Today’s workforce has high expectations, multiple options, and a different perspective on work. Purpose, not just pay, drives career decisions. To attract and keep top talent, HR must think like marketers: collaborating with marketing teams to shape recruitment strategies that engage.
Addressing the talent gap isn’t just about filling roles. It’s about positioning your company as the employer of choice, standing out in a crowded market, and building a lasting talent pipeline. HR and marketing must work together to create a strong employer brand, rethink the candidate experience, and ensure internal communications keep employees connected to the business.
Stop selling jobs and start selling careers with purpose
Traditionally, job ads list responsibilities and requirements. But today’s jobseekers want to know: 'Why should I work for you? What difference will I make? Are you a company I can be proud of?'
Read more: Why HR and marketing need to collaborate
Marketing excels at storytelling and building emotional connections to deliver competitive advantage. HR can borrow from that playbook by creating purpose-driven job descriptions and attention-grabbing advertising campaigns to stand out in a competitive labour market.
Use messaging that creates curiosity, draws people in, and speaks to what truly motivates them. Coupled with your brand values and distinctive visual identity it can be incredibly powerful, generating increased application rates and better quality candidates.
Candidate experience is customer experience
Today’s jobseekers expect a hiring process that’s professional and personalised, just like customers expect from a brand. Yet increasingly companies rely on impersonal AI filtering, slow (or no) responses, and lengthy recruitment processes, leaving candidates with a negative view of the brand. If you value people, their first experience with your company should reflect this.
What can HR do to create an engaging candidate journey, just as marketers do for customers?
- Showcase company culture through storytelling, video and real employee testimonials.
- Make any automated application process user-friendly.
- Personalise communication so candidates feel valued.
- Ensure the in-person interview experience reflects company culture. This is your best opportunity to give candidates a sense of what it would be like to work with you.
- Deliver on the employer brand promise, once they’re hired. Become an employer of choice.
A poor recruitment experience damages employer brands. Get it right, and you’ll not only attract top talent but create brand ambassadors, whether they’re appointed or not.
Retention starts with better internal communication
If talent attraction is step one in winning the talent war, retention is step two. Companies may offer great benefits and career development, but if employees don’t know about them or see their value, it’s wasted investment.
Read more: The 'power partnership': why CPOs and CMOs have a common cause
A March 2024 survey by benefits provider Boostworks found that 54% of employees weren’t consulted on which benefits would improve their work satisfaction.
To change this, HR and marketing must work together on internal communications, using the same audience-first approach as external communicators. Instead of relying on standard emails or comms, try:
- Using the right platforms: some employees prefer email, others engage with video content, infographics, or animations. Mix it up, be creative.
- Making communications ‘snackable’: short, engaging, easy to digest.
- Linking benefits to values: Instead of 'We offer a cycle-to-work scheme', try 'We care about sustainability, so we’re offering a green cycle scheme'
- Showcasing company culture by celebrating employee successes and company milestones: employees want to feel part of something bigger than just their role.
- Running regular pulse surveys to gauge awareness and improve engagement.
Summary
HR and marketing must collaborate to rethink talent strategy. It’s all about winning hearts and minds. Recruitment should be treated like a marketing campaign, and employee engagement should be as carefully crafted as customer retention programmes.
Read more: It’s time to rethink your employer branding campaign
The companies that win the talent war will be those that build a strong employer brand, nurture the candidate experience, and foster a workplace culture that values employees. It’s time for HR to think like marketers and for marketing to play a key role in talent strategy.
After all, your people are your brand, and your brand is only as strong as those who believe in it.
By Lorraine Jeckells, CEO of Free Partners
