HR In the marketing mix

Many times we focus on shiny new marketing tools and fad philosophies.  The new “next big thing” is a common tactic for organizations that are short-term thinkers in their marketing strategy.

I believe our world has changed, and the days of looking five and ten years out in executing a business plan are over. Still, certain things can be adopted into a company that will reap long-term benefits for building their brand. One of these shifts is implementing your HR function into the marketing mix.

Human Resources is often seen as only an internal operations function of  an organization. It is usually viewed as a debit item in the books and isn’t a common place for finding lead or revenue generation. Why is that?

Think of this, HR’s customers are its company’s employees and those employees are marketing that business whether they are in the sales department or not. Do they even know your company’s story?  When they leave for the evening or weekends, what do you want them saying about where they work? Does your HR department create an atmosphere where the employees are great brand ambassadors?

Companies like SAS and Wegmans are known to  be great places to work because they take exceptional care of their personnel. These companies probably have no problem communicating to prospects that they will take care of them as customers. The company’s intranet, the hiring process, the firing process, and all internal interactions are an opportunity to make an impression.

Disney calls these points of contacts with guests on their properties “moments of truth.” Why should these just be external? It is a chance for a company to market from the inside out. Zappos.com is another company that does this remarkably. The culture and community they have created between customers, prospects, and employees has been largely result of the treatment of employees as #1 customers.

What are your thoughts?

photo credit: Ol.v!er [H2vPk]