Reputation wise, people will be talking.  That’s clients, staff, associates and pretty much anyone else who may have an interest.  This will all impact HR and marketing and employer brand starts early.  There’s job boards and social media and reviews for people to see so how staff are treated will filter out quite easily.  That will then be something that will have an impact on recruitment.  Of course, if we have an organisation that looks like a nice employer, that’s the one for most of us.

So what can a business do to try and protect its reputation and how is this relating to HR management?  Maybe when recruiting for people speak to current staff, make the role available to them and if this isn’t possible speak to people and prepare them for a new member of staff.  This will help reduce any upset that could be experienced if current staff are interested in the new role.  If there are people who are interested in the role and the business feels that the time is not right, speak to the people to explain reasons for recruiting externally and look at staff development plans.

Looking at how a job is advertised is important.  What words are used in the advertisement, is it clearly understood and is a business asking for what is required.  Making salary clear is important so that applicants are not disappointed down the line and researching benefits that are being offered to people, especially by competitors is worthwhile.  Think about policies that are in place, such as flexible working and family friendly policies so that the role will attract more applicants if it is possible to work flexibly or part time.

Prepare a job description and person specification for the role.  The job description looks at the tasks and the person specification lists the experience and attributes that is required of a person.  This can be sent to applicants and will help with interviewing and selection too.

The impact that a business  makes in society is something that people look at too.  Not only employees either, this stuff is something that is considered when bidding for work.  How much time has a business spent on training hours over a year, how are they keeping their staff safe (wellbeing at work, mental health awareness, harassment and bullying policies and training) and what is the staff turnover looking like.  Does a business do anything in the community, are they working with care leavers, people who are trying to rebuild their lives etc.  All this can come into the mix.

Please get in touch if I can work with you.