1/ Marketing techniques adaptable to HR Marketing
Before illustrating what can be done, here are a few examples of marketing strategies and techniques transposed to the world of HR Marketing! This parallel explains the need for collaboration between HR and Marketing departments to ensure the success of an HR Marketing strategy. After all, not just anyone can be a marketer or HRM! Each to his or her own profession, but collaboration is essential for any project!
2/ Avenues to explore
While we usually talk about attracting, engaging and retaining employees, HR Marketing works the other way round. First we build loyalty among employees , then we engage new ones and attract potential candidates.
Building loyalty through accessible training
Whether clearly expressed or not, training is an important issue for employees. Provided in a clear and transparent manner, appropriate training will help to build loyalty…
HR marketing doesn’t have to be spectacular to be effective! This is particularly true in the case of training. HR Marketing is not only about form, but also (and above all) about the design of the training offer.
Digital transformation (a powerful ally of marketing) is driving innovation in this offering, with the development of MOOCs, e-learning, gamified training and virtual reality. Automotive equipment supplier VALEO, certified TOP EMPLOYERS France and Europe 2019, has made training a genuine loyalty-building lever. In addition to an in-house training school for operators in each of the group’s plants, Valéo has developed a comprehensive program for its employees. These include job rotation training, coaching, mentoring, mobile training, peer-to-peer workshops and more.
The equipment manufacturer has also made a digital platform, Tech@ssist, available to its independent garages. This platform meets the needs of mechanics who don’t have time for training. It offers training modules in the form of webinars available on all the Group’s internal sites (in Europe and internationally). [1]
The results? Over 30% increase in training attendance!
Engage through organized onboarding
Nearly 40% of permanent contracts are terminated before the end of the 1st anniversary due to poor integration. Organized onboarding can prevent this undesirable turnover. Here again, HR Marketing plays a key role in designing the induction process for future employees.
Like a customer journey in a store, onboarding is the new employee’s journey through the world of Employer Branding. The 3 stages of the process (pre-arrival, D-Day, follow-up) are defined, structured and explained… but also communicated to the outside world as a guarantee of successful integration.
Some companies see their onboarding program as a direct extension of their candidate experience, with dedicated induction websites. Immersed in the company’s culture, teams and missions, newcomers are just a click away from all the information they need for their integration. Naturally, these programs can be adapted to suit the company’s culture, the personalities present and the resources available.
Example of an onboarding HR marketing strategy: the case of BNP Paribas
Without going so far as to build a dedicated site (a next step? ), here are a few examples. They come from the onboarding HR Marketing strategy of BNP Paribas, certified TOP Employer France and Europe in 2019 [2] :
- Specific support through progressive integration programs and job-specific introductory training courses.
- Choice of a tutor and mentor to help with the discovery of the new environment.
- Specific internal social media to communicate with employees.
- Invitation to several strategic meetings to present the organization, the company and how it works (one with the CEO and General Management, one with the HR teams and one with the direct manager).
- Organization of team lunches and networking events for new employees to promote cohesion within the Group.
- Official announcement and presentation of the new employee by his or her manager.
- Ritualized evaluation of the start-up and continuity of the Onboarding program (follow-up sessions during the1st year, for example).
Recruiting through a qualitative candidate approach
As we have seen, all the attention paid to theemployee experience in an HR Marketing strategy finds its equivalent in thecandidate experience. This consideration is all the more visible thanks to the Employer Brand. It’s the only HR Marketing reality visible from the outside, and therefore from the candidate.
The development of the career site as the preferred interface for candidates in their search process is proof of this.
Tip: Implementing an Inbound Recruiting strategy
Marketing techniques don’t stop at building a career site. Among the many examples of HR marketing strategy we can cite,Inbound Recruiting is one of the most telling! This technique is directly linked to Inbound Marketing. Derived from the Content Marketing strategy, its aim is toinitiate a subtle first contact with future customers and then convert them.Inbound Recruiting relies on content that adds value for the candidate before he or she even becomes one.
Most often relayed via the career site, this technique attracts talent to companies, making their Employer Brand more “relevant”. The content offered can be themed. For example, content relating to employment in general, professions, management, well-being at work, gender equality, salary, etc.
Recruitment campaigns can also benefit from techniques used in marketing campaigns : virtual reality tours of the premises to present the working environment of the position to be filled (e.g. discover the video created by Ubisoft ), gamification for job interviews, recruiter/candidate events in unusual locations etc…
HR marketing, and in particular its HR offer component, also includes the recruitment process. Marketing helps to conceptualize and implement the purchasing process. With the same logic, HR Marketing helps build an accessible, fluid and attractive recruitment process. Certain stages, such as feedback, benefit from marketing automation and personalization tools to guarantee a quality candidate experience.
HR Marketing is therefore based on collaboration between HR and the Marketing/Communication department… Not just anyone can become an HR Marketer. Together, these two professions bring a new dimension to corporate human resources… By pooling the expertise of each, the solutions provided to develop the employee and candidate experience become more obvious, more applicable and less time-consuming… So, are you ready to get closer to the marketers and embark on the “HR Marketing adventure” together?
Sources:
[1] Valéo: document de référence 2018
[2] news.efinacialcareers.com
