Worlds Collide: How Marketing and HR Can Join Forces in Recruiting

ANDREA TARRELL
HNI Marketing Director

The war for talent is fiercer than ever. The transportation industry is being slammed with the worst driver shortage we’ve ever seen. In construction and manufacturing, our clients are having a harder time finding qualified talent with the right skills and work ethic. No matter what the industry, companies are finding steep competition for candidates who have what they need. HR pros need all the help they can get when it comes to recruiting talent.

Start treating your recruiting like what it really is: a sales pitch to a potential employee. Infusing traditional HR with some of your marketing tactics can go a long way toward attracting the right people to your organization.

Consider the following marketing tips for HR that you can put into practice today for zero cost, outside of time:

1.) Start with the Job Posting

Your job postings are your pitch to potential new hires. But oftentimes, these look something like this:

boring job description

Blah, blah, blah. Where’s the part that tells me what’s great about working at your company? What impact I’ll have on your organization? What makes you different from the competition?

We’ve tried to have some fun with our job postings at HNI. They certainly aren’t perfect, but we cut out all the legalese, sat down with our hiring managers to get a deeper sense of the candidates they’re looking for, and tried to lighten up. You can check out some examples here: hni.com/HNI-careers/.

2.) Be Where Your Target Market Is

There has been lots of buzz lately about social recruiting. For some companies, social media recruiting can be really valuable, but the decision as to where to place your job postings should start with where your “target market” congregates (in both the physical and digital worlds).

Where is there a high density of qualified candidates? Are there key associations or trade groups to hit? Are there natural gathering places (such as truck stops in the transportation industry) where you could reach potential employees? Which websites or social networks are your employees active on? Answering these questions is the key to reaching the right people.

3.) Do an Employer Brand Audit

Every company has what we call an “employer brand.” It’s the gut feeling that people have about working for your organization — and you want to be known as a great place to work.

There are entire social networks devoted to sharing intel about what it’s like to work at a company. Sites like Glassdoor, Payscale, and Vault allow current and former employees to share their experiences — everything from impressions of senior leadership, to the culture, to how much their annual salary is. Job applicants can also share what their first impressions were like, how they were treated, and what interview questions they were asked.

Check these sites for what’s being said about your company. Do a Google search on your company’s name and see what comes up. If you see something negative, don’t be alarmed — just consider what you can do to address the concern, and consider adding some positive feedback. If there’s nothing out there, you may want to enlist employees in spreading the word about your company.