But do businesses stop and think about how their ‘customer facing’ marketing also comes across to potential employees? And do they also look at how to use good marketing to promote themselves as a great business to work for, making it a place people would want to work at?

Sadly, the answer too often is ‘no’.

Whilst potential recruits are reviewing and updating their CVs and Linked profiles (i.e. their marketing) whilst thinking “I do hope this business likes what they see and want to employ me”, the business should also be reviewing and updating their job adverts and website whilst thinking “I do hope that potential employees like what they see and want to come and work for us”.

I’ve been working with a utility business here in the North West recently, reviewing their end to end recruitment and onboarding processes and I made a number of recommendations, all of which could be deemed as ‘marketing’ themselves.

1. General advertising - Understand where your future employees ‘hang out’ (in person and online) and go there and advertise yourselves. One ‘in person’ example could be local colleges if you’re looking for part-timers. Join their business fair days. Ask to have a stand in their reception for a day so that students can come and talk to you and find out more. You could also ask for a feature on the college’s website homepage or relevant ‘jobs/opportunities’ page. This is your opportunity to tell people about your business, what you do, why you do it, who you do it for, the vision, mission and values that the business lives by.
2. Make it personal - Let people get to know what it’s like on the inside. A great way to do this, combining it with the suggestions in point 1 above, is to involve an existing employee who can share their own story of their career journey with you. When outsiders see someone that is being a true ambassador for the company, loves working there and has progressed through the business, this will speak volumes to them.
3. Be really clear - Your job adverts not only describe the responsibilities and requirements of the specific job, and perhaps a little about the business, but they also give an ‘impression’ of your business. If the job advert is vague, full of acronyms or even demonstrating some unconscious bias, what does that say about the business? Equally, if the job advert is long, onerous, and lacks any sense of personality or feeling, what does that say? When producing an advert, it’s important to step back, or even better involve someone independent, and ask yourself “would I want to do this job for this business?”.
4. Make it an experience to remember - From the first reply acknowledging a job application, to setting up and conducting the interview, to providing feedback, making a job offer and starting the onboarding process, make that whole experience easy, engaging and memorable for the employees. The communications through that process might be written, over the phone or face to face, all of which are still ‘marketing’ you and your business to that employee. Remember, it’s not just the people in the HR/Recruitment team that have to think about this, your managers doing the interviewing are also representing the business so it’s important they do a fantastic job with their own ‘marketing’!