Communications & HR – The new way to recruit & retain. Here’s how to start now.

When it comes to an HR skill set, the focus is often placed on compliance over technical skills. But in today’s digital world, HR professionals should now be looking to develop something new.

Technical communication. This includes things like online content, marketing, and new ways of recruiting. All are supported by how well your teams are communicating with their people.

Today we are talking about why HR professionals everywhere should be honing this skill set, and encouraging their leaders to do the same.

Combining Communications & HR

Internal Communications

Employee retention.

We all know how expensive employee turnover is. Especially now, during what many are calling the “great resignation.” Holding onto top employees is more important than ever.

The good news is that something as simple as a business’s internal communication style can make that retention rate. The bad news is, it can also break it.

As an HR professional, you’re a vital part of the communication puzzle that determines employee satisfaction.

So from this point forward, when you think of internal communications, we urge you to think of retention. To use it as a long-term retention strategy.

Knowing how your employees want to be communicated with is vital. Some people love a meeting. Others prefer an email. Others connect with more creative forms of communication, like video or audio.

Understanding what resonates with your workers best, and speaking to them that way, is one of the most important daily actions you can start taking now. It will also make your job as an HR professional a whole lot easier when your people are clear on expectations and incentives.

Meet people where they’re at and your retention rate (and your employees) will thank you.

Employee participation.

So many large organizations and small businesses have great perks and initiatives for employees.

But because they’re not doing an adequate job of effectively communicating those perks with workers, they oftentimes go unnoticed and unused.

Communication about the perks a company offers its employees, how to take advantage of them, and why they should, makes all the difference in employee participation.

As an HR professional, it’s your responsibility to support your teams as they roll out any new employee program or initiative. To help them communicate as effectively as possible and hone in on the best internal content strategy to deliver news of these initiatives to staff.

On the Quirky HR podcast, we sat down with Katy Rothschild, an HR Marketing Specialist and the Founder of Maven Lane Marketing. Rothschild recommends relaying info from a story perspective. Rather than just listing off the benefits.

Why?

People are much more likely to connect with a story and take action. They’ll listen and remember. They’ll see themselves in the success story and be encouraged to participate. So that they can achieve those same results or benefits for themselves.

External Communications

Recruiting.

From an HR perspective, one of the most pressing questions of today is – how do we change the way we think about recruiting to get the best employee for the job?

Our answer? Lean into recruitment marketing.

We often hear from both employers and HR reps who are overwhelmed by the recruitment process. They “post and pray” that the right candidate will apply.

But posting your job opening and crossing your fingers that the right candidate’s resume lands in your inbox is not the way to recruit. Not in today’s competitive online marketplace.

Instead, when you start to use marketing techniques from an HR perspective, you begin to actively recruit people who are the right, and best, fit.

Okay so that all sounds great, but how do you infuse marketing into HR? Communication.

Rothschild helps us understand how to use online content strategies to become the go-to company to work for.

Build an audience.

Doesn’t it sound so much better to be sought out as the company to work for, instead of posting a job opening and hoping for the best?

Yep, we thought so.

That may sound like it’s too good to be true, but big and small companies are successfully doing just that. And it all comes down to how they’re showing up online.

It may be a longer-term strategy, but content marketing is incredibly valuable.

While it may take a little extra effort on the front end, showing up consistently and communicating your business’s strengths to potential candidates, will soon have qualified leads coming to you.

Put out content that establishes your HR thought leadership, or your company’s exceptional culture and perks. Show up and bring value.

You’ll soon see the true power of external communication and how it can be used as an effective marketing tool.

Know where your ideal candidate hangs out.

Do you know who your target audience is? Have you honed in on what the ideal candidate for your open job looks like?

Get specific and then show up where that ideal candidate is hanging out online. This may largely depend on what area of business you’re in.

Does your ideal candidate hang out on LinkedIn or Glassdoor? Or maybe they're on TikTok? Know where they are and what you want to say to them.

Rothschild’s #1 tip for how to say it is – Show the human side.

Authenticity is everything these days. People want to work for businesses with strong company values, flexibility, benefits, and inclusive workplace culture. People also want to work for businesses that treat their employees as people and not as numbers.

Get really clear on how to authentically communicate that company culture with an audience who might not know you yet. Show them that there are humans behind the company name.

Tell people why they should come work for you. And how working for you will be different from working anywhere else. Then, incorporate employee stories (with their written permission of course) as social proof.

When you do this, the right kind of people will be drawn to your company and your open positions.

Your EVP (Employer Value Proposition) is everything. What are you, as an employer or HR professional, communicating in terms of value?

Bottom Line: Get really clear and communicate that in your content. Both internally and externally.

Watch a YouTube video, hire an HR coach, or join our HR coaching community, to help you develop this new skill.

Great communication can make your job as an HR professional so much easier. It all starts with your willingness to be an HR leader. To show up organically in the right spaces online and in the right ways with your team.

To listen to the full Quirky HR podcast episode with Katy Rothschild, click here.