HR marketing (part I)

HR and Marketing – Antirecessionary Synergy

Modern business situation, peculiarities of modern economy demand new, and most importantly, effective approaches to human resources management. Together with functional and project approaches, which are used in management to a greater or lesser extent, quite efficient approach to establishing HR management system in the company becomes HR marketing.

This is new and absolutely contemporary approach to the establishment of HR systems allowing to the full extent draw up the format, whereby HR management officer works under conditions of client-based approach. The basis of such format is work oriented both at internal and external client. This client-based approach allows to the maximum extent evolve HR management service and innovative components for strategic and operational objectives of the organisation. Besides, such marketing approach to HR management enables to the fullest degree taking into account the complex nature of HR management objectives, with the consideration of specific character of company’s organisation culture, business area and management style.

Total quality management in the company is the postulate for HR management function:

  • Organisation is a complex system consisting of customers and service providers, in which every executive, manager or employee act both as a customer and as a service provider.
  • Quality meeting customer requirements is the priority goal and is considered the key element for survival, growth and prosperity of an organisation. Continuous improvement is the guiding principle. It relates both to goods and services produced by an enterprise, and to overall competency of company’s staff.
  • Principal planning and problem solving mechanisms are “teams” and groups.
  • Key success condition for organisation is to establish relations of openness and trust between its members at all levels.

I suggest to consider employees as customers and to apply marketing approach to the development of strategy and tactics in HR management issues.

Any employee is an internal company’s client, who should be treated as though he or she is the principal client, whose loyalty is crucial for receiving the substantial portion of revenue by entire organisation.

The work of HR function for external clients – applicants and terminated employees, and for internal clients – heads of structural subdivisions and company personnel, allows increasing the quality of HR service, and most importanly, drawing up HR image and taking into account all reputational risks of the company.

HR marketing is a vector in human resources management strategy, which considers existing and potential company employees as “customers” of jobs.

  • Under conditions of qualified personnel shortage companies compete between each other at labour market in the same manner as at goods and services markets.
  • Successful “job sales” lie in the desire of necessary employees to work, under equal conditions of financial remuneration, in this particular organisation.
  • Efficient marketing vector in HR sphere enables achieving considerable reduction of company’s expenses for head hunting, attracting, keeping and establishing the loyalty of qualified personnel.

Staff marketing includes:

  • Studying the labour market and evaluating the needs in staff
  • Positioning the company as an attractive employer
  • Promoting company’s reputation as an attractive employer

 

Strategic objective of HR marketing is to create such reputation for own company, which makes people like working for it, and to form the loyalty of employees, who already work in it.

 

Why is HR marketing so important?

hr-marketing

Communication Function of HR Marketing

Objects of communication function are:

  • Organisation employees, who act as participants of internal vacancy tender and are the bearers of company’s image at labour market.
  • Labour market as integrated source of potential applicants.
  • Management system (information content), demonstration of its openness, as the major influence factor, affecting the development of opinion about the company.

In-House Relations in HR Marketing

Own employees are considered the image bearers. The primary objective is picking up and managing the informal elements of attitude to the company, which are developed under formal structure.

There are two major relation routes in staff marketing:

  • Communication as part of production process; and
  • Independent of production process communication.

New conditions demand amendments in HR management strategy

Today the employer (vendor) fights for the staff (customer) not only at the moment of enrolment but during the whole working career of the employee in the company. The employer sells the job to the employee on a daily basis.

What does employee buy at the time of enrolment, when he or she comes to work daily, and what can be the reason for changing the point of purchase or the product itself?

HR work from marketing perspective will look as follows:

Elements of Marketing Mix Elements of Internal Staff Marketing Mix
Vendor

(Four P’s)

Customer

(Four C’s)

Employer (Vendor) Employee (Customer)
Product Customer solution Job with rights and responsibilities

(Product)

Employment. The employee “buys” this product, “paying” for it with own work.

(Customer solution)

Price Customer cost Salary rate

Other remuneration types

(Price)

Level of employee motivation or efforts, which employee is ready to employ in order to perform his or her job functions.

(Customer cost)

Place Convenience Employer, job

(Place)

Firm’s organisation structure, job geographical location.

(Convenience)

Promotion Communication Employer and environment

(Promotion)

Corporate culture and PR.

(Communication)

 

HR systems efficiency evaluation

HR marketing (part II)