One of the biggest trends in marketing may not even be happening in the marketing department at all.
As millennials enter the workforce, they are placing tough expectations on employers.
They are looking for the latest and greatest technology.
They are looking for brands that will develop their skills and help them reach their potential as business professionals.
And they are looking for meaningful work that aligns with their skills and passions.
Over the past few months we talked to a number of the top influencers in HR to understand what is “The Future of Work.”
One of the most amazing and insightful conclusions we uncovered had just as much to do with marketing as it does with HR:
HR is becoming the marketer of the employee brand
This was called out specifically by The Millennial CEO author and BroadSuite CEO Daniel Newman (@DanielNewmanUV):
HR is moving from the department that finds talent, vets candidates, hires and administers benefits to a group that is responsible for Marketing the brand to the best of the best potential candidates. They are now in charge of customer experience for the first customer of any organization which is its employees.
According to Daniel, “companies have a better platform than ever before to share their ideas, goals, visions and plans. Content through social vehicles are perfect augmentations to traditional corporate communications.”
The Future Of Work Will Liberate Individual And Collective Genius
That was the key point from my interview with blogger, evangelist and business educator Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers). She adds that “a company is no longer what the marketing department says it is – it’s what the world says it is.” She continues:
The business of the future keeps its employees engaged by liberating and leveraging their individual and collective genius. This is only possible in an organization in which everyone is invited to contribute fully. The most profound source of motivation, regardless of title or position, is a human being’s quest for significance. People need to feel noticed and valued and to believe they are an essential part of the organization. This is not ideology; it is biology. The need to matter does not stem from the ego; it stems from our DNA.The Future of Work is more than just a math problem
The Future of Work is more than just a math problem
Finally, I talked to Shawn Murphy (@shawmu), the co-founder of SwitchandShift.com and author of Creating Joy at Work.
Shawn believes employees must think of themselves as a brand, define that brand on paper and develop a personal mission statement for what they want to achieve.
While this may sound a little Tony-Robbins-ish, those are marketing thoughts and ideas. And Shawn believes this is the best way we can all identify opportunities to achieve our career aspirations.
According to Shawn, managers and employers play a huge role in this process as well:
We all want to do work that matters and is meaningful. Managers must learn about their employees’ strengths (what lights them up) and find ways to adjust the work to line up with each persons strengths. Managers must also learn to help employees understand why their work matters.
I believe that one of the biggest trends in marketing has more to do with HR than marketing: HR thinking and acting like marketers of the brand – the employer brand!
This is a guest contribution from Michael Brenner and has been shared with his permission. The article was originally featured on B2B Marketing Insider and can be found here.
