What is one PR opportunity that exists to better promote Human Resources (HR)?
To help HR professionals discover the right public relations (PR) opportunities, we asked PR professionals and business leaders this question for their best insights. From becoming a podcast guest to sponsoring content, there are several opportunities that may help those in HR boost their PR efforts.
Here is what 11 thought-leaders had to say:
- Become a Podcast Guest
- Announce New Joiners On Social Media
- Promote Employees
- Optimize Your Brand Online With Terkel
- Placed On Best Companies to Work for List
- Mention Open Roles in Releases
- Start Speaking the Language of Your Business
- Don’t Underestimate Company Events
- Share About Company Activities On Websites
- Demystifying the Role of HR
- Use Sponsored Content
Become a Podcast Guest
Being a guest on a business or HR-specific podcast can help raise the visibility of the profession. Let’s face it. HR isn’t HR anymore. In addition to core subject matter skills, these days, it’s part IT and project management, legal and finance, even branding and social communications. Sharing your expertise in these adjacencies can raise the bar for all practitioners while showcasing the value of HR to the business world. And if you’re not quite ready to solo the podcast stage, join a panel discussion – same result. Less pressure.
Tim Toterhi, Plotline Leadership
Announce New Joiners On Social Media
Apart from skills and experience, every new hire brings their contacts and social networks power. Announcing this event on LinkedIn or Twitter is likely to get the attention of that person’s former colleagues and will put the HR function of the firm in the spotlight. Potential future candidates can often spot such posts published by the human resources manager. This type of publicity also shows what the firm is looking for when hiring and presents HR as involved.
Michael Sena, SENACEA
Promote Employees
Publicizing positive stories about employees who work at the company. This is a great boost to human resources and can help with recruitment efforts. Having profiles written about interesting people at the company or news stories about interesting projects, including volunteer opportunities, in which they are engaged can help a great deal. This can also help with employee retention because the employees are more likely to feel appreciated by the company and its leadership as a result.
Bill Glaser, Outstanding Foods
Optimize Your Brand Online With Terkel
Since everyone is online, it’s important to optimize your brand’s digital footprint. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing your authentic expertise in human resources on platforms like Terkel. Terkel provides many great opportunities to share your human resources knowledge to build trust and brand awareness online. This goes a long way in terms of reaching the right audience at the right time on Google and other search engines.
Rronniba Pemberton, Markitors
Placed On Best Companies to Work for List
One great PR opportunity that exists to better promote Human Resources at your company is to be placed in a “best companies to work for” list. These lists are compiled by magazines, local publications, as well as national publications. Work to get your company on one of these lists to promote your HR department. Getting on one of these lists will prove to potential employees and your current employees that your HR department is one of the best at taking care of its employees. There are many publications that you can promote your company and HR department on, but if you don’t seek them out you will likely be overlooked.
Tyler Read, Personal Trainer Pioneer
Mention Open Roles in Releases
Include the information that you have available positions and are actively recruiting in your press releases whenever possible. If your leadership has grown, for example, you can state that the company is expanding and that you are currently hiring. If you’ve gotten funding, you might say that you’re going to keep building on your success by expanding your team. There are numerous strategies to include your recruitment activities in a natural and logical manner.
Gerrid Smith, Joy Organics
Start Speaking the Language of Your Business!
HR needs a re-brand in a big way. We must shake off the old stigma of being the “hire/fire/party planner and benefits people” and become known for being “Business Leaders who work in the People Space”. In order to accomplish this, we must learn and fully understand the language and goals of our business, and not just in ways it impacts HR, but in all ways.
It’s time to shift from being the policy police to being the function that facilitates business strategy development, problem-solving, innovation and people development. Our role is to coach employees and leaders while creating meaningful and practical tools, systems and infrastructure to influence and inspire the People of our organizations to thrive.
Barbie Winterbottom, the Business of HR
Don’t Underestimate Company Events
It has been a foolproof PR strategy for brands to be spotted at parties or other social gatherings. This strategy can also work for promoting HR in your company. Having company events that build relationships with your employees and at the same time allow leadership to be communicated directly is not only a way to create trust and openness among staff, but can help you gain free marketing.
Your employees will post about the event all over their personal social media pages, especially if it is fun and exciting. This will help give your company free marketing while showing how good the relationship is with your staff.
As a CEO, I make it a habit to connect with employees. Even in our remote situation today, we would organize virtual gatherings at least once every two months to give our employees time to unwind and get acquainted with others, especially after a month of hard work.
Baidhurya Mani, Sell Courses Online
Share About Company Activities On Websites
Impress the audience with your company’s cohesive and healthy work environment by sharing glimpses of the activities in your company done for employees’ recreation, team-building, or career development. Be creative with your presentation. You can record it like a vlog and put in some humor in editing while promoting your brand and HR.
Kathryn McDavid, Editor’s Pick
Demystifying the Role of HR
HR has this terrible reputation of being the department that disciplines and fires. However, there is so much more we do as HR practitioners than just firing people. I think HR needs to do a better job, maybe through videos or monthly newsletters at explaining what they do within the company–and how they support the company and its employees in reaching strategic goals. Taking a peek behind the curtain will most certainly lead to better PR for HR and hopefully allow employees to feel more comfortable approaching them with their concerns.
Dave Rietsema, Matchr
Use Sponsored Content
When you pay for an organization to publish your story, this is known as sponsored content. It differs from a press release in that it focuses more on developing a story and reads like a featured news piece. By crafting an engaging story, you may effectively advertise your recruiting drive or available positions with sponsored content.
Perhaps you implemented a new remote work policy and want to report how effective it has been in fostering a pleasant remote work culture. Perhaps you’ve formed a new team as a result of a new line of research you’ve begun to investigate. There are numerous ways to use sponsored material to promote organizational success while also linking to open positions to attract applications.
Lauren Cook-McKay, Divorce Answers
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