Hello.
Racheal Bates here. Lance is taking a break this week, so you’re stuck with the marketing director for The Starr Conspiracy. Question for you: Should HR and marketing be better buddies? I think the answer is yes.
Let’s jump into it.
HR & Marketing should get a virtual room — together
Delivering a better Employee Experience (EX) has been top of mind for most HR professionals for the past few years. There’s a good reason for that:
Companies are thriving or dying relative to their commitment to experience.
- EX doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Experience is a holistic idea that must be fully integrated with your Customer Experience (CX) and Shareholder Experience (SX).
- Experiences are driven by clear, transparent, engaging communication. EX is typically thought of as the domain of HR, CX as the domain of marketing, and SX as the domain of corporate and executive communication. However, communication is the through line that creates all of these experiences. And not just any communication — marketing communications specifically.
I know — having HR think like marketers is not a new idea. However, having HR and marketing work together to create a holistic approach to communicating an organization’s brand — both internally to employees and externally to customers and shareholders — is imperative.
Think about it this way: Prospective employees looking to join your company want to one day become an advocate of your brand. The first experience your brand offers is in the recruitment process (your job postings, website, recruitment campaign materials, etc.). If these materials don’t represent your company through your employer brand in a consistent and accurate way with your consumer brand, then you’re already failing at creating a positive experience for that soon-to-be employee. And how do these things get created in a way that represents your brand? Get HR and marketing to share a room — that’s how. As our friends at TLNT put it:
“Each exchange either strengthens or weakens the customer’s bond with the brand. And what customers think about a company and the way it treats them has the power to make or break that relationship. Great products and smart advertising are potent marketing weapons, but the customer experience trumps everything. That’s why it’s so crucial that companies build great cultures and pay attention to their people.”
So, while HR and marketing are seen as dissimilar departments, there is a lot of benefit to the two working together. HR gets employees already bought in to the culture and company mission, vision, and values, and marketing gets brand advocates possibly willing to represent the company on a public stage. It’s a win-win.
Weekly LinkedIn poll result
Another week, another poll result! This week we asked if you think AI labs should pause work on new tech. I know, I know I said we wouldn’t talk about AI. Here we are anyway.
The majority said yes, we do need to pause and create more formal rules. Maybe the open letter from The Future of Life Institute mentioned during our last newsletter will get some traction. Odds aren’t looking likely though, as it currently has 9,388 signatures. All of that to say it seems that the responsible approach is for companies to take a breath and think critically about their own approach, both in requirements and boundaries, to utilizing AI.
Quick hits from around the web
What else is happening?
Surveys find younger workers are disengaged—it’s up to employers to bring them back. This topic grinds my gears, but the opening line is *chef’s kiss*. (HR Brew)
Report: Companies may need to focus on contract worker retention, especially for IT. Overall, recent trends around contingent work will continue to grow, the report found. (HR Dive)
The other war for talent. The water is getting murky between HR generalists and recruiters when it comes to who owns what as the economy worsens. (ERE)
In tech, repeat rounds of job cuts make ‘rolling layoffs’ a new reality. Anxiety, questions of stability, and overflowing plates becoming a reality for many. (Forbes)
The ever-changing problem of EX and why trust can help solve it. As decline in engagement continues, there are things HR can focus on to build the trust back. (HR Executive)
The wheels haven’t fallen off Twitter—yet. What that says about big layoffs. Efficiency over effectiveness is a real concern as the threat of other tech companies slashing their workforce feels very real. (HR Executive)
Amid tech talent shortage, women of color are tech-ready and untapped. Recruiting needs and untapped talent hints at a bigger underlying issue: systemic bias. (HR Dive)
Full-time remote work is falling—but still five times pre-pandemic levels, survey finds. The work-from-home era is still booming, but major challenges still exist. (Forbes)
How does remote work affect innovation? Does innovation take place with the individual worker and individual contribution in mind? Or is team innovation still as easily considered? (Harvard Business School)
The Onboarding Process: A Step-By-Step Guide. Employee onboarding sets the tone for long term success for your organization. (Forbes)
Workers love using exclamation points! This little article brought me some real joy, and serves as a reminder that tone is hella important. (HR Brew)
Twitter is going to the doge
Once again, Elon Musk is using Twitter as a conduit for his own interests instead as the platform moves further and further away from what many revered it for — one of the most trusted online resources for the latest news and direct-from-the-source information.
What exactly is happening? No one knows, but, in March 2022, the Doge fan was prompted to “just buy twitter… and change the bird logo to a doge,” to which Musk responded, “Haha that would sickkk [sic].” So while one could argue he is just responding to the original tweet, more than likely he is out trolling again after his legal team filed to have the lawsuit against Musk for racketeering by promoting Dogecoin dropped.
We shall see what happens next. Not going to lie, the Shiba is cute though.
That’s it for this week! Don’t worry, Lance will be back for the next installment. Thanks for hanging with me!
Racheal
[Shameless Plug]
About The Starr Conspiracy
The Starr Conspiracy is an experience agency for brands that put employees first to build business value. We are experts in the Work Tech space and deliver defining moments across the CX spectrum, including brand, marketing, sales, product, and customer success.
We have the expertise to create defining moments that will transform your business. Want to talk? Give us a shout.
