The marketing of human resources

Depending on the focus, we can find many definitions of what the word “marketing” includes (Kotler, McCarthy, Stanton, etc.), but, to simplify it, I would describe it as the set of activities designed to create, communicate and deliver value to your target audience and, above all, to establish a link with it.

It may seem that this “marketing world” is only useful for those departments that are directly related to the company’s sales (both online and offline), but nothing is further from reality nowadays and in such a competitive and globalized world. If you look, the companies that really explode are those that manage to perfectly connect all their departments (product, marketing, sales, human resources, IT, etc.) and navigate with a fixed and clear course. Do any spring to mind?

I would like to highlight an aspect that many managers ignore or simply do not give importance to, and that is that all marketing actions begin at the very heart of the company itself, and therefore, the role that the human resources area will play is a fundamental pillar for the achievement of the marked objectives and can even become a competitive advantage. It is a priority for the company to create the best possible work environment for employees to transmit what they really perceive.

We live in an era of information, technology, knowledge and talent, and the “people” area is becoming increasingly strategic for companies since the results depend mainly on human capital. For this reason, I am in favor of outsourcing the administrative part to the maximum and signing up great professionals capable of turning the department into pure strategy and a generator of opportunities.

What benefits does it have for the company that HR managers have a marketing vision and also know how to act accordingly?

• More efficiency in recruiting:
  • They are clear about how to segment the type of candidates that fit into their corporate culture and concentrate actions to attract them.
  • They give great importance to the prospecting process because they know that if they do it well, the effort to seduce the professional will be much lower and the percentage of success greater. They are also very fond of creating “funnels”!
  • They focus on the candidate and how to improve their experience and use classic concepts such as the “customer journey” or the “mystery shopper” to improve processes.

• Better positioning and more brand notoriety:
  • Although the results are more long-term, they understand that you have to bet on an “inbound marketing” strategy and together with marketing they focus on generating engagement. Curiosity!! Many companies could improve their SEO through the content (keywords) that HR teams are able to generate and almost none do.
  • Awareness of the importance of the team and where it will be in the coming years, the personal brand of each (especially in issues related to recruiting) and give training in this regard.
  • They collaborate in the communication strategy and in the choice of content territories.
  • They study the market to know where they are positioned as a company within the competitive map in terms of salary, emotional benefits, innovation …
  • They choose which events are worth attending, in which it can be interesting to enter as a sponsor and who to invite.

• They have the lesson well leaned and they know that setting quantifiable objectives allows them to act: what is not measured cannot be improved.  It is true that there are many aspects that are abstract but you can always look for some indicators to guide you as to where the shots went and what you should correct.
• Process optimization through innovation and adaptability to such a changing market. HR professionals who are attracted to marketing are often in favor of trying new tools that allow you to be better and are with fingers in everything that is trending: gamification, bots, big data, IoT, machine learning, social selling, storytelling, micro-influencers, etc. How important is it to have curious people on the team?

Organizations, managers, entrepreneurs, managers of human resources, etc … all must bet on the transversality that marketing offers us in all areas of the company and once and for all decide to change the traditional model.

As Philip Kotler says, marketing 4.0 is a reality and affects us all; Are you one of those who avoid change or those who see it as an opportunity to gain competitiveness?

I have no doubts;

The only constant in life is change!

Go for IT!!!