Use Marketing and Social Media as Your Best Resources


Whether you oversee a small human resources department, a sizable one, or work for yourself and you are the HR department, knowing how to best get the job done truly does not have to be all that difficult.

Effectively running human resources means taking advantage of all the tools out there to state what your department does, how it can help both current and potential employees, and making sure you avoid running into major any legal issues that can be brought to your attention.

With that said, are you using marketing and social media in your HR efforts? 

If not, this is the year to change all of that.

Human Resources and the Marketing Impact

When HR departments looked for new employees in the not too distant past, they typically turned to newspaper ads, a few magazines, even job boards. While those methods of recruiting potential employees to one’s company have not gone by the wayside, how that message is crafted has changed.

With the different marketing tools available these days, HR departments and individuals have much more to work with, including blog posts, images on social sites, and even videos.

It is not uncommon for companies and HR professionals marketing job ads on sites like Craigslist, Monster.com and even their own websites to include blog posts about the company and its offerings, pictures of current employees at work and the jobs they do, and of course videos to showcase all that the company has to offer. 

At the end of the day, these marketing packages are typically carefully crafted, making sure that would-be employees get to feel like they’ve already stepped foot inside the office before they’re even called for an interview.

Just as companies make their marketing pitches to current and potential clients, it is important for HR departments (in cooperation with their marketing teams) to compile some of the highlights individuals would experience working for their brand. This can effectively be done by marketing why this employer is the best option for those qualified individuals.

Socializing Human Resources

When it comes to the social media aspect of HR, social networking provides myriad of opportunities for human resources professionals that simply were not available even a decade ago.

Among the advantages to using the social media component in your HR efforts:

• Job postings – Just as in HR pros were a tad more limited in the past with how they could go about posting job openings, there is ample opportunity to post via social media. Companies can use their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and other sites to list the latest openings. If a business wants to talk about its growth and the possibilities for candidates on a company blog post, it can do that and then simply share and/or tweet it out for countless job-seekers to see. HR and the marketing team can also collaborate on content, once again allowing the company to put its best foot forward (see more below) on what the company has to offer as far as salaries, benefits and more;

• Worker comments - HR and social media prove a two-way street, as HR pros and recruiters can visit social pages of those applying for jobs. If they see any red flags such as questionable comments or images directed at others (especially former or current employers), they may want to pass on talking with that candidate. Stop and think for a moment about often you see employees talking smack about their current boss, coworkers etc. on Twitter, Facebook and other such sites. When all is said and done, HR pros will oftentimes have second thoughts about bringing that individual in for an interview for an opening they have;

• Best foot forward – Last but not least, there will be times when companies must go on the defensive, oftentimes having to defend themselves against online accusations. From disgruntled customers to a former employee, people will use social networks to discuss (negatively) what they don’t like about a certain business. In doing so, they can have a negative impact on one’s brand, sometimes leading to a public relations nightmare for said business. HR pros can in turn use social media to refute such claims, spreading positive information about the company and its brand.

While it may once have been the case where HR departments steered clear of dipping their hands into marketing and social media activities; that is certainly not the scenario these days.

An HR department/individual that is not afraid to utilize all that marketing and social media can offer in positive ways stands to distance themselves from the crowd.