Recruitment Strategy

From the start of the Workforce Recruitment campaign, the client had two overarching goals. First, and most immediately, was to recruit direct support professionals. Second, and over the longer term, was to increase public awareness of the successful integration of people with developmental disabilities into their communities and the positive contributions that people working in the field make.

SURVEY PROVIDER AGENCIES
Before the campaign began, Parker & James created and distributed a survey, based on agency input. The survey assessed providers' current situation, generated valuable benchmark information, and helped shape the subsequent campaign.

FOCUS GROUPS
Because it was important to understand what motivated direct support professionals to stay with their work, Parker & James held group discussions at work sites, without managers and supervisors present. The campaign's theme-Some people are lucky enough to love their work-emerged directly from this research.

BUILDING BRAND IDENTITY
Critical to the long-term success of the campaign was the development of brand identity - a common concept in the commercial world, but which most public and private human service agencies do not ordinarily embrace. Parker & James provided direct mail, video PSAs, high-impact advertising, and media buys that targeted state and local markets and resulted in widespread brand recognition and enhanced response in a short time and at a reasonable cost.

Back to Case Study - the Mass. DMR Workforce Recruitment Campaign