Recruitment Strategy

WHAT

Denver Public Schools was seeking ways to recruit more candidates, not only within the region, but across the country as well. The existing strategy wasn’t aligned, with multiple brands, names and messaging for different roles. The district needed to streamline its efforts and a strategy that not only recruiters, but all employees, could get behind.

HOW

While everyone had a sense of what made DPS a great place to work, we needed to quantify the “why.” I collaborated across the organization to support collecting data for and later drafting the Employee Value Proposition (EVP), outlining what brought people to the district and why they stayed.

With a clear understanding of what made the organization unique, I partnered with the Director of Marketing to build a multi-phase strategic recruitment plan. At its core was the tagline, “Make your career making a difference.” The strategy took root in recruitment, retention and positioning DPS as the employer of choice. And the tactics branched out to develop foundational messaging, a strong look and feel, cohesive collateral, and an accessible digital presence, with ad campaigns, community partnerships and bi-lingual outreach woven throughout.

RESULTS

The strategy was embraced by the DPS community. From brochures to billboards to social media ads, the campaign saturated Denver, and positioned DPS as a top employer both locally and beyond.

For employees in the district, it was a contributing factor in increasing work satisfaction and engagement, as captured through the annual all-employee engagement survey. One year after the launch, team members shared:

“I enjoy my work at DPS” increased 2% from the year before
“I am proud to tell people I work for DPS” increased 2% points
“I would recommend DPS to others as a good place to work” was up 2% points from the previous year

SAMPLES