Environmental Protection Agency
Challenge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 18,000 employees strong, is charged with protecting human health and the environment. Every year, EPA was receiving more employment applications than it had positions to fill. The Agency needed to fine-tune its recruitment programs to attract candidates that were more precisely suited to the nature of their work and the positions available. EPA wanted to improve efficiency in candidate attraction, selection and mission performance. The key was to find and attract candidates who were not only qualified and talented but who were also more likely to perform productively in EPA's workplace culture.
Solution
EPA looked to TMP Worldwide to help them attract and retain candidates that fit with the Agency's unique workplace culture. Our approach was to apply our pioneering talent brand methodology to discover the distinctive qualities of the EPA workplace experience. We also wanted to craft the findings into a compelling theme platform that could inspire both recruitment outreach and meaningful internal human capital programs. Through the TMP Worldwide exclusive Performance Continuum™, we would enable the Agency to attract top-performing candidates by developing a talent brand that emphasized EPA's unique career opportunities.
Tactics
TMP Worldwide conducted interviews with EPA executives, led focus groups with employees in several locations around the country, and surveyed the employee population. Our goal: to understand exactly what it is like to work at EPA. Armed with our findings, we crafted a talent brand highlighting the constructive balance that characterizes all aspects of the agency's mission and operations, particularly the way EPA employees interact with one another to get things done. For instance, an applicant may be inspired by a career in science or engineering, or regulation, or environmental policy, or in making a difference locally or nationally.
Results
EPA human capital management at all levels embraced the new talent brand with enthusiasm, and the TMP Worldwide team immediately set out to implement a recruitment advertising campaign and careers website to put the brand's key themes in play. Today, the EPA talent brand serves as the anchor for an array of strategic and creative initiatives aimed at attracting candidates, as well as enriching the workplace experience and career progression of all members of the EPA team. The Agency continues to count on TMP Worldwide for everything from advertising and digital design to applicant tracking systems, diversity outreach and corporate branding.
Awards
2005 Employment Management Association Creative Excellence Awards
- 2nd Place, Special Award - Best Campaign for Diversity Recruitment