Do Ping Pong Tables Matter When Attracting Talent?
For a while I thought it was ridiculous to recruit talent through gimmicky benefits. Some companies draw talent through images of employees playing ping pong in an open concept office. I refused to draw in talent that way because I didn’t see the value. What does a ping pong table say about my company? What about a ping pong table makes a candidate say yes? I had NO idea until a recent experience.
I had been nurturing a candidate for a while waiting for the right position to become available. When it did I reached out to them to let them know. Shortly after the application and resume were in my ATS and I was ready to move forward with pre-screenings and interviewing. As expected, they let me know they had applied with another company. I have heard this before from candidates who want to be offered the best package before accepting a position. We went forward with the interviews and conditional job offer and he asked for a day to think about it. I followed up and he turned the offer down. With every rejected offer I want to understand why? I want feedback to see if I am able to change the candidates mind or if I need to modify my process. Their response…”the company I accepted a job from seems awesome. Their website says ‘We rock’ and they showed me their ping pong tables and stuff for employees.”(Stuff LOL).
I looked up the website and yes it literally says, “We Rock!” I browsed through the landing page and there it was…the ping pong table, front and center with smiling digital generationers.
Maybe it was my bruised ego but I was out competed by the arena of a college drinking game. What was I missing?
My path crossed the candidate again at a networking event and I asked for an update. He NEVER mentioned the ping pong table. Instead they described their work environment, their team, managers, training and volunteering.
It wasn’t the ping pong table. It wasn’t even that they wanted to have the option of playing ping pong. The ping pong table was a symbol. An icon of the company’s culture. I had focused on making sure the candidate had the qualifications. During the pre-screening I enticed them to the position by selling work/life balance, compensation and advancement opportunities. I compared their skills and how they would fit into the position I was offering. I failed to share one of the reasons that brought me to the company I work for, company culture. It wasn’t a competition between me and a ping pong table. It was a competition between cultures.
What did I learn?
- Share my culture! Give them insights into what it means to be a part of the team. Introduce them to their potential work environment and team members. By doing interviews out of their potential work office I can get a feel of cultural fit AND they have the opportunity discern if they fit the cultural.
- Include cultural-based questions during pre-screening. Questions like what environment they prefer and thrive in? Any specifics that drew their attention to our company? Simple questions that have made a huge impact in my recruiting efforts.
- Sorry to say this but be authentic. I know buzzword, but by describing what the culture is really like the candidate will understand if they fit. Amazon comes to mind. When they were complaints on the work environment I would argue that those complaining weren’t a cultural fit. Some thrive in this culture others don’t. I need my candidates to truly see the ‘real’ culture.
Now to answer the question, “Do ping pong tables matter in talent acquisition?”. No ping pong tables don’t matter. What matters is the environment that surrounds the ping pong table.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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Originally published at recruitingbythehour.wordpress.com on February 3, 2016.
