First, let me say that I absolutely loved attending Blogwell this week in Atlanta and I’m very excited to be a Council Member. I thought that the people that presented were spot-on and experts in their field. Adam Brown at Coca-Cola is doing some amazing things and Seth Miller at Turner could quite honestly be the most fired up guy on “social” that I’ve seen in quite a while. And the Gaspedal team? Incredibly gracious and seemed as organized as they are savvy.
I even had the pleasure of sitting with Adam at dinner along with Nick Ayres from Home Depot, Bert DuMars from Newell Rubbermaid and several other really bright and engaging people. These men and women are smart – and “get it.” There was some light discussion around social media and talent attraction but more relaxed dialogue around the fun and impactful aspects of social media as it relates to other business objectives.
I came away from Blogwell with a few takeaways:
- Smart Businesses are picking platforms of engagement based on the audience, not the popularity of the platform. (no customers on Facebook? don’t spend too much time trying to gain gound there!)
- Lessons are being learned about treading on people’s “experience” with their brand. (in the recruiting industry we know that the job seeker experience is everything. marketing folks have known this for years as well – but are now realizing it’s just as applicable to social networks.)
- Most “Communications” people are both territorial and almost snobbish about other arms of the business taking part in what they perceive as their arena of influence. (there was more than one raised eyebrow as to why TheRecruiterGuy or someone from HR would be present at Blogwell.)
I don’t think I’ve been given the Head-to-Toe examination and dismissal like the one I received from a marketing person at Blogwell since I asked Lori McCorkle to dance when I was in the 7th grade. She was nice about politely telling me to take a hike but it was obvious the request was an epic #fail.
At that time I was under the impression that Lori was “out of my league” and that I didn’t really have any business walking up and assuming she would dance with me. (okay, so maybe I didn’t.) But here we are a few decades later – and I assure you that I’m both in HR and dancing with ‘social’ – and we’re getting our groove the funk on.
Here are a few things that those on Marketing and Communication teams can consider when dismissing Recruiting/HR from a true partnership in the social arena:
- There isn’t a better playground for testing social efforts than Recruiting – the “customer” life cycle is quick and historically more forgiving than elsewhere.
- I’d wager that most Recruiters listen better than sales or marketing people on average – after all, they’re on the street and engaged in making “matches” not “sales.” (yeah, there’s a difference.)
- Recruiter types are typically VERY savvy about their company’s true culture and brand – they’re living and pitching it daily to hundreds if not thousands of people. (did you catch that? they’re pitching company brand, not products.)
- Every single job seeker is a potential employee… AND customer. Every. Single. One.
You’re either arrogant or clueless if you’re a marketing person that thinks that even a single savvy Recruiter can’t help to make a substantial impact in your social efforts. Go ahead and own the strategy. Own the team. Own the efforts. That’s okay. But don’t for a moment think you really own the space.
After all – Recruiters are a company’s biggest “brand salespersons.” So, are you dancing with social recruiting? Are you partnering across each team in the organization? C’mon – let’s dance.
