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 Home Get Active Successful Organising
Facing up to the recruitment challenge – ten top tips
19 September 2005
Trying to recruit new members on a one-to-one basis can be a daunting prospect but there are a few easy-to-remember steps to help you overcome any hurdles. Have a look at these tips to help you get started.
- Introduce yourself – explain your union role and use this to make a friendly start to the discussion.
- Learn about the person you are talking to – how long have they been with the company, what’s their job, what issues are important to them, etc.
- Show the union’s relevance – say what the union can do to help with the issues identified.
- Achieve an agreement – try to get a commitment from the person. Ideally this will be a signed application form but if not leave them with some leaflets and remember to talk to them again.
- Listen – you need to show that you are taking on board the reasons why people don’t want to join so that you can turn that information around into reasons why they should join.
- Be clear – you need to have thought about what message you want to put across and do so in a clear way. Try to avoid jargon.
- Use examples – use real life experiences. It’s easier to persuade people to join if you can point to a success in your workplace.
- Focus on the issues – try to steer the conversation around to those issues that might convince the non-member to join. Remember to mention the union’s successes, use the union’s leaflets and publications such as Arena, tell them about the Usdaw web site which has all the latest information and advice.
- Be honest – it’s important to be honest with potential members, particularly if they criticise the union. No large organisation is perfect and you will not be trusted if you try to claim that the union is. Remember, you do not need to know the answer to every question. If you don’t know the answer, promise to try and find out and get back to them.
- Be accessible – find ways of making it easier for potential members to join. This might mean looking at the time/place you meet people, leaving a phone number where you can be contacted, etc.
Don’t forget the national recruitment prize draw which will give any member who recruits five new members, a free entry which could win them one of many fantastic prizes.
Union on the menu at Cathay Dim Sum
Usdaw has signed its first groundbreaking deal at one of Manchester’s premier Cantonese restaurants after staff at the Cathay Dim Sum at the Trafford Centre queued up to join.
More details to follow in Arena September/October.
Contact Details
Media and Communications Department
Ph: 0161 224 2804
Fax: 0161 248 8588
communications@usdaw.org.uk
http://www.usdaw.org.uk/getactive/
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