Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s creative recruitment program key to success in tight labour market.
Unemployment is at an historic low. Competition for top university graduates is fierce. What is a recruiter to do? Hold a contest!
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has gained the reputation for being a great place to work. In fact, in 1999, Fortune magazine named Enterprise as one of the “100 Best Companies to work for.”
With a solid retention strategy in place through a management-training program, the challenge in 2000 was: how to communicate the benefits of the firm and attract the right people, given the exceptionally fierce recruiting environment in Canada and the United States. As a result of Enterprise’s exceptional growth, more than 6,000 positions across North America were available. To fill those jobs, a fresh approach was needed.
The “Promote Yourself”
career contest
This year, Enterprise developed an innovative recruitment and communications strategy to set the company apart from other organizations. The “Promote Yourself Career Contest” drew upon the very qualities looked for in an employee — a program that was outside of the box, and offered incentives for exceptional performance.
Using the “Promote Yourself” career contest, job applicants were invited to demonstrate their creativity by applying for a job at Enterprise in a non-traditional fashion — a means of demonstrating they had what it takes to be a top performer with Enterprise. We invited applicants to submit their most creative résumé, be it a Web page, CD-ROM, painting or poetry. The only rule was that their entry had to fit through the door.
The prizes included one $5,000 US grand prize, two $2,500 US first place prizes and three $1,000 US second place prizes – not to mention the opportunity to secure a management-track position at Enterprise Rent-A-Car anywhere in North America.
Our objective: to design a program that emphasized that Enterprise is a place that offers unlimited opportunities for career advancement based on individual performance and initiative and provides the tools and training to achieve personal, financial and career goals.
Executing and managing
the contest
This North American contest was launched in February, 2000 at the beginning of the heavy recruiting season.
Prior to launch, a judging panel was formed. Entries were to considered primarily on the basis of how well they called attention to their qualifications rather than their technical use and understanding of the media used.
Next, a graphic look and logo were developed for the contest. This look was used in all communication’s materials including letterhead, brochures, media kits and the Web site.
Enterprise invested considerable resources in its Web site — which was expanded to include a special section for the contest. The site featured a mock sample entry and encouraged people to apply online.
Finally, a way was needed to communicate the contest to potential applicants. To do so, the company’s human resources initiative was leveraged through its public relations involving a comprehensive internal and external communications plan.
Taking the “Promote Yourself” contest
to the street
Enterprise promoted the “Promote Yourself” contest in the following ways:
•Career fairs and conventional recruitment initiatives: more than 200 professional Enterprise recruiters covering 150 regions across Canada and the U.S. took the message to students using brochures, the Web site and other materials.
•Public relations: Enterprise launched separate campaigns in Canada and the United States. The campaigns included:
a) Designation of a corporate recruitment-specialist spokesperson (one for Canada, one for the U.S.).
b) Media skills training for the spokespeople (to prepare for media interviews).
c) Media relations campaign that resulted in spokesperson interviews and media coverage for Enterprise and the contest on television, radio and leading daily newspapers in both countries.
•The Web: The “Promote Yourself” section of the Enterprise Web site served as the primary source of detailed information (i.e.: contest rules, entry forms, a sample, etc.).
To ensure the contest served to the company’s greatest advantage, Enterprise initiated a tightly run entry management and judging program. Local recruiters first conducted preliminary entry reviews and candidate interviews. Then, nominations were sent to the judging panel for selection. Finalists were based on the quality of their entry and their statement of interest in joining Enterprise.
The results
The “Promote Yourself” campaign resulted in numerous job interviews conducted throughout Canada the U.S. Enterprise received more than 350 creative entries — of which more than one quarter came from Canadian job seekers — along with thousands of traditional job applications.
Contest entries covered the spectrum from original jingles, poems and essays, to paintings on canvas, interactive Web sites and three-dimensional models.
Canadian Erin Marsden, ranked first out of six North American winners with her Web site résumé.
Other winning entries included home videos, a paper pizza (which listed the applicant’s qualifications under each slice), a game board, CD-ROM and a men’s shoe bearing the caption, “Now that I’ve got my foot in the door...” Many more winners earned a business management career opportunity with Enterprise through traditional résumé submissions.
In all, the “Promote Yourself Career Contest” was a recruitment success for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Beyond securing new employees, Enterprise used creativity to draw the best out of people — a process that was not only professionally satisfying, but a great deal of fun.
Vincent Wong is a professional recruiter and human resources manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Markham, Ont. He can be reached at (905) 477-2199.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has gained the reputation for being a great place to work. In fact, in 1999, Fortune magazine named Enterprise as one of the “100 Best Companies to work for.”
With a solid retention strategy in place through a management-training program, the challenge in 2000 was: how to communicate the benefits of the firm and attract the right people, given the exceptionally fierce recruiting environment in Canada and the United States. As a result of Enterprise’s exceptional growth, more than 6,000 positions across North America were available. To fill those jobs, a fresh approach was needed.
The “Promote Yourself”
career contest
This year, Enterprise developed an innovative recruitment and communications strategy to set the company apart from other organizations. The “Promote Yourself Career Contest” drew upon the very qualities looked for in an employee — a program that was outside of the box, and offered incentives for exceptional performance.
Using the “Promote Yourself” career contest, job applicants were invited to demonstrate their creativity by applying for a job at Enterprise in a non-traditional fashion — a means of demonstrating they had what it takes to be a top performer with Enterprise. We invited applicants to submit their most creative résumé, be it a Web page, CD-ROM, painting or poetry. The only rule was that their entry had to fit through the door.
The prizes included one $5,000 US grand prize, two $2,500 US first place prizes and three $1,000 US second place prizes – not to mention the opportunity to secure a management-track position at Enterprise Rent-A-Car anywhere in North America.
Our objective: to design a program that emphasized that Enterprise is a place that offers unlimited opportunities for career advancement based on individual performance and initiative and provides the tools and training to achieve personal, financial and career goals.
Executing and managing
the contest
This North American contest was launched in February, 2000 at the beginning of the heavy recruiting season.
Prior to launch, a judging panel was formed. Entries were to considered primarily on the basis of how well they called attention to their qualifications rather than their technical use and understanding of the media used.
Next, a graphic look and logo were developed for the contest. This look was used in all communication’s materials including letterhead, brochures, media kits and the Web site.
Enterprise invested considerable resources in its Web site — which was expanded to include a special section for the contest. The site featured a mock sample entry and encouraged people to apply online.
Finally, a way was needed to communicate the contest to potential applicants. To do so, the company’s human resources initiative was leveraged through its public relations involving a comprehensive internal and external communications plan.
Taking the “Promote Yourself” contest
to the street
Enterprise promoted the “Promote Yourself” contest in the following ways:
•Career fairs and conventional recruitment initiatives: more than 200 professional Enterprise recruiters covering 150 regions across Canada and the U.S. took the message to students using brochures, the Web site and other materials.
•Public relations: Enterprise launched separate campaigns in Canada and the United States. The campaigns included:
a) Designation of a corporate recruitment-specialist spokesperson (one for Canada, one for the U.S.).
b) Media skills training for the spokespeople (to prepare for media interviews).
c) Media relations campaign that resulted in spokesperson interviews and media coverage for Enterprise and the contest on television, radio and leading daily newspapers in both countries.
•The Web: The “Promote Yourself” section of the Enterprise Web site served as the primary source of detailed information (i.e.: contest rules, entry forms, a sample, etc.).
To ensure the contest served to the company’s greatest advantage, Enterprise initiated a tightly run entry management and judging program. Local recruiters first conducted preliminary entry reviews and candidate interviews. Then, nominations were sent to the judging panel for selection. Finalists were based on the quality of their entry and their statement of interest in joining Enterprise.
The results
The “Promote Yourself” campaign resulted in numerous job interviews conducted throughout Canada the U.S. Enterprise received more than 350 creative entries — of which more than one quarter came from Canadian job seekers — along with thousands of traditional job applications.
Contest entries covered the spectrum from original jingles, poems and essays, to paintings on canvas, interactive Web sites and three-dimensional models.
Canadian Erin Marsden, ranked first out of six North American winners with her Web site résumé.
Other winning entries included home videos, a paper pizza (which listed the applicant’s qualifications under each slice), a game board, CD-ROM and a men’s shoe bearing the caption, “Now that I’ve got my foot in the door...” Many more winners earned a business management career opportunity with Enterprise through traditional résumé submissions.
In all, the “Promote Yourself Career Contest” was a recruitment success for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Beyond securing new employees, Enterprise used creativity to draw the best out of people — a process that was not only professionally satisfying, but a great deal of fun.
Vincent Wong is a professional recruiter and human resources manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Markham, Ont. He can be reached at (905) 477-2199.
