I’m a firm believer that truly strategic talent plans can only be achieved if HR teams collaborate with the whole business. Developing people initiatives that support company objectives simply can’t be achieved by one siloed function. And perhaps one of the most important departments HR professionals need to engage with now is the communications team.
The reason behind this is relatively simple: the competition for global talent is increasing. Candidates – both passive and active – now have more career prospects than they have had in a while as business optimism across the globe grows. And as more organisations look to attract and retain the very best professionals, the company Employer Value Proposition (EVP) has become an incredibly valuable tool.
In fact, in Cielo’s recent Talent Activation Index we found that just 13% of poor performing organisations rated the quality of the company EVP as very effective in attracting talent. This is compared to 86% of leading businesses from across the globe. Clearly, then, corporate success is – in part at least – driven by a successful and compelling EVP.
However, creating and communicating a strategic campaign such as this is potentially out of the comfort zone of many talent management teams. HR professionals are great at the people management element expected of the function, but communication in this digital world is perhaps something that many will struggle to utilise to its full potential. But, given that a company’s PR or marketing team will have the expert skills to create compelling communications strategies that truly engage with the target audience, the logical step would be to collaborate more with these teams.
It’s important to remember as well that human resources professionals have a lot on their shoulders at the moment – particularly given the growing competition for staff and the ever-changing needs of talent. As such, it shouldn’t be overlooked that these experts don’t need to manage all people related issues on their own. Utilising the likes of communications experts will only aid the success of a corporate EVP.
It could also be the case that duplicate work is reduced as a result of such collaboration. I often hear examples of businesses where the HR and marketing functions are essentially attempting to engage and communicate with the same audience, often through the same channels. However there is a common perception that human resources teams are engaging with potential employees, whereas the communications function is speaking to possible clients. But, the two audiences these days are often one and the same. Surely, then, organisations should be speaking to them as both potential clients and candidates.
Clearly there is a real overlap in the responsibility and activity of both the HR and communications departments within a business. However, if a truly engaging EVP is to be created, neither team should work alone.
