How Video is Giving Yodel Job Seekers the 'Real McCoy'

Yodel know their candidate personas, they’re all about authenticity and transparency—they want to see the real McCoy. Video job ads, with hiring managers, are an integral part of Yodel’s push to create a world-class candidate experience.

We recently caught up with Yodel’s Head of Resourcing, Ben Gledhill, at The FIRM Recruitment Awards in London. Yodel, one of the largest delivery companies in the UK, was nominated for ‘Best Candidate Experience’ for their newly implemented chat-bot. It was a great opportunity to catch up with Ben and hear how the team is getting on with VideoMyJob.  

Why did Yodel decide to add in-house video production to their HR tech stack?

There were two things we were trying to achieve with VideoMyJob. Firstly, I needed a way of capturing video that was high quality, I wanted a tool that was easy to assemble and something that was easy to throw content out onto socials, with links, downloading functions and all the rest of it.

Secondly, we wanted to do something that wasn’t just recruitment focussed, but engaged the people. VideoMyJob allows hiring managers to download the app themselves and record videos, so accidentally I guess it’s turned into an engagement tool—not just a social media content tool.

What’s really positive is that when we have a new vacancy coming through, all the hiring managers will say “don’t forget the video kit” because they now see it as part of the larger process.

This is fantastic because all of a sudden you’ve got hiring managers talking about LinkedIn and views, clicks and all the rest of it. It gets their personal brand out there and it improves their confidence as well. 

Has video helped to improve the Yodel candidate experience?

I’m a big fan of debunking recruitment myths! People probably assume that hiring managers aren’t very ‘out there’, that we just send you CVs— one thing that I’ve worked on at Yodel is we’re not just filling vacancies, we’re hiring capability, and we’re hiring capability to further the organisation.

I say that we own recruitment, it’s our bag, we own the tools. But it’s also your responsibility, as the hiring manager. We’ve got this really cool tool, you can create really cool content without over-simplifying it—crack on and record some really cool videos.

People attract people. If we can get our hiring manager in front of the camera, whether its sales, IT, marketing, operations—you’re immediately selling those people, or that talent brand and you have people thinking “I love her… she’s amazing, she’s got great energy.”

Don’t get me wrong, your employer brand is important but your people brand is much more important. So if we can get those personalities out there—winner! 

What are some of the results you’re seeing with video?

It’s coming up 12 months of using VideoMyJob and in support functions alone we have filled 20+ vacancies. People who have seen the video, and then applied.

In Operations we’re probably at about five or six roles filled—which is an achievement in itself because if you look at the persona of our Operations team; drivers, working in the warehouse and more operational type roles, they don’t always have access to LinkedIn, Twitter or Vimeo. So for that demographic to find the videos and find them organically, it shows how well it’s working.

From a quality of hire perspective we’ve definitely seen a reduction in 6 month leavers which is always important in an organisation and we’ve really put that down to the fact that you’re getting a much bigger psychological contract between a new starter and a hiring manager. Because remember, they’ve already kind of met each other, virtually or online, this has been really good.

From a hiring manager, NPS perspective, we’re getting a lot more positive feedback from hiring managers who are a lot more involved.

Job adverts will always exist, there will always be an Indeed, a Stepstone etc. but I think video is here to stay and it will only get better and better.

There’s a place for expensive agency-produced video, but when we speak to our candidates and our personas, they’re all about authenticity, transparency. They want to see the real McCoy.

A lot of the feedback we’ve received has been people saying “I can’t believe you’re using video, I’ve never seen organisations do this before!” Candidates are pleasantly surprised that we are using this technology and being innovative with job adverts.

From an up skilling perspective, in my own team, I now have a team of 12 recruiters that are comfortable with video content, they know the type of things that candidates want to hear.

 All of a sudden, I’ve not just got 12 people focussed on delivery, I’ve got 12 mini employer branding specialists.

The app is so simple, we record, we have a top and a tail—the app does its magic, it’s done!

Yodel is an independently owned parcel carrier, offering a wide range of delivery options to suit business needs. It delivers around 145 million parcels each year for many of the UK’s leading retailers and businesses. Yodel operates three networks - service centre based van drivers, local couriers who deliver in their own neighbourhood and CollectPlus, which allows consumers to send, return & collect parcels via its nationwide network of parcel points.

To find out more visit www.yodel.co.uk 

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