GMA’s “Starts With Me!” workforce development campaign was developed for use by Georgia’s cities. It was created to help address the growing talent acquisition and retention challenges faced by Georgia’s cities and focuses on the heartwarming side of working in city government. The city of Cedartown has been using the campaign resources for over a year. In this Q&A with GMA’s director of strategic initiatives, Cedartown City Manager Edward Guzman talks about how the city uses the “Starts With Me!” resources and the benefits the city has experienced from using them.
Brian Wallace (BW): Before Cedartown began using the “Starts With Me!” recruitment campaign resources, what was the city doing to advertise for available positions?
Edward Guzman (EG): We would put our job postings on our website, Facebook page, and any other job hiring websites like GLGPA and our local chamber of commerce. These were generic “Now Hiring” posts and listings. If there were any pictures included in the job posting, it was usually just the city logo.
BW: Tell me how the city changed the way it recruited because of the resources available in the campaign.
EG: It allowed us to be more creative with how we handled job recruitment. I think we live in an age of information overload where so much detail is available at a click of a button. Our job postings look more attractive now that we use the “Starts With Me!” campaign resources, and that gets more eyes to actually read our job postings.
BW: Was it difficult to begin using the resources? Does someone on staff create the ads or do you outsource it?
EG: Luckily, Aimee Madden, who is the city’s public information officer knew how to use the resources right off the bat! She manages the city’s Facebook page and website, so I knew we would be able to use the resources inhouse. It takes some expertise in using Adobe for the design files. If she had not been savvy at using the files, we would have outsourced it, though.
BW: How does the city use the resources? Print ads? Online ads?
EG: Print and online! They both look great. We just participated in a job fair and it was nice seeing pictures of our staff at the fair with the “Starts With Me!” campaign resources. I felt like it gave our booth an attractive look.
BW: Once the city started using them, what results did you see? EG: We noticed, through Facebook’s analytics, that our posts were getting a lot more interaction. Before using “Starts With Me!”, the city barely got any interaction with our job postings. Once we started using the resources though, we noticed a huge uptick in views, clicks, and comments. That translated into more job applications and a greater pool of applicants to choose from.
BW: I know you’ve spoken about how the “Starts With Me!” campaign has helped with more than job recruitment. Tell me about that.
EG: Cedartown has a population of about 10,000, so you definitely have that small town feel of everyone knowing each other. We would highlight our employees with the “Starts With Me!” resources, and noticed employees’ friends and family comment on the Facebook posts. I think one of the best things I observed about using the resources is the happiness that comes from highlighting our people. On a post advertising a police officer opening, we used a picture of one of our officers in her police vehicle. Her mother commented on the post and said “That’s my baby girl.” I know that was a great moment for our officer and seeing the goodwill that comes from these resources has been awesome to see.
BW: It sounds like you’re going to continue using “Starts With Me!” EG: Definitely! We have been happy with the results. If there’s a city that feels intimated by the amount of design materials that are available for use, I would say don’t let it dissuade you from using them. The campaign resources can be outsourced to a company that knows how to work with the materials. It may also be a great opportunity for your city to connect with the students at a local high school, college or vocational school that teaches graphic design. Give it a shot!
This article was originally featured in the July/August 2021 edition of Georgia’s Cities Magazine.