The evolving role of Human Resources

Over the past few years, there has been a shift in the world of marketing as we know it, and this is mainly due to the Internet and of course, Social Media. We are in the digital era and this is forcing business to conform. The trend has affected Marketing functions; it seems that HR functions are next. If you look closely, you can already start to see some changes in the world of HR, this is because HR has also been forced to adopt new strategies, which look very much like marketing.

At this point, we all know that company culture plays a pivotal role, in fact, nowadays HR is developing campaigns to grow employer awareness, to build the employer brand as a “great place to work” and to retain top talent.

Here are some ways a marketing mind-set can lead to HR transformation;

Talent Acquisition and Competition

As you know, the competition out there is fierce. We have a shortage of qualified and experienced personnel in the country and this is putting a strain on your Recruitment team. So when a high-potential employee is considering moving from their current employer, to another, where do they turn to? Increasingly, its social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and perhaps jobsites.

Whilst trying to keep myself up to date with the latest trends, I looked through these sites… from a recruiter’s perspective, and it’s quite clear to me, that most companies have taken on a sales-oriented approach to their online presence. This is because, nowadays, in most industries, finding the right person might be as important as finding the best customers.

Since small business almost always have tight budgets, even when things are going well, its even more critical for you to get it right the first time. The secret to attracting the right people to you is to align your HR strategy with your business plan.

What do we mean? If you are looking for low-level Administrative staff, you need your campaign to be young, fresh and creative.  Take it one step further than the “who, what, when, where and why” to tell employees and prospects exactly what’s in it for them!

“People don’t join companies; they seek to become better versions of themselves”. Take a moment and think… how can they achieve that at your company?

The Human Touch

I cannot emphasize this enough, we are in the digital era – let’s use it to our advantage! There are so many ways we can get closer to a customer or potential employees through the use of technology. Yet most of the time, we miss out on these opportunities and opt for;

• The use of royalty free stock images of people or static objects instead of an employee on a normal days work.
• Heavily detailed descriptions instead of stories or videos of how it feels to be part of the team.
• Or simply, the use of videos to communicate the company’s culture and values.

The Employee Experience

A strong and engaging employee experience can help employees succeed in attracting and retaining skilled employees. Positive employees will increase their performance and overall, improve the customers’ experience.

Nowadays, employees look into more than the role itself and the monetary reward.  A positive employee experience tops their list of criteria when deciding to move from their current employer to another. Just as marketing team has moved past customer satisfaction to analyse all the aspects of customer experience, so is HR.

HR professionals are finding ways to invest more in their employees, by providing them with improved work spaces, training and guidance and benefits such as referral schemes, mobile phone discounts etc. HR is transcending the workplace and reaching out into every employee’s overall life.

Create employee brand advocates

You might already have some brand advocates, especially if you’ve already followed the above suggestions, correctly. This might even being to happen on its own. Your best employees will promote your brand – either by simply sharing your posts, recommending your services or coming up with their own thing. However it does not hurt to give employees some guidance. Establish social media guidelines for employees so that your brand remains consistence, even through your team members may develop messaging in their own voices. You might even consider incentives for employees for their social media efforts, for recommending your services or even a prospective employee. This might be a monetary reward, a restaurant gift card or another small token of appreciation.