Why is the term „HR Marketing“ so commonly used nowadays?

Haris Kadenic is the Marketing Director of Manpower SEE. He is a generalist, strategist and marketing professional with more than 17 years of experience in creating and implementing marketing and business strategies for various international clients (P&G, Lactalis, UNDP, Toyota, Sony, various Telecom brands, etc.). Owner of global award for the best innovation in Lactalis group and Manager of the year in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018. Panelist on many marketing conferences and lecturer at faculties on topics of marketing, innovation and business strategies. He joined Manpower as he believes in the human centric approach and reshaping of the future business and workforce environment. Today we talk about what marketing is in the world of HR, how it has changed throughout the years and how to be successful at it.

How has marketing changed in the face of multiple world crises in the past few years?

Marketing is a „living being“, constantly growing, changing and evolving. Marketing today vs. the marketing 17 years ago when I’ve started my career in this industry is not the same science neither  is the practice. Just look at the 4Ps concept, and remind me to how many Ps we have come up with until today? We came a long way from the „intuitive and creative management“ to „big data, automation and AI support“. The global pandemic just pushed us hard some 10 to 20 years in the future, sooner than it was supposed. Usage of technology changed the way we analyse and plan, the way we execute campaigns and increased the speed of making decisions in all aspects. However, human remained in the centre of each and every decision. Same like in HR business. And today, these 2 sciences and practices have never been closer  following the same path of shaping the future of the business overall.

What are the specifics of HR marketing? How does HR marketing differ from other types of marketing? B2C vs B2B? How did B2H come about?

Disbalance in the global offer and demand of supplies, goods and workforce, together with the „Great resignation“ phenomenon, created a new challenge for companies, nevertheless whether they are big multinational corporations or local small enterprises. In that sense, Marketing and HR had to join forces to create completely different approach in what the brand and brand values are all about. These two departments for the first time in history have the opportunity to reshape corporate visions, missions and goals and have an impact on what really matters towards all stakeholders instead of just few. Because today, the biggest asset for the companies is not gold, oil, funds, money... but PEOPLE! HR marketing, according to the definition, aims to create powerful and positive candidate experience. And this is why me, personally, never believed in B2C or B2B concepts. Every successful marketing ever was P2P – people to people or person to person if you prefer.

Today, there is a lot of talk about Employer branding as probably the most recognizable part of HR marketing. An unexperienced Marketing manager would create a strategy in just a fewsimple words „give employees the highest salaries in the market!“ and put 360 campaign around it. However, HR marketing knows that human centric approach is much more complicated in terms of what motivates every single individual. The main difference is, I would say, to traditional marketing, human is just another product to whom you advertise, while to HR marketing human is the centre of the universe, the beginning and the end of each strategy. Especially in the light of new generations (Millennials and Gen Z)  and considering their needs, their mindset and most importantly, their core demand for 2-way communication in every aspect of their life and decision making.

What are the steps one should take to have a successful career in HR marketing?

In order to be understood by the decision makers, who are usually General Managerss, you need to speak the language of numbers and validate everything you do.

First and foremost is to investigate daily, especially your target groups. Because, when you know your TG, then you know what content to prepare, which channels of communication to use and how to transfer them into leads. However, it is not only about knowing your candidates, but knowing your company, or clients if you work in an HR company. There are a lot of players in HR communication today in the market – Agencies vs Corporations vs Companies vs IT industry (with great HR and HR marketing strategies) vs online Hubs vs Freelancers and so on. 

Content is King in this business. Sharing it is the Queen and knowing how to combine automation and AI tools in the analytics on how to pick the best channels to promote your message is the Universe.

To be successful is to put the human in the centre and protect them from various frauds. And that means to take care about their financial well being, mental and physical health, work-life balance and future career well being.