The City of Welland’s approach to reaching new talent and keeping and recognizing current employees through strategic social media communications has earned a Gold standing in the 2022 Hermes Creative Awards.

One of more than 6,500 submissions to various categories this year, Recruitment, Retention, and Recognition: How the City of Welland’s LinkedIn strategy brings, keeps, and celebrates top talent, was adjudicated in the Electronic/Social Media category.

The strategy, authored by the staff in the communications and human resources departments, focuses on Council’s strategic priority of communications, community engagement, and organizational culture.

“With all municipalities looking for top talent and retaining those employees already in place, we needed to develop a way to stand out, even if just a little bit,” said Marc MacDonald, corporate communications manager. “Working alongside human resources, the communications department designed an effective and creative approach in telling Welland’s story and highlighting the great staff we have in all areas of the corporation.”

Launched in October 2021, messaging focuses on creative narratives about the City, reframed hiring posts, and celebrations of the milestones and accomplishments of current staff. As a result, monthly followers on the City’s official LinkedIn profile have increased month over month, impressions have reached over 40,000 per month at their peak, and reaction to content increased by 600 per cent.

In addition to social media metrics, the candidates applying for open and new positions are highly competitive in terms of the quality and quantity of qualified applicants.

Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing, and design of traditional and emerging media recognizing outstanding industry work.

The awards are administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), an international organization consisting of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, digital media production, and freelance professionals.