How can a combination of recruitment and marketing savvy transform businesses?
Traditionally, Marketing and HR departments rarely cross paths. After all, one is supposed to attract customers while the other aims to attract suitable employees. Both are integral to a company’s success yet have, in most cases, a very different and separate brief.
Despite the global economic downturn having opened up a well of potential employees, the actual pool of strong talent is quite small. That’s why some high profile companies are investing heavily in recruiting and retaining the very best.
When two become one
Today, industry leaders such as Xerox have combined Marketing and HR talent to both improve communication with current employees and sell themselves to potential new recruits. The result has been to create an ‘employer brand’ – one that becomes sought after by good talent and valued by those already inside the company.
Such is the rising popularity of HR and marketing departments joining forces, The Marketing Society has teamed up with the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and senior HR professionals to develop a new award that will recognize the Employer Brand of the Year.
The criteria
Marketing is more than slogans – it’s people as well.
Entrants for the award will be judged on four criteria: Planning and Analysis: Has effective recruitment and development of talent been central to organizational success, with HR working closely with Marketing to develop key measurements for continuous improvement? Recruitment Process: Has effective hiring been balanced with internal promotion with professional processes and communication with candidates from interview to induction? Talent Attraction: Has there been the development of a strong employer brand with an effective recruitment communication strategy on and off line?
Retention and Development: Has there been demonstration of improved performance, recognizing and rewarding success and building engagement and involvement in developing the culture of the organization?
Paying off?
The strategy of linking HR and Marketing departments has certainly worked for Xerox. Alongside data management company Versant, Xerox has developed an approach to employee recruitment and retention that has got the whole industry talking.
Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Pat Nazemetz, former CHRO of Xerox Corporation and Will Ruch, CEO of Versant commented:
“Through videos, employee events and facility branding, we built employees’ interest in and support for Xerox’s new brand promise to its customers. Employee engagement was integral to Xerox’s transformation and continued growth as a Fortune 500 company. After all, productivity and the strength of the company brand both live within Xerox’s workforce. Employees, at first skeptical, embraced their new work environment. And HR, as a full partner in this effort, made sure our messages were consistent and reinforcing – not conflicting.” While it may seem like a radical approach today, it seems that the benefits of HR and Marketing working in tandem has been the elephant in the room all along.
Creating an ‘employer brand’ starts with building engagement with employees and working hard to develop a culture that everyone is proud of. It can be transformational both internally and externally so whether you are a small or large business, perhaps it’s time to get your HR and Marketing people talking?
Neil Stoneham is a senior copywriter based on blur Group’s Media Exchange.
