Wednesday, November 9, 2011

HR and Marketing Are Best Friends...Or Should Be

Did you ever wish you could get time back?  I do, particularly when I think about all of the meetings, strategy sessions, focus groups and vendor calls all intended to help me decide on the best creative campaign for my recruitment advertising needs.  Yes, a SEPARATE ad campaign from the rest of the organization’s advertising efforts.  Why?  Because every modern organization was built in “Silo-ville” that’s why.  God forbid we actually integrate our strategies, messaging, and creative ideas to maximize the brand!

The Good Ol’ Days Sucked
The examples listed above are all true experiences from my “formative years” in HR.  I actually worked in an organization that required Nursing leaders to approve the creative ads for various recruitment initiatives.  Since when are Nurses, or HR staff for that matter, the Marketing professionals?  Guess what, they’re not.  I submit that neither group should be making those decisions. 


Happy Days Are Here Again…for the 1st Time
Gone now are the days of competing ad campaigns with Marketing, interference from others, and a mixed message to our external customers about the organization. Now HR and Marketing are completely integrated relative to creative advertising, communication strategies including the extensive use of social media, our evolving exploration of a Talent Community as well as the general coordination of production. 

We meet weekly to ensure every detail is managed efficiently and professionally.  The results have been nothing short of fantastic.  Check out our facebook page to take a quick look at what teamwork can produce.


How About You
Are you still pretending to be a Marketing professional?  Do you have vendors pitch their programs to you with promises of great results for your recruitment blitz plan?  What about your company’s overall Marketing plan?  Do you meet regularly with the leadership in that area to ensure you maximize the message, the spend, and the brand?  On second thought, please don’t.  While you’re wasting all that time and money confusing your customers, I can make my move.

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses.


pics courtesy of corporate-eye and my iPhone

2 comments:

  1. Interesting post. We're also finding another new synergy between Marketing & HR these days - reducing employee healthcare expenses and improving overall workforce health. Disclosure - I work for Thomson Reuters. But we've been implementing successful population health messaging programs with marketing teams who are seeking to demonstrate that Marketing is a critical component to an effective Accountable Care model. By sending the right personalized preventive care, wellness and chronic care messaging to patients in a defined population, they have demonstrated the ability to improve adherence to key screening and preventive care rates (critical for ACO qualification let alone success). BUT, in the here and now, while the ACO models are still coming together, Marketing is starting with a very logical patient population...their own hospital's employees.
    HR benefits from improved workforce health and reduced expenses, and Marketing gets to prove their value and key role as an important driver for success in the future landscape. Total win-win!
    Don't know if that was too off the mark from what you were looking for, but it is one solid way I'm seeing Marketing and HR become tightly aligned allies.

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  2. Thanks for the comment Alex. Your example is just another reason HR and Marketing need to work together. The posssibilities are truly endless.

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