Driving Employer Branding Through Public Relations
The greatest strength of PR is the credibility it affords. Why? Because PR plans include print and broadcast coverage, with editorial content that your company controls. The strategy is to position your employment brand message within appropriate media from a third-party perspective. It is this third-party credibility that generates a strong, viable believability factor for your message. This strategy is preferred over transparent 'advertorials,' where it is obvious that the company has paid for the privilege to talk about itself - or even within advertising alone. When combined, however, PR and advertising create an influential force that can power your employment brand message to large numbers of people with lightning speed.
PR for HR can:
- Raise your company's national profile, making local employment brand appeal even stronger
- Position your organization as a thought leader and expert in its industry
- Provide highly credible third-party endorsements
- Enhance your organization's reputation
- A carefully planned PR for HR program is multifaceted - composed of purposeful article positioning, high-profile speaking engagements, industry and association panel facilitation, co-branded industry survey development, and more. The effects are far reaching. Let's examine one component - article positioning - to see how PR for HR realizes value through 're-purposing':
- Provides material for recruiting
- Drives perception of the organization as 'champion' within career categories
- Drives perception of your organization as an attractive place for career growth
- Increases candidate flow and quality
- Reduces recruiting cycle times and expenses
- Energizes internal staff so they feel connected with 'a winner'
- Networks the organization with important industry influencers
- Provides strategic content for your employment Web site and employee Intranet site
The Business Case
With investments toward influencing the talent community fast becoming the new business imperative, industry thought leaders already have jumped the curve with employer branding strategies that include PR for HR. And for good reason, given the challenges that lie ahead for HR.
Technology and the Internet have allowed firms large and small to deliver similar products, leveling the playing field and clouding company differentiation. The need to hire and maintain a sustainable talent community will again be upon us - right on the heels of major layoffs, cutbacks, and compensation decreases. Companies have reached the end of the line for short-term, quick-fix tactics - such as greater productivity from fewer workers - to increase profitability. And an aging population will contribute to a labor shortage within a decade.
Organizations must rely on their best talent to succeed in the new economy. Many employees, however, now feel unappreciated and overworked. Others are laid off or skeptical. Employed workers are emerging as weary survivors of a tough recession. It has been conservatively estimated that at least 40 percent of all employees plan on leaving their jobs once the economy and labor-market confidence improve. Employers must conquer a demand for talent that will be exacerbated by this domino effect - from job switchers and quality-of-life demands, to job growth to a baby-boomer exodus.
Once again, employees are asking 'What's in it for me?'. Employers must be able to respond - and with conviction. PR for HR, as part of an overall employer branding strategy, is a powerful way to do just that.
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