Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2022: Jeremy May and Matt Lee, Ramsey MediaWorks

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from SHRM 2022 at the New Orleans Convention Center, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in helping workplaces thrive during disruptive times. Now, here’s your host.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:19] Hey, everyone. Your host, Jamie Gassmann here. We are coming to you from SHRM 2022’s Exhibit Hall. And I’m sitting in R3 Continuum’s booth here at the conference, our show sponsor. And with me is Jeremy May and Matt Lee from Ramsay MediaWorks. Welcome to the show.

Jeremy May: [00:00:41] Thank you for having us today.

Matt Lee: [00:00:42] Yes. Absolutely. Thank you for having us today.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:45] So, I really want to hear, well, little and a lot about you guys, both, kind of your career history and kind of what brought you to Ramsay MediaWorks, and then about Ramsay MediaWorks, and what brings you here to SHRM. So, how about we start with you, Jeremy. Why don’t you share with us kind of a little bit of your background?

Jeremy May: [00:01:03] Sure. Yeah. Well, Jeremy May here, Vice President of Client Services at Ramsay MediaWorks. We’re an ad agency. A lot of our clients are around talent acquisition, so we help them fill a lot of those vacant positions. My role, I work with a lot of our clients. But behind the scenes, I’m working with a lot of the vendors, where we place those job ads and improve our performance and our procedures and things like that to just get our clients good value, and have that information that the CFO wants to see about where their money’s going and what it’s getting for them. And so, that’s really where I focus my time is just developing our team and our processes to help our clients win that talent work.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:41] Wonderful. How about you, Matt?

Matt Lee: [00:01:43] Well, we had the opportunity to meet at the ATA recently. I believe that was – when was that in?

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:50] April.

Matt Lee: [00:01:51] Yes. In April. In April. Wow. Time flies.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:01:53] It does. Yes. That was a busy month for me. It was a busy travel month.

Matt Lee: [00:01:57] It sure was. So, we, at Ramsay, are really heavily involved in the transportation space. And that’s where we met at the American Trucking Association. And so, this is our first time here at SHRM. And we are excited to kind of bring some of the ideas that we have been seeing success within that space in more of this space with the folks that are going to be attending, you know, here at SHRM. So, we’re just excited to kind of take it all in, maybe hear a little bit about what some of their pain points are, and maybe be able to help address some of those.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:34] Yeah. Absolutely. Because, I mean, staffing is on the minds of a lot of hiring HR leaders. I know at R3 Continuum, our HR leaders had to get creative on some of our roles and positioning them.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:02:45] So, what are some of the things you’re hearing within your customers? I know you do advertising for that. So, I’ve got to imagine you’re hearing some of their goals and the challenges of achieving those goals. So, how about we start with you, Matt. Share with us kind of some of the things that you’ve heard in the space.

Matt Lee: [00:02:59] Sure. After COVID, you know, the whole pandemic thing, it’s a different dynamic than what we had before the pandemic. And like I said, we’re heavily involved in the transportation space, so finding truck drivers today is just a little bit more of a challenge than it was in the past. So, we have to change up the way that we target those specific candidates, the way that we talk to them, we have to change the messages.

Matt Lee: [00:03:37] So, I guess it’s just we have to make sure that we’re relevant, and listen to what that applicant needs and is looking for. And be able to change those messages to attract those good candidates. Because that’s one of the biggest things that we heard post-pandemic was, we’re getting applicant flow, but the quality is not quite there. And so, again, we just kind of had to change those messages. And the customers we’re working with are seeing success. And so, you know, we continue to grow at Ramsey. And, again, we’re kind of here just to kind of take it all in and learn what the other side is doing.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:15] Yeah. There’s a lot to take in at SHRM. And I got to imagine, you know, getting creative, changing up the approach with maybe changing the language in the ad, operationally did you have to do any changes internally to address those modifications with the customer? How about you comment on that, Jeremy?

Jeremy May: [00:04:34] Yeah. So, I don’t think that we had to change too much on our end. You know, the industry is in a state where, really, in any vertical, there’s more positions open than there are people to fill them. And so, I think that’s what everybody’s dealing with. That’s what we’re hearing that’s the pain point. We’re not really having a problem getting applicants to apply for jobs, though.

Jeremy May: [00:04:55] That’s really the thing that’s different, is that, because of inflation, those underlying things happening, people are looking for pay. They’re looking for, you know, as we’re in transition now of, are you going to be an in-office company or are you going to be a remote company? Those are catalysts for why people are interested and just looking what’s out there. So, the applicant is taking place.

Jeremy May: [00:05:14] What’s changed is not really our process, but it’s the conversation we’re having with the clients around addressing those things Matt mentioned around the candidate quality is just really looking at who is a good fit in your organization, and how do we identify that. Some of that through some of the things we would do with our processes via the landing page or a form filled, because we know they’re an interesting candidate. But then, we’ve got to look at the velocity of them getting through your process. Can we remove barriers? Can we compete with whoever else they may be looking at a job? Because that’s what’s different is they’re not just looking at your position.

Jeremy May: [00:05:53] And so, we just take that conversation a little bit deeper than we used to because it’s an employee’s market. They have a lot of choice. And so, that’s where the conversations changed, where we’re getting a little bit further into the process of our clients, what is it that they can change to get those candidates onboarded and have the right talent.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:06:13] Well, I mean, it’s interesting, I’ve talked on the show with lots of different HR leaders, one of the common themes is they’re interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them. And so, I got to imagine, the advertising ,that’s like your first point of entry. And so, how you’re portraying yourself to that candidate has got to be a huge component to that first initial experience that they’re experiencing with your organization. So, how do you advise customers on that? Like, what are some of the things that you tell them as you’re crafting that message that’s really important that they think about?

Jeremy May: [00:06:47] Yeah. One thing that I think that is probably a struggle for clients today is there’s a buzz word with a unique value proposition, if you will, but it’s around the brand, unique brand things. And a lot of companies are looking to find what that is, and they’re asking the agencies to answer the question. And, really, what we do as an agency is, we go in and ask the question about what makes them unique themselves, what is their culture that’s been set. You know, they could be a 20 year old company, a 100 year old company, we’re not going to redefine their brand. That culture is set.

Jeremy May: [00:07:20] And so, what we really need to do is understand what some of their long term employees say about them. Why do you stay? Because that’s the message that we’ve got to portray. And so, it’s really just a listening exercise for us to go in and understand what is it that’s unique about you. Is it your culture around your family-work life balance? Is it your pay? Because some companies just say, “We’re going to pay you more. We’re not going to provide a great workplace, but we’re going to provide you better pay.” Some people, it’s not about the pay, it’s the flexibility.

Jeremy May: [00:07:50] You know, I think individuals are generally motivated by one of three things. It’s pay, flexibility, or recognition. And so, what I’m listening for when I’m talking to a client is, what is it that they actually have that’s just part of their identity already, because we don’t have to sell that. We just have to amplify that voice for them.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:09] Yeah. Absolutely. And I like that you touched on that because you’re right, candidates are going to be exploring that organization through those three lenses. That’s what I was thinking when you were talking about that, is, it’s not always about the pay. Sometimes it’s just about who am I working for? You know, if you have a bad boss or bad leadership, people aren’t going to stick around to watch it to, hopefully, see it get better.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:08:34] So, Matt, what are some of your perspectives from your role within Ramsay Media that you’ve seen and you’ve experienced that, you know, you want to share with these HR leaders that they should be looking for and paying attention to right now, especially in this job market?

Matt Lee: [00:08:48] You know, I think like what Jeremy said, it’s just becoming more and more about the culture and being able to kind of differentiate yourself from your competitors. Like Jeremy said, on those long term folks that have been with you, figure out why they’re staying. And then, the new folks, why they’re coming onboard. And learn from that and then be able to change that message to target people more like that.

Matt Lee: [00:09:21] And so, you know, just being able to get in there, do some analysis because it’s a very, very, very competitive market. And so, being able to use some of the technologies, there’s a lot of technology here at SHRM, for sure. This is a great place to learn about a lot of different technologies, you know, that are up and coming. Some new, some been around for a long time.

Matt Lee: [00:09:48] But, also, it’s time to kind of take a step back and make sure that that you have the technology in place to be able to let the candidates talk to you how they want to talk to you. Because they’re doing their research before they ever call you. So, being able to have landing pages that explain exactly what that position entails, if you’re able to add some video components to that landing page, some messaging actually from some of your current employees, as well as some of your long term, as well as some of your new folks about the onboarding process. You know, that’s always good to have.

Matt Lee: [00:10:31] Because one of the things that candidates have is that fear, that anxiety of, “Man, what’s this job going to be like?” So, if we can answer some of those questions through video, it’s just going to take some of that anxiety away before they make that phone call to figure out if this is going to be the place they want to call home.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:10:52] Yeah. And it’s a change. And for them, to your point, it’s a really big decision. I mean, it’s more than just that paycheck. It’s probably somewhere where they spend the majority of their day. You know, it’s like a work family. So, very interesting.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:11:06] So, if somebody wanted to get a hold of you, if one of our HR leaders listening in is like, “I really want to learn a little bit more from you in terms of what Ramsey MediaWorks does,” how can they get a hold of you?

Matt Lee: [00:11:17] You know, we have a website, ramseymediaworks.com. And on there, we have all of our social media channels. We’re on LinkedIn. We’re on Facebook. You know, all the big ones. We’re starting some TikTok for some customers and having some fun there. So, yeah, check us out, ramseymediaworks.com. We’d love to talk.

Jamie Gassmann: [00:11:39] Yeah. Well, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you at ATA. And I’m so glad you found us here. And I was honored to have you on the show. And thank you for joining us. And good luck at the show. It sounds like it’s going well so far, but I hope the rest of the time here goes well for you both.

Jeremy May: [00:11:56] Thank you very much. Thanks for having us.

Matt Lee: [00:11:57] Thank you so much.

Outro: [00:12:03] Thank you for joining us on Workplace MVP. R3 Continuum is a proud sponsor of this show, and is delighted to celebrate most valuable professionals who work diligently to secure safe workplaces where employees can thrive.