The Secret to Revolutionary Talent Attraction: Make It Personal

I’m on the phone with my friend Jessie, talking about her big move. Jessie has spent her whole life in the northeast, and the past two decades in NYC, where she currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband. In a few months, though, they’re moving to Asheville, North Carolina. 

“So why Asheville?” I ask. 

Jessie recites a list of all the reasons people tend to leave New York City for other places: Asheville is more affordable. The pace of life is slower. The job market isn’t as competitive. There’s more space, both outdoors and in the apartments and bungalows Jessie has been scouting online. “We’re going to have not just one closet,” she tells me, her volume building with giddy disbelief, “but MULTIPLE CLOSETS.”

But my curiosity isn’t satisfied. I am obsessed with how people decide where to live. The tiny moments and major epiphanies that inform one of the biggest life choices we ever make. I know what the research says about why people move: affordability, job opportunities, being closer to family, wanting a different lifestyle. But whether I’m talking to a lifelong friend or (gently) interrogating a new acquaintance at a party, the most deeply personal reasons for moving are the ones that mean the most to me: I want to know why you moved. 

“Tell me the exact moment when you decided to move to Asheville,” I say to Jessie. “What was the tipping point, the thing that made you go, ‘Oh, this is where I want to be’?”

Jessie thinks for a moment, and then tells me a story that is both extremely specific and more universal than she might realize. 

Last year, she and her husband took a weekend trip to Asheville. They did all the tourist-y things, trying to get a feel for the place. One evening, they wandered into a brewery. The brewery happened to be hosting a community game night. There were games set up at tables around the space, and people were drinking craft beers and mingling, trying new brews and board games.

“People were chatting with each other, and I got the feeling that some people knew each other beforehand, but many of them were meeting for the first time,” Jessie says. “Everyone seemed so kind. No one was acting ‘too cool.’ I could see us coming here for game nights, sipping beers, making new friends. I just felt like … there was a place for us.” 

Jessie’s story underscores the most powerful factor in decision-making, and what is often missing from the talent attraction equation: making it personal. 

Your city undoubtedly has a long list of amenities that can be marketed to grab attention. I’ve been writing about places for many years, and I love uncovering and highlighting what makes every city special. But your food scene or outdoor space or affordable home prices or great schools are only abstract bullet points until you reach out and show prospective new residents exactly where they’ll be sitting at those restaurants, or who they’ll be hiking with on weekends, or the neighbors that will welcome them to their new home, or the teachers who can’t wait to immerse their children in cheerful, colorful classrooms.

Talent attraction strategies, even the most creative and innovative ones, stop short of this step. 

We started RoleCall because we realized the power of approaching talent attraction in a truly personal way. A cohesive strategy that includes not just marketing a list of amenities, but a warm, real, enthusiastic voice reaching out to prospective residents saying, “There’s a place for you here, and I’m going to help you find it.” 

I love that Jessie wandered into that brewery in Asheville and it changed the trajectory of her whole life. Cities can learn a lot from her experience. At RoleCall, we’re building a new model of talent attraction to help cities replicate the spirit of that game night: showing new residents warmth, kindness, inclusion — and a seat at the table, just for them. 

When cities make talent attraction personal, they’re rewarded with a wave of new residents who feel supported, excited, and lucky to be there. They’re more engaged and plugged into the community. They have a job that anchors them there. They feel a deep connection to their new homebase. And perhaps most importantly, they’ll tell all their friends: “Hey, I think there’s a place for you here, too.” 

Want to learn more about attracting qualified talent to your city? Shoot us an email and let’s talk.