Continuing the HR theme of my recent posts, I have several HR books in my library on employee recruitment & retention:
- Competing for Talent by Nancy Alrichs
- The War for Talent by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones & Beth Axelrod
- Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em by Beverly Kaye & Sharon Jordan-Evans.
These were written just a few years ago (2000-2002) for a tight labor market when companies were scrambling to find & keep good employees (aka “talent”). And internal marketing went hand-in-hand as a strategic tool for employee retention.
But what about now?
With today’s high unemployment, many firms are back to viewing employees as commodities … the attitude is “We don’t care as much about keeping you happy since you’re lucky to have a job!” So is internal marketing still relevant?
Absolutely! In our current economy, even though they’re not “competing” for employees, managers still need to be concerned with their care. Why? Because unemployment means reduced consumer spending — when fewer people are working, they spend less — which also means companies have to work harder to compete for customers. And to attract and retain customers, you need trained & motivated staff (hello internal marketing!)
Internal marketing is more than just making employees feel appreciated … it’s also about making customers feel appreciated. And no manager can afford to take that for granted, regardless of the labor market situation.