There are a number of ways in which PR and HR can complement one another, although they may not always be immediately obvious.
Many businesses will use their HR teams to be responsible for managing the employee life cycle (recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training and firing employees) and administering employee benefits. PR is then used completely separately as a marketing tool to achieve coverage and reach new potential customers.
However, PR can be used for more than just this. Although many companies do not recognise it, PR can also be used as a way to help your HR team with the hiring process and, as a result, improve the retention rates of employees. Close cooperation between the two teams can be a particularly effective tool if a company is suffering from low-quality job candidates, high turnover and low employee engagement.
In this article, we examine the ways in which PR can be used as an integral tool when it comes to helping your HR team hire employees.
PR Improves Your Reputation for Prospective Employees
The UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) places reputation at the forefront of its definition of the field: “Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say, and what others say about you.” It is the premise that defines an entire industry, and something that people spend their entire career working towards.
In summary, PR manages your business’ reputation - the opinions that other people have about the things you say and do. It involves the conversations people hold about every aspect of your company, from your products and services to your community work and employees. In turn, this will attract loyal customers, desirable suppliers and top employees. In short, a great reputation is good for business.
So, how does this all help with HR? Well, your reputation matters and if you find yourselves with a negative one, it will be very difficult to attract new employees. People won’t want to associate themselves with a disreputable company and you may also find your existing employees more likely to leave to work for a better respected company.
However, PR can help you grow a better reputation - not just from positive media coverage, but also by organising things such as event sponsorship and industry award submissions. This will position your company as a caring and respected employer with a high level of knowledge and expertise, which in turn will attract the best candidates for jobs.
PR Helps To Attract Higher Quality Candidates
When you think of competition in business, it’s all too easy to think you are just fighting for customers but the truth is, you’re also competing against them for the best employees. Ultimately, if you want to continue building up a better business, then you need to have a higher quality of candidates applying for your roles.
PR can help to propel you ahead of your competitors in a variety of different ways, from getting you in front of the media to creating high-quality content for you in multiple channels. This ensures you a better chance of reaching the best candidates out there in the job market. As your profile grows, more people will be aware of your business and will be thinking about approaching you for their next career move. You’ll have a wider pool of applications to choose from, meaning your HR team will have the flexibility to select a person that really fits in perfectly with your company’s goals, vision and ethos.
PR Makes You An Expert and Lowers Recruitment Costs
All employees want to work for the very best companies in their industry in order to gain experience and be trained, so you need to demonstrate that you’re an expert in your field. This means having a recognisable brand, or a spokesperson for your company that is well-known by their peers.
PR can help with the production of informative and compelling content - while also maximising your visibility by monitoring the media landscape and making use of all relevant opportunities. This may be through mediums such as podcast appearances, radio interviews, expert advice columns and social media takeovers, to name but a few.
By cementing your position as one of the expert leaders in your field, prospective employees will be drawn to your company in the hope of sharing in your knowledge, expertise and potential. This will allow your HR team to have a better quality pool of talent to work with and will save them from potentially needing to use external recruitment agencies.
PR Improves Your Employer Brand
If you’re hoping to attract a better calibre of candidates, you’ll need to consider the strength of your employer brand. Think of this as a separate entity to your reputation: this is a second brand which relates to how you’re viewed as an employer by your past, current and future employees.
In an increasingly competitive job landscape, securing the best employees can be difficult and costly. You need forward-thinking, talented team members to drive your business forward, and the most effective way to find them is to create the impression that your company is a fantastic place to work. This will come down to factors like your company culture, the benefits packages you offer and how you look after your staff.
Good PR should create a buzz around your company, emphasising all the best parts about your workplace and amplifying the positive experience of your team. In turn, this will attract top-quality job seekers and a workforce of happy employees. As a result, this will then positively impact how your clients, customers and stakeholders all view your business too.
PR Boosts Your Retention Rates
PR is all about getting your name out there, building your profile and raising brand awareness. As mentioned before, while many businesses simply see this as an effective marketing tool for securing new customers, it is also a brilliant way to attract new employees.
Rather than your HR department spending hours reaching out to potential employees for them to be rejected and effectively having wasted that time, you will instead find people contacting you directly to enquire about any open positions at your company.
By using PR to support your HR team and amplify their efforts, you also demonstrate that you invest in your company and the people who work for you. The money that you spend on PR will attract proportionally better candidates. Combining the best of PR - from storytelling and creativity - with the best of HR - from recruitment, talent management and employee engagement - helps to attract, engage and retain talented individuals.
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