Correction Officer Recruitment: What Do You Do?

The New Zealand employment market is the tightest it's been for years and every sector is finding it tough to recruit the right people. The Department of Corrections, have also been under huge, and very public pressure to attract and retain Corrections Officers for some time now. We set to work changing this by developing an authentic and differentiated recruitment message that made our audiences see the role as an opportunity to keep New Zealand safe, to make a real difference to their lives and the lives of others.
Agency: Stanley St

We launched with a national TV campaign with each spot featuring a powerful and nuanced story bringing to life the focus areas for Ara Poutama Aotearoa – Community, Pride and Rehabilitation.

Our research told us people have difficulty humanising the role as Corrections staff are often reluctant to talk about their work in social situations. We flipped this with our first film, a story of a Corrections Officer opening up about his role in a very real and emotional conversation with a fellow guest at an afterwork BBQ.

Once the success of this story started to peak interest we followed up with a single, emotional story about a chance carpark encounter, showing that the positive impact of a Corrections Officer can be intergenerational, and life-changing.
Supported with radio, striking out-of-home, social content and digital display the activity immediately captured the imagination of New Zealanders with applications increasing following launch.