When a consumer brand, especially a national one, looks for new hires, they are doing more than acquiring talent. They are making an impression on their customer base as much as any other piece of advertising.  That in and of itself is not a revelation (or, at least it shouldn’t be).  Rather, consider how much that information has been used in designing recruiting tools or assessments.

This is important because some of these companies will come in contact with a million or more potential candidates and customers.  While HR may loathe the idea of working with marketing (data vs. feelings) on recruitment and selection, there are some inherent advantages, including:

  1. Using language that will attract the target audience.  The marketing department probably knows more about reaching those who are attracted to the company than HR does. This can increase the effectiveness or your recruitment outreach.
  2. Making Awesome Realistic Job Previews.  At the risk of over-generalizing, most HR departments are much better at describing a job than getting people excited about one.  Sure, an RJP should discourage those who would not be a good fit, but it should also grab the attention of those who maybe would not have considered the job to increase the talent pool from which you are drawing. A marketing perspective is likely to help design RJPs to attract job seekers.
  3. Following-up With Non-Selected Candidates.  Let’s face it, you are likely to reject more candidates than you hire.  Not following up with them hurts your brand. And you want to keep them as (potential) customers, right?  Marketing can likely help you craft messages in a way that leave the person with a positive feeling about the brand so that they will become customers (or stay that way).

 

HR has an important job to do when recruiting and selecting talent.  Yet, it should be mindful that its messaging can have as much impact on customers as anything that comes out of the marketing department.  Reaching across departments can add some expertise that will make recruitment and selection more effective.  And, who knows, maybe they will ask for your advice in the future.