Employment services often struggle to appeal to their intended clientele. Sending effective messages can increase sign-up. Messages should emphasise the ease, benefits, and comparative outcome of services.

Summary

• Employment services often fail to attract clients
• I worked with an agency that has struggled to increase sign-up to their employment register
• I reviewed their current processes, including their existing communications campaign
• I identified behavioural barriers with their registration process and messaging. This includes too much unrelated information and questions on the online registration form, and clunky navigation on mobile phone
• Clients who experience workplace or personal issues that lead them to quit, or otherwise being let go from work, are overwhelmed and find complex tasks difficult
• I provided advice on how to test three behavioural messages that make sign-up easy, emphasise the benefits of the service, and show a peer comparison
• My advice draws on social science theories on behavioural barriers and enablers, as well as social science methods of testing messages.

Background

An organisation, whom we’ll call Employment Advocate, provides a range of services to support workers, such as financial assistance, advice, planning, monitoring, and programs. This includes the Employment Register service, which helps clients find new jobs, or to pursue further qualifications when they have experienced an unexpected career break. This might happen when a small business closes down, or there have been changes in training.

Employment Advocate also mediates on behalf of clients when there has been a breakdown in the employment relationship due to issues in the workplace, or when an employee is overwhelmed with a personal issue requiring a break from employment. For example, their contract may stipulated rules about work hours, or they may not have accrued enough leave, and so they are forced to quit.

Employment Advocate promotes its services via its training and employment partners, on its website and social media, and through other advertising. However, Employment Advocate lacks information about why existing clients, who already use other services, do not sign up to the employment register when they lose their jobs.

Clients may lack of awareness about the Employment Register, or they may not understand the benefits.

Research shows that trainees find it difficult to continue working and pursuing professional qualifications when they lack adequate support. When people are overwhelmed, due to lack of time, finances, or other resources, they have low mental energy (cognitive bandwidth). This makes it difficult to deal with complex tasks or new decisions (scarcity mindset). This leads to mistakes, an inability to properly weigh up future opportunities, and other issues.

Studies also show that employment services are not always fit for purpose. They may not adequately cater to the unique needs of clients, including the career needs of students, graduates and workers, as well as differing life and work experience (such as with mature-age jobseekers).

What we did

In order to promote the service, Employment Advocate came to me for advice on a SMS campaign. They already promote their Employment Register with existing clients via text messages. Employment Advocate does not currently test the direct impact of these messages, but they generally find that there is low take-up of their services, even after their current SMS campaigns and other marketing.

The current communications focus on two sets of service benefits:

• Two messages emphasise that their services will “match you with employers“
• One message focuses on “exploring new opportunities and continuing your journey”

I suggested tweaking these messages to address different behavioural drivers, and then testing the outcomes.

Current SMS messages promoting the Register include a link to Employment Advocate’s general website.

Research shows that sending people directly to a form, rather than a longer information webpage, reduces the hassle factor, and increases response rates by up to 23% (p.13).

The new campaign I designed will now send clients directly to the Employment Register form.

How we did it

I consulted with Employment Advocate about their observations of workplace issues that lead to clients leaving their current contracts unexpectedly.

I evaluated the Employment Register process, form, and website, and identified ways to improve the customer experience. These outcomes will be discussed in my next post.

I carried out a literature scan to identify relevant behavioural barriers and solutions. Key issues are:

1. Demotivated when finding another employer seems too hard: Clients may have become demotivated over time if they keep applying for jobs and have not had success.
2. Disengaged due to negative experience with previous employer: Clients may wish to avoid another negative experience
3. Deterred from spending more effort: Given that one employment contract didn’t work out, clients may wish to avoid another disappointment. They may be deterred from investing more effort when they perceive diminishing returns.

What we found

I designed three SMS messages that Employment Advocate then tested with 95,000 customers. I also provided advice on how to test these SMS using a messaging platform, how to randomly allocate clients into one of three message conditions (each person only receives one message), or no message (the baseline). I demonstrated how to track clicks on links on the message, how to deal with opt-outs, and how to track long-term outcomes (e.g. Which messages lead to more registrations).

All messages are personalised, drawing on Employment Advocate’s existing client database. Each message starts and ends in the same way. Messages open with a greeting and the clients’ name, as well as the name of their local Employment Advocate office manager. All SMS end with the same call to action (Click on this link…) and sign-off (Reply No to Opt Out). The latter is a requirement to comply with the Spam Act.

Additionally, all messages emphasise that the Employment Register reduces the hassle of finding another employer (We can connect you with a new employer).

Message 1: Make it easy to sign-up (simplification)

People are more likely to act when it’s clear what they have to do (simplification). The first SMS demonstrates how easy and worthwhile Employment Register is, and highlights the benefits. This aligns with the current messaging about ‘matching with employers.’ The message clarifies registration takes less than two minutes, and that the service provides financial assistance.

Hi <Richard>. I’m <Linda>, your Manager at Employment Advocate. You recently cancelled your employment contract. We can connect you with a new employer. Sign-up is free, easy & takes 2 minutes. We can also provide up to $2,500 to cover relocation or rental expenses. Click on this link https://bit.ly/EmploymentRegister or call your Employment Advocate office on 13 XX XX.

Reply No to Opt Out

Message 2: Show them what they’ll miss (loss aversion)

People want to avoid losing what they have, rather than focusing on equivalent gains (loss aversion). The second message addresses disengagement due to previous negative experience, and builds off Employment Advocate’s current messaging on ‘exploring new opportunities.’ This SMS highlights what clients will lose if they take no action (500 employers). This message reminds clients how much time and effort they have already invested in their career development.

Hi <Richard>. I’m <Linda>, your Manager at Employment Advocate. You recently cancelled your employment contract. We can connect you with a new employer. Don’t waste all the time and effort you’ve put into getting qualified. There are 500 employers signed up with us who are looking for workers and are eager to meet you. Click on this link https://bit.ly/EmploymentRegister or call your Employment Advocate office on 13 XX XX.

Reply No to Opt Out

Message 3: Show how they compare to their peers (relative ranking)

People are more likely to lift their performance when they are told how they compare with others who are like them (relative ranking). To increase motivation to register, the final message shows the success of other people who have registered. Localised and specific messages have greater impact, including success rate (95%), sets an expectation (one month), and includes the clients’ location.

Numbers should be easy to digest numbers. E.g. ‘95%’, rather than ‘95.3%.’

Hi <Richard>. I’m <Linda>, your Regional Manager at Training Services NSW. You recently cancelled your #apprenticeship/traineeship#. We can connect you with a new employer. 95% of people from Central and Northern Sydney who register with us find another employer within 1 month. Click on this link https://bit.ly/EmploymentRegister or call your Employment Advocate office on 13 XX XX.

Reply No to Opt Out

How Social Science Helped

Social science theory: I used social science to swiftly identify behavioural issues that hinder take-up of employment services, and solutions to increasing sign-up.

Social science method: I provided advice on how to test messages, including randomisation.

In my next post, I discuss my advice on how to improve the registration form and webpage.