In this Era of Social Media, the written word is more important than ever.

Part 3 of our 2-part series.  Click here to read Part I.

PART III:  I don't care how cool/sexy/big your corporate brand is.  Bad writing will cost you the candidate.

It's not just personal brands that suffer when bad writing happens - bigger brands have just as much (and maybe more) to lose.

One of the questions I'm often asked, even among senior recruiters and HR-types who've been in the business for 10+ years is:  "I'm a corporate recruiter working for a well-known organization.  Why do I need to worry about my writing? I mean, it's not like I need a personal brand..." 

First:  Yes, you do need a personal brand.

Second:  Bad writing gets in the way of making your point.  More importantly, it can damage your corporate brand (one of the reasons I started writing this blog post in the first place was because I read an ERE blog post that was virtually incomprehensible and went away thinking "Did that person really mean to say that diversity in the workplace was a bad idea? Because that's what it sounded like.  They work for Acme Inc. - does this mean that Acme Inc. also believes diversity is a bad idea?  Yikes!") - and that can cost you the client or the candidate.

Buying decisions in the recruiting world are made on the basis of personal relationships

Ultimately, people don't make buying decisions - or employment decisions - based on corporate brands.  

A candidate may apply to your company or a hiring manager may take your call because they recognize your brand and assume you have some credibility (the 'halo effect').  But when it comes time to sign an offer letter, refer you to a friend or colleague, or make a good impression on their first day, the #1 factor is their relationship with you, personally.

Between 'first contact' and 'the close', there can easily be 10 or 20 emails between you and the client.  And now that all of us are 'building long-term relationships with passive candidates' all over the place, you may exchange 50 emails with a candidate over the course of a year or two.

After 4 or 5 emails that reveal you don't know the difference between 'they're', 'their' and 'there', the person on the other end is going to ask themselves if you're really as plugged-in and successful as you're telling them you are, and your company's great corporate brand won't count for a hill of beens.

In a talent crisis, writing can make or break your success rate  

Ask any recruiter and they'll tell you:  Recession or no recession, the talent crisis is in full swing in a whole lot of industries.

So let's say you're the Director of Recruiting at a company with $100 million in annual revenue, and you're looking to fill a Senior VP Supply Chain role in Calgary.  The talent pool is super-small and your comp package is fairly average, but you've got a great corporate brand so you usually don't have too much trouble getting senior-level candidates to take your call.

You speak to a potential candidate by phone once or twice, and s/he seems interested.  Then you send them an email to follow up:  "Great talkng 2 you to-day.  Cant wait to learn more about yr accommplishments & it's oblivious your time at Acme inc makes you a great fit for this roll."

Here's what the candidate who just read your email starts thinking:

(a) "The writer is either dumb or lazy.  Either one is bad."

(b) "How on earth did that writer get to be a director ofanything at that company?"

(c) "I guess other people in that company are dumb or lazy, too, because they're allowing this half-wit to keep his/her job."

(d) "When that company tries to tell me they're 'thought leaders', I'm going to take it with a grain of salt."

(e) "Everyone says that company is so 'cool', but I don't care how awesome they are - if I have to work with idiots my life will be miserable."

(f) "Huh!  Maybe these guys aren't as successful as their advertising tries to make them sound.  Because they're obviously not hiring the best and brightest."

And kapoot! - you've lost the candidate.  

This is followed by 

(g) "Holy crap!  This is the WORST email I've ever seen in my life!  I've got to forward it to 32 of my friends - they'll never BELIEVE it!"

And kapoot! - your corporate brand just lost a little equity, and now 32 people know that your organization isn't as smart as your marketing materials would have people believe.