, Edison)
  2. Union County Magnet High School (Union County Vocational – Technical School District, Scotch Plains)
  3. Bergen County Academies (Bergen County Vocational Technical School District, Hackensack)
  4. High Technology High School (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Lincroft)
  5. Dr. Ronald E McNair High School (Jersey City Public Schools, Jersey City)
  6. Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health (Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District, Woodbridge)
  7. Biotechnology High School (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Freehold)
  8. Bergen County Technical High School – Teterboro (Bergen County Vocational Technical School District, Teterboro)
  9. Academy for Information Technology (Union County Vocational – Technical School District, Scotch Plains)
  10. Academy for Allied Health Sciences (Union County Vocational – Technical School District, Scotch Plains)
  11. Marine Academy of Science and Technology (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Highlands)
  12. Glen Ridge High School (Glen Ridge Public School District, Glen Ridge)
  13. Elizabeth High School (Elizabeth Public Schools, Elizabeth)
  14. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North (West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, Plainsboro)
  15. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, West Windsor)
  16. Summit Senior High School (Summit Public School District, Summit)
  17. Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Neptune)
  18. Millburn High School (Millburn Township School District, Millburn)
  19. Livingston High School (Livingston Board of Education School District, Livingston)
  20. Chatham High School (School District of The Chathams, Chatham)
  21. Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest (Northern Valley Regional High School District, Demarest)
  22. Princeton High School (Princeton Public Schools, Princeton)
  23. Ridge High School (Bernards Township School District, Basking Ridge)
  24. Mountain Lakes High School (Mountain Lakes Public School District, Mountain Lakes)
  25. Montgomery High School (Montgomery Township School District, Skillman)
  26. Tenafly High School (Tenafly Public School District, Tenafly)
  27. Science Park High School (Newark Public School District, Newark)
  28. Ridgewood High School (Ridgewood Public School District, Ridgewood)
  29. John P. Stevens High School (Edison Township School District, Edison)
  30. Union County Tech (Union County Vocational-Technical School District, Scotch Plains)
  31. Haddonfield Memorial High School (Haddonfield School District, Haddonfield)
  32. Central Jersey College Prep Charter School (Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Somerset)
  33. Communications High School (Monmouth County Vocational School District, Wall)
  34. Madison High School (Madison Public School District, Madison)
  35. Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan (Northern Valley Regional High School District, Old Tappan)
  36. Glen Rock High School (Glen Rock Public School District, Glen Rock)
  37. Northern Highlands Regional High School (Northern Highlands Regional High School District, Allendale)
  38. Technology High School (Newark Public School District, Newark)
  39. New Providence High School (New Providence School District, New Providence)
  40. Park Ridge High School (Park Ridge School District, Park Ridge)
  41. Pascack Hills High School (Pascack Valley Regional High School District, Montvale)
  42. Kinnelon High School (Kinnelon School District, Kinnelon)
  43. Mahwah High School (Mahwah Township Public School District, Mahwah)
  44. Verona High School (Verona Public School District, Verona)
  45. Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy (Elizabeth Public Schools, Elizabeth)
  46. Cresskill High School (Cresskill Public School District, Cresskill)
  47. West Morris Mendham High School (West Morris Regional High School District, Mendham)
  48. Westfield Senior High School (Westfield Public School District, Westfield)
  49. Leonia High School (Leonia Public School District, Leonia)
  50. Ramapo High School (Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, Franklin Lakes)
  51. Metuchen High School (Metuchen Public School District, Metuchen)
  52. Bergenfield High School (Bergenfield Borough School District, Bergenfield)
  53. Liberty High School (Jersey City Public Schools, Jersey City)
  54. Midland Park Jr./Sr. High School (Midland Park School District, Midland Park)
  55. Bernards High School (Somerset Hills Regional School District, Bernardsville)
  56. Bergen Arts and Sciences Charter School (Bergen Arts and Science Charter School, Garfield)
  57. Randolph High School (Randolph Township School District, Randolph)
  58. Moorestown High School (Moorestown Township Public School District, Moorestown)
  59. Columbia High School (South Orange-Maplewood School District, Maplewood)
  60. Academy for Mathematics Science and Engineering (Morris County Vocational School District, Rockaway)
  61. Whippany Park High School (Hanover Park Regional High School District, Whippany)
  62. Cherry Hill High School East (Cherry Hill School District, Cherry Hill)
  63. River Dell Regional High School (River Dell Regional School District, Oradell)
  64. Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School District, Rumson)
  65. Ramsey High School (Ramsey School District, Ramsey)
  66. High Tech High School (Hudson County Schools of Technology School District, Secaucus)
  67. Mount Olive High School (Mount Olive Township School District, Flanders)
  68. Holmdel High School (Holmdel Township School District, Holmdel)
  69. Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, Scotch Plains)
  70. James Caldwell High School (Caldwell-West Caldwell School District, West Caldwell)
  71. Hillsborough High School (Hillsborough Township Public School District, Hillsborough)
  72. Fair Lawn High School (Fair Lawn Public School District, Fair Lawn)
  73. West Morris Central High School (West Morris Regional High School District, Chester)
  74. Fort Lee High School (Fort Lee School District, Fort Lee)
  75. Hunterdon Central Regional High School (Hunterdon Central Regional High School District, Flemington)
  76. Emerson Jr Sr High School (Emerson Public School District, Emerson)
  77. Indian Hills High School (Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, Oakland)
  78. Marlboro High School (Freehold Regional High School District, Marlboro)
  79. South Brunswick High School (South Brunswick School District, Monmouth Junction)
  80. Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School (Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, Bridgewater)
  81. Montclair High School (Montclair Public School District, Montclair)
  82. Highland Park High School (Highland Park Boro School District, Highland Park)
  83. Robbinsville High School (Robbinsville Public Schools, Robbinsville)
  84. Parsippany High School (Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District, Parsippany)
  85. Point Pleasant Beach High School (Point Pleasant Beach School District, Point Pleasant Beach)
  86. Governor Livingston High School (Berkeley Heights School District, Berkeley Heights)
  87. Montville Township High School (Montville Township School District, Montville)
  88. North Hunterdon High School (North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, Annandale)
  89. Jonathan Dayton High School (Springfield Public School District, Springfield)
  90. Morris Hills High School (Morris Hills Regional School District, Rockaway)
  91. Sparta High School (Sparta Township Public School District, Sparta)
  92. Cranford High School (Cranford Public School District, Cranford)
  93. East Orange STEM Academy High School (East Orange School District, East Orange)
  94. Hopewell Valley Central High School (Hopewell Valley Regional School District, Pennington)
  95. East Brunswick High School (East Brunswick Township School District, E Brunswick)
  96. Parsippany Hills High School (Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District, Morris Plains)
  97. Westwood Junior/Senior High School (Westwood Regional School District, Township of Washington)
  98. Morris Knolls High School (Morris Hills Regional School District, Denville)
  99. Wayne Valley High School (Wayne Township Public School District, Wayne)
  100. Dumont High School (Dumont Public School District, Dumont)

SCG Advertising + Public Relations is a long-standing, woman-owned, full-service advertising agency headquartered in New Jersey. We have a vast amount of experience in the education space, working with hundreds of private, public, and charter schools across the country to recruit both students and faculty. 

THE RAMS WON THE SUPER BOWL. WHO WON THE ADVERTISING BOWL?

Well, another Super Bowl has come and gone, and while I might offer my opinion on the game itself, I’m more qualified to comment on the commercials that support the broadcast.

 

Some quick background: I’ve been in advertising for fifty-two years, a creative director for the last forty, and I worship at the feet of Bill Bernbach. For those who don’t know who Bernbach is, Google him. If you’re in the advertising business and don’t know him, you really should discover everything about him. And fast.

 

Now before you assume that I’m some old creative dinosaur stuck in the brilliance of the groundbreaking advertising of the 1960s and 70s, know this: I am. Well, sort of. You see, I have managed to stay current and enjoy most of the technological, sociological, and cultural changes that have happened in my lifetime. But I still believe advertising – aside from being creative – should inform us about what the advertiser is selling and interest us enough to want to know more. In my opinion, too much recent advertising – while being creative and brilliantly produced – left me wondering who the advertiser was or what they were selling. If your target doesn’t know who you are and what you do, all that creativity has gone to waste. Not to mention the client’s money.

 

Most Super Bowl advertising is produced to raise awareness, make a statement, and create a buzz for the advertiser’s brand. Advertisers invest millions ($6.5 million for a thirty-second spot this year, plus millions more for production) on this once-a-year opportunity to reach zillions of consumers, so their commercial better be memorable and informative. That means consumers better understand what the advertiser’s commercial taught them about its brand, more than they remember how much jewelry Snoop Dogg wore during the halftime show.

 

So, here’s my top five of this year’s thirty and sixty-second multi-million-dollar productions that kept us glued to the tv in between passes, interceptions, and punts:

 

FTX – Larry David is perfectly cast as the naysayer, who throughout history is wrong about everything new – from the wheel to the lightbulb and now, FTX. Will Larry be wrong about this product that claims to be the safe, secure way to get into crypto? Only time will tell, but the odds favor FTX.

 

CHEVY SILVERADO – A brilliant recreation of the Sopranos opening, featuring Meadow – not Tony – in the driver’s seat of a new Chevy Silverado. With all the Sopranos content floating around the social media universe, this spot will resonate with the new generation of Sopranos fans…and truck purchasers.

 

E-TRADE – The talking baby returns! The original campaign was a Super Bowl favorite, and e-trade brings the baby back to remind investors they can get better advice from them than “… getting investment advice from memes.”

 

UBER EATS – Excellent execution of strategy: To inform us that Uber Eats delivers more than food. Great use of celebrities not understanding why they can’t eat the aluminum foil, diapers, and other non-edible items delivered by Uber Eats.

 

SQUARESPACE – Great concept. Great copy. Actually, very sweet while being very informative. This well-produced spot featuring Zendaya should score well with today’s new generation of marketers.

 

The rest of the commercials ranged from very good, to so-so, to awful, but I chose to compliment the great ones rather than criticize the not-so-great ones. I realize there will be those who will disagree with my choices, but advertising is so subjective, and I may be more analytical than the average commercial viewer, and that’s ok. Hopefully, my colleagues will produce even better work for future Super Bowls, so, as they say in sports, “I can’t wait until next year!”

What do your stakeholders value … and can it predict their behavior?

Image courtesy of the European Commission, Joint Research Centre

 

Given the rise in polarization and misinformation across society, a refined understanding of values is more meaningful than ever before. There’s minimal confusion about the fact that how we interact with the world is driven by what we value and identify with. But, it’s important to realize that because values also trigger appreciation of certain behaviors and distaste for others, an awareness of them can be an effective tool in helping organizations solidify relationships with key stakeholders.

 

A recent report by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre provides a unique look at values and identities and their impact on decision makers and communicators. The report also provides a powerful tool to map values and identities. The map helps marketers and communicators understand value tensions that impact communications, while identifying stakeholders and what motivates them.

 

The report notes:

 

  • “Values are a blend of biological and evolutionary factors coupled with individual and societal histories. Values are highly stable at the individual level and are mostly shaped by life conditions during childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood through the influence of parents, neighbors, friends, and schools.”

 

  • “Personal identity is based on a person’s values, experiences and knowledge, and is mostly perceived to be unique. The relevance of personal identity for policymaking comes from the argument that values are at its core, therefore, when one’s values are threatened, it is also true that the sense of self is threatened.”

 

  • “Social identification can shift a person’s behavior to align with the group by ascribing characteristics, values and qualities of the group to the self and depersonalizing one’s personal identity. Identification of oneself and others into various social groups is human nature. Belonging to a group is a source of self-esteem and distinctiveness. The identification with a group can be an advantage for working together but can also be to the exclusion of others, as seen in many political conflicts of our time. The identification with one group often leads to a reduced willingness to interact and share with others and to perceive others as less positive.”

 

Understanding values and identities enables us to shape research and the gathering of information; accurately assess situations; check assumptions about publics and perceptions; and identify, prioritize, and understand key publics well beyond traditional demographics, geography, and identifiers. Communicators and marketers can utilize this research to develop more targeted messaging, while selecting a spokesperson who will be most appropriate for achieving desired outcomes. And, speaking even more broadly, a full awareness of values and identities can lead to the creation of increasingly effective communication goals and strategies.

SCG Survey

Poll: Employees consider company’s reputation, alignment with their own views more important than higher salary

SCG Survey

Views on vaccine also impactful, says nationwide, online survey of 1,500 adults

WHIPPANY, NJ (Oct. 20, 2021) – A nationwide survey of 1,500 adults indicates that 84.03% of respondents are willing to accept lower financial compensation to work for a company with a stellar reputation. A similar number – 79.59% – say it’s important to have an employer who shares their views. These results – from an SCG Advertising + Public Relations survey – seem to indicate that businesses and other employers ignore employees’ values and perspectives at their own peril.

 

Completed on October 12, 2021, the online poll also looks at vaccine policies, finding that 74.19% of respondents favor a position with a fair salary and vaccine policies they agree with, versus a higher salary and a vaccine policy in contrast to their own beliefs.

 

Full, sortable data from the survey is available here. Also included is a free, interactive white paper that features a downloadable infographic, as well as a “LISTEN” acrostic that can serve as a strong, visual reminder of the value of listening.

 

“It’s crucial that employers consider whether their organization’s beliefs align with those of current and prospective employees,” says Michael Cherenson, executive vice president for SCG Advertising + Public Relations. “The results of our poll are intriguing, and should be particularly resonant at a time when so many companies are struggling to attract and retain talent.”

 

Indicative of how serious workers are about being content with and comfortable in their employment is the most recent JOLTS (Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey) report, which shows that a record 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs during August. It’s a striking figure – which is equivalent to 2.9% of the entire U.S. workforce – and is made even more so by separate, recent research indicating that the actual cost to an organization related to an employee resigning may be as much as 50% of that individual’s annual salary.

 

Click Here For Your Copy Of Our Interactive White Paper

Another example of how important it can be to embrace positions valued by employees is United Airline’s recent decision to require all workers to be vaccinated. The move was extremely popular with candidates for employment, as evidenced by the airline having received 20,000 applications for 2,000 open flight attendant positions. For United, this represents a decidedly accelerated application rate, versus its typical, pre-pandemic ratio.

 

This said, Cherenson also notes that along with employees, business leaders must also assess the perspectives and values of other key stakeholders.

 

“While the survey data indicates the value of aligning policies with employees, organizations also need to be in sync with where their customers, clients, and society at-large stand on core issues,” Cherenson explains. “When there’s any sort of misalignment, an organization needs to work harder and smarter. To be clear, this survey’s results don’t suggest an organization should shrink from its larger obligation related to vaccines and the public health infrastructure, which a majority of Americans support. Rather, it indicates the advisability of organizations communicating as strategically and proactively as possible with their various publics.”

 

Viewing the poll results from a somewhat different perspective, only 7% of those surveyed said they would consistently choose the higher salary in response to all three questions. In other words, more than six in 10 would consistently follow their gut, versus unquestionably choosing the higher salary.

 

Of further note, in August 2001, SCG Advertising + Public Relations conducted a similar survey. It asked whether those polled would accept a lower level of compensation to work for a company with an excellent reputation. Fully 78% of respondents indicated they would.

 

“That initial survey’s results are in line with this latest poll, but it’s intriguing to see what’s changed in 20 years,” says Cherenson. “Back in 2001, 78% of those surveyed indicated a willingness to forgo a higher salary to be connected with a well-regarded organization. Today, in response to the same question, six percent more people express a preference for the company with a stellar reputation. View side-by-side, the 2001 and 2021 results appear to indicate an ongoing, societal shift – one that should substantially impact how businesses and other organizations present and define themselves.”

 

 About SCG Advertising + Public Relations

Headquartered in Whippany, NJ, SCG Advertising + Public Relations has organizational roots dating to 1958. The agency provides comprehensive communication services for a broad range of clients. Its satellite offices are located in the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, and Tampa.

 

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SCG Trendwatch: Recruitment Industry News & Insights – June 2021

TrendwatchWelcome to your monthly round-up for busy HR professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the recruitment landscape. Check in each month for the latest updates from all over the web. 

3 Benefits of Staying Connected to Former Employees 

Today, millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce. In conjunction with Generation Z, together, they make up over half of the American workforce. For many years, millennials have also been criticized as job hoppers. However, a survey done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, among jobs started by 35 to 44-year-olds, 36% ended in less than a year, and 75% ended in less than five years. While job-hopping isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can affect a company’s reputation if they are seeing a high rate of employee churn.  Read more…

 

Mandating Vaccination for New Hires 

We’re coming out of the pandemic! This is so great, right?  

It’s not really over, though. With less than 70% of the population vaccinated, it looks like Covid-19 will be around for a while, especially in states with less than 50% vaccinated. (You know who you are.)  

In late May, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provided guidance on whether employers could mandate the vaccine. Their answer: Yes, employers are allowed to mandate the vaccine if they have a business reason to do so — provided that the employer reasonably accommodates those employees who cannot be vaccinated for religious or disability-related reasons.  Read more…

  

Leverage Your Circle of Influence to Improve Employee Engagement 

The concept of the Circle of Influence was made popular in Stephen Covey’s best-selling book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, released in 1989. In the chapter describing the first habit, Be Proactive, he explains how people respond differently to factors that are in their Circle of Concern, Influence, and Control. 

Many people tend to think of factors that are either within or outside their control. The Circle of Influence provides a third important alternative to help expand our impact, especially as it relates to employee engagement. Read more…

  

Leadership in the Hybrid Workplace 

Is the hybrid workplace here to stay? A behavioral scientist named Jon Levy wrote an article in the Boston Globe (gated access) that essentially said, “Nah, I don’t think so.” And the internet blew up. (As it does.) Whether he’s correctly called it or not remains to be seen. For now, leadership in the hybrid workplace definitely is a thing and here are my hot takes for your consideration.  Read more…

 

What Candidates Value in the Post-Pandemic Market 

It seems that even as the pandemic eases and life gets back to something like “normal,” workers are going to be in motion. That means employers should prepare themselves for new dynamics in the labor market, and new expectations from candidates and employees. 

Although 87% of workers are confident about their current skill set and job security, nearly a third, 32%, plan to look for a new role over the next several months, according to a survey by Robert Half. The primary reasons, at 29% each: the chance to earn more money, and better opportunities for advancement. Read more…

  

Will employers see resignation spikes this summer? 

While general wisdom holds that few people wanted to leave their jobs during the pandemic, data from Visier shows that voluntary resignations did not drop as dramatically as may have been presumed — and for some groups of employees, resignations even increased, the workforce analytics platform’s report said. The report analyzed anonymized, standardized workforce data of over 9 million employee records from more than 4,000 companies.  Read more…

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News & Insights – June 2021

Trendwatch MarketingWelcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.

Marketers take advantage of out-of-home as people get back outdoors 

You’d have to figure that a marketing channel called out-of-home would be forced to transform when the pandemic forced consumers to, well, stay home. The quarantine period, in fact, led to a nearly 30% drop in OOH spending in 2020, according to one survey. But with 2021 almost at its midpoint, the OOH industry has made significant changes to connect with homebound customers through digital channels. 

“We’ve been able this past year to connect all the pipes, the DSPs and SSPs, the connected programmatic out-of-home pipes,” said Barry Frey, President and CEO of global digital out-of-home marketing association DPAA.  Read more…

Victoria’s Secret is (finally) trying to get women’s attention 

It took a while and steady losses in market share. But, ahead of its departure from L Brands — its home for four decades and the incubator of its once hugely successful, man-pleasing marketing campaigns — Victoria’s Secret has let go of its angels. 

They are being replaced with a group of influential and powerful women, who will help shape the brand’s merchandising and messaging, L Brands said in a press release Wednesday.  Read more…

 

As SEO changes, so do the tools that serve practitioners 

Search engine optimization remains the stalwart mainstay of digital marketing, with search driving around 50% of website traffic on average, according to an analysis of SimilarWeb data by Growth Badger. The average top blog, the company found, “gets 66.47% of its traffic from search, of which 99.77% is organic and only 0.23% is paid.” 

But the practice of SEO has become more complex and it involves more considerations than SEOs enjoyed in the “ten blue links” era. Today, SEO includes everything from content marketing and distribution to user experience, and even the core job of gathering and interpreting search intelligence has become more challenging as the search engines continually change their display of results and port them over to other media like voice assistants.  Read more…

 

User experience is the difference between mediocre and next-level search marketing 

SMX Advanced generally features all the latest in SEO and PPC marketing techniques, strategies, and news. However, this year we decided to add a brand new track focused on user experience in search marketing. 

It’s no secret that search engines are moving toward finding ways to measure this experience. Google’s page experience update (which is now officially rolling out) and the introduction of Core Web Vitals are a move in that direction, for example. We now have numbers behind the ways that searchers experience our websites: how fast does it load, how quickly can they actually interact with it, and does the page shift around annoyingly before they can use it?  Read more…

  

Rethinking multicultural marketing, Gen Z privacy views: Thursday’s daily brief 

Salesforce’s recently announced roadmap updates, which you’ll find below, are a good example of the new capabilities marketers have to reach the right person at the right time. 

Younger generations, especially, are listening. With the right messaging, more Gen Zers are willing to continue the conversation over email and text than some older consumers, according to a new study from performance marketing company Fluent that caught my attention. There’s more on that below. 

Trust in brands also comes from transparency. More transparency means consumers are paying closer attention to brand values, which requires marketers in the organization to expand their thinking, according to Adriana Waterston, SVP of Insights and Strategy for Horowitz Research. See more from her below as well.  Read more…

Facebook testing virtual reality ads in Oculus VR 

In May, Facebook announced that it would begin testing advertisements in virtual reality. Those tests are now about to go live. “The company revealed it’s going to begin experimenting with the ads in the Oculus Quest title Blaston from Resolution Games. The experiment will also expand to two other unnamed developers in the coming weeks,” said Michael Tan for PCMag. 

In-headset ads. The advertisements, deemed “in-headset ads” by Facebook, are part of the company’s exploration of ways for developers to generate revenue: “This is a key part of ensuring we’re creating a self-sustaining platform that can support a variety of business models that unlock new types of content and audiences,” the company said in the announcement blog.  Read more…

How Social Listening Speaks to Brands and Improves Consumer Targeting 

Canned tuna has been a pantry staple for generations. So when StarKist introduced it in a pouch after nearly 100 years in a can, sales stagnated. The company lowered the price and reduced the pouch size, which helped, but didn’t fix its image problem.  

To solve the dilemma, StarKist turned to social listening. It’s an increasingly popular marketing tool that uses artificial intelligence to scrape publicly available social media chatter and information—Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, news outlets and Reddit, for instance—for keywords directly and indirectly related to a brand.  Read more…