The dynamic mix of HR and marketing

Over the past few years, the streets have been filled with outdoor advertising featuring not just companies selling tangible products but also leading firms asking the labor force at large to “Apply Now!.”

Have HR practitioners become marketers as well? Of course, yes.

A recruiter now also engages in social media to target applicants of a certain demographic. He goes to campuses like an account manager and builds relationships with the placement office. Indeed, marketing has become a valuable skill for an HR professional.

Chito San Mateo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer has a wealth of experience in these two worlds of human resources and marketing.

Recently, he became a Certified Professional Marketer and was the batch valedictorian. He also took a certification course in digital marketing and specializes in Digital Marketing Analytics.

Here, San Mateo talks about the latest in the practice of human resources management.

Q: What are the challenges faced by human resource practitioners today with the emergence of social media and other digital tools?

In today’s age of social media and other digital tools, human resource practitioners are accessible to technology that can facilitate the process of implementing HR functions. Such tools enhance the execution of the Human Resource programs of an organization.

The digital landscape certainly changed the process of recruitment. HR practitioners can now post their job vacancies online.

With job seekers’ profile fed into the system, job alerts are sent to those with the qualifications needed by the vacant position.

There is a faster response time both from the organization and to the job applicants.

Employees can now access an intranet where they can browse HR policies and procedures, and be updated on upcoming employee activities. Filing of leave benefits is now paperless. Some employees enjoy the work at home program.

Depending on the nature of the work of an employee, certain positions no longer require people to report to the office. The Internet made this work at home arrangement possible.

Q: In certain industries, it has been difficult to hire talent. Do you think it’s about time HR professionals also think like marketers or sales people?

HR practitioners must be able to position their organizations as the “employer of choice”.

Job seekers have preferred employer characteristics and they will definitely choose to apply with organizations whom they perceive possess their preferred employer characteristics.

HR professionals need to think like marketers. HR professionals must emphasize the unique characteristics of the organization that will attract job applicants to consider the organization in their list of preferred prospective employer.

HR professionals must realize that they compete among companies and industries to hire the best talent available in the labor market. An effective and well-planned recruitment strategy will be better executed if it is accompanied by a well-planned marketing campaign.

HR professionals need to identify their target clients to whom they will offer their services.

This will help HR professionals maximize the results of their programs and initiatives given the limited resources.

Any HR program rollout requires a communication strategy.

Q: What principles can HR professionals learn from Marketing?

The field of Marketing has space in Human Resource Management and Development.

HR professionals must face the reality that they are also the brand ambassadors of the organization. Knowledge of basic brand concepts is vital.

It is high time HR professionals consider marketing their organizations to acquire the best talents in the labor market.

It is therefore imperative that HR professionals know how to position their organizations as an employer brand.

HR professionals need to have a background on developing a campaign to market the services, programs and initiatives to achieve the desired level of employee engagement.

It is high time to revolutionize the role of HR departments in organizations.

It is now the time where the HR professionals must transcend from the traditional administrative and police functions to a dynamic partner of all other units of the organization.

We are now in an era where HR professionals must know the business model of the organization. They know their role and are part of the means to achieve them.

It is an era where HR professionals know their contribution to the bottom line of the organization. It is high time they think like “marketers” where the usual metrics of any campaign will be increase in sales revenue, profits and market share.

Perhaps, HR professionals will have to use other metrics relevant to their function. It can be productivity and employee satisfaction.

These are very important elements to achieve positive bottom line results.

(San Mateo will be the resource speaker for a one-day workshop on Marketing Tools for HR Professionals. The workshop will be held on Dec. 3, 2015 at the Inquirer Academy Building, Chino Roces Avenue corner Ponte Street, Makati City.

The professional workshop is brought to you by Inquirer Academy and is ideal for Human Resource practitioners, especially in the fields of recruitment, employee engagement, and training and development.

To know more about the workshop or San Mateo, you may write to [email protected] or call 834-1557. Look for Bambi Donato or Arvin Maghirang.