Should Hiring Practices Be on Marketing’s Radar?

We’ve previously discussed the ways in which employee relations, at every level, should be an important part of any organization’s marketing mix. And so, it makes sense that a business’s hiring practices should be as well. You should think of potential employees, not only also as potential customers, but as well-networked individuals. Consider their ability to dissuade other potential employees and/or customers from your brand. Today, we’ll look into a few ways marketing should consider optimizing these processes.

Strong Employee Relations

You can’t have good employee relations, without good employees—but you can’t have good employees without good employee relations. A classic catch-22. So, keep these in mind when building your teams. From the beginning. Focus on developing, and consistently improving your efforts in this realm. Make sure that your place of business is a fun and rewarding place to work, for everyone, not just those on top.

With strong employee relations, come strong recommendations. If those who work for you find their experience to be pleasant (or above), they’re more likely to participate in the recruiting process; through engaging panel interviews, or even by appearing in videos for an ‘our culture’ tab on your company’s careers page. They’ll also be more apt to recommending job openings to qualified individuals they know.

Transparent & Realistic Postings

Your job postings say a lot about your company. And about the role. You want to make sure that the job being advertised, is actually the job being filled. You want to be realistic about the expectations you have; not over the top, but don’t low ball them either. Otherwise, you’ll attract all the wrong people.

Write these postings in your brand voice, to attract those with a sense of connection to you and your mission. Express value in being passionate for your industry and organization. Think about what matters most for your position; experience, or commitment and an eager attitude?

Courteous Processes

In marketing, we often talk a lot about trimming the fat. How can we get the same message across, in less words? How can we reach as many or more people, for less money? We should bring this attitude to our hiring processes as well.

If we’re asking an applicant to upload a resume, do we also need them to fill out their experience? Should we require a cover letter, or just a paragraph about why they want to work there? However much time we’re asking a potential employee to spend with our process, we should be able to commit to giving them.

Ensure that your recruiting teams and/or partners follow through to the best of their ability. Especially once an applicant has been contacted. At this point—consider them employed, until proven not. Extend every pleasantry and custom to them, as you would to your employees. Let them down easy, let them know why, and let them know they should apply for other positions. Maybe even hook them up with someone in your network, if you know of a better fit.

Remember, potential employees are also potential customers. And, they have their own networks—a bad taste in their mouth, could reach a lot more palates than you may think.

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What are some companies you can tell have a marketing department with a heavy hand in their hiring practices? Do you agree it’s important? Why or why not? I’d love to keep the conversation going in the comments!