How Recruiting Decisions Affect Your Employer Brand

When I recruited people often ask me how I found candidates.  My reply always included listing off the standard procedures that are a part of the recruiting process.  That is what most people want to hear at the local block party.  But there is so much more. Matching candidates to requirements on position postings is lazy, outdated and ineffective in today’s changing business environment.  This isn’t really a discussion on how I find people to hire but about the kind of people that companies should be hiring.

The Web and the explosion of Social Media mean that every member of your business has a stake in the overall customer experience and is a representative for your brand.  That means you want to bring on individuals and build teams that are reflections of the company that you have worked hard to build.  You need members to understand the importance of delivering positive experiences to your customers and empower them no matter where they are on the organizational chart. Hire those that fit with your company culture and values matched with passion.  Skills are easier to teach than mindset.

I once walked out of a Rite Aid drugstore chain furious and promised never to return.  The cashier was a programmed robot citing rules of the reward card program and dead set on charging me twice the price without one.  An empowered employee who cared would have viewed this experience as an “Opportunity” to gain a new customer.  I had no rewards card (sometimes referred to as loyalty card- hellooo) and mentioned I usually did not shop at that chain. What could have been a positive new customer experience resulted in a loss of my potential lifetime business and a rant on my blog.  Clearly, she had no concept of the big picture and the role she plays in her company brand nor did she care. Does anyone know if there is an Angieslist version for consumers rebuffed by store clerks?  

Customers and prospects are connecting and discussing everything online.

Every person that you hire needs to be viewed as someone who has the potential and the opportunity to nurture the community and customer base you are trying to build.  Hires today need to have the characteristics and the confidence to succeed in this environment. Now is the time to plan for growth and integration inside the whole of your company.  Let the evolution of today’s business world help you rethink the people you hire and how they fit into your vibrant, ever-changing culture.  In the long run, it really matters what you do now.  I leave you with one last point…never tick off a recruiter who has started blogging.

Other articles of interest:

Lucas Select Blog: Is Googles Employer Brand Right for Your Company?

Lucas Select Blog: 4 Reasons Why You Should Have an Employee Loyalty Plan?

http://clarabridge.com/2014/08/isnt-customer-experience-really-just-human-experience/

http://www.talentculture.com/leadership/the-steep-cost-of-poor-management/

Tricia Lucas has over 25 years of demonstrated success in recruiting, marketing communications, and social media and helps technology companies recruit more efficiently by focusing on Recruiting Efficiencies, Employer Branding, and Social Media.

At Lucas Select, based in Raleigh, NC, we are passionate about technology startups and about sales and marketing as professions and have built extensive national networks of top-performing executives and managers. Unlike typical staffing agencies and headhunters, our recruiting services ensure that your company maintains a sustained growth model that is supported by strong sales management, talent recruitment at scale balanced by on-going people development while aligning with your Company’s core values.