The human resources and public relations departments are different sides of the same coin, but it’s rare that companies give them the space to work together. Without a quality work culture, employees will leave, talent will stay away, and your reputation will take a hit.
Employees research companies before they hand over their resumes. If your PR team isn’t representing you properly or contradicting what your employees say, your industry’s top talent will become suspicious. If your HR team treats your employees with respect, PR’s job is easy.
But HR’s collaboration with PR isn’t just about proper employee treatment; it’s also about increasing productivity and efficiency with the help of HR employee management software.
Talent management software comes with tools that aid HR teams in the recruiting, training, payroll, scheduling, and benefits process. Here’s why you need these features for PR teams.
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Automation frees up precious HR time
HR employee management software automates repetitive and time-consuming activities while keeping records up-to-date. Since core HR tasks are available on one software, staff can easily share data across functions, ensuring that employees receive their salary and benefits on time.
Now that HR has more time to spare, they can focus on upgrading employee policies, spending more time with staff, and helping other departments, like public relations, reduce their workload.
When HR spends less time at the computer, PR benefits from the following:
- PR has employee data right at their fingertips, reducing research time.
- PR knows that HR is helping employees, improving their PR materials.
- PR can do more in less time when HR is helping them complete tasks.
A streamlined workflow allows HR to focus on more productive work, which inevitably leads to cost savings. You can use this money to invest in better benefits or other employee programs.
Match people based on necessary skills
Inclusion, diversity, and awareness are among the hottest PR trends that need to stick around if we want to see positive cultural change. However, our long-standing unconscious biases get in the way of true progress as we tend to favor people that look and act like us.
HR management software can use applicant tracking systems (ATS) and a blind hiring process that focuses on a person’s skills rather than their age, gender, background, name, or race.
While it’s true that blind hiring practices result in a more diverse hiring pool, accepting that we have unconscious biases makes us more empathetic to the people around us. Not only does this make you an attractive employer, but it also helps PR improve its marketing strategies.
Here are a few ways PR benefits from a diverse hiring process:
- PR can use language that’s more accepting (i.e., using “they” instead of “he” or “she”).
- PR can pitch to Millennial and Gen Z journalists who care about cultural awareness.
- PR can point to their actual diverse team to show that their employer cares about it.
- PR can talk about the benefits of working for an employer who’s socially contentious.
- PR is less likely to commit cultural faux pas but is able to apologize if they do.
HR staff that hires candidates based on their skills are also less likely to see a high turnover rate, as the hiring and onboarding process is equipped to find the best employees in your industry.
Protecting sensitive employee information
Reputation management is a vital part of PR, but that’s harder to do in a digital environment. Unfortunately, many businesses think they won’t be hacked, which is likely why 80 percent of U.S. companies have had their data stolen. Not enough is being done to protect business data.
A trusted HR management software can keep important employee information and documents safe, which solidifies your reputation as an employer that actively guards essential data.
HR management software makes reputation management easier because:
- PR is less likely to be put in a compromising position after a breach.
- PR will know the moment a breach occurs, so they can warn those affected.
- PR can write a statement before a breach occurs in case it does happen.
In business, it’s important to expect the unexpected. You could have all the safeguards in place, and a breach could still occur, so being prepared is the best way to protect your reputation.
Using a consistent onboarding process
It’s hard to imagine the consequences of a poor onboarding process because the go-to reaction is to blame employees. In reality, your staff can only complete a task effectively if they’re given proper direction. If you don’t invest in your employees, they can’t invest in your business.
Since an awful onboarding process leads to lower productivity, more inefficiencies, decreased morale, and much more, the answer is to improve it with quality HR management software.
For example, GoCo can simplify the onboarding process by digitizing onboarding workflows, eliminating paperwork, and streamlining the payroll setup. What results is a well-trained team that understands what they need to do and why which increases employee confidence.
But, how does a consistent onboarding process help PR? Let’s take a look:
- PR can promote a strong employer brand that helps employees get started.
- PR can use HR’s onboarding skills to pitch topics about hiring and onboarding.
- PR can use onboarding data to correct misunderstandings about the hiring process.
- PR can build trust in the community by showing that they value new applicants.
- PR can take charge of internal communication and help with the onboarding process.
While HR is often in charge of internal communication, they aren’t typically trained on how to present the employer brand in the best light. That’s why PR should take control of this step.
Available predictive analytics and ROI data
Public relations teams need data to build great campaigns, but they also need analytics to understand what works and what doesn’t. HR staff can collaborate with the PR department to correct falsehoods and update marketing materials based on employee input and data.
Both PR and HR teams want to make their workplace as attractive as possible to potential and current employees. With data, they can draft policies that stimulate engagement and high ROI.
PR can use HR employee management software data in the following ways:
- PR can integrate employee data with PR-specific KPIs to compare results.
- PR can track results to determine why a press release did or didn’t work.
- PR can find untapped sources of profit or reputation management.
By using a cloud-based HR management platform, HR teams can share updates with PR, even when they aren’t in the office. This can allow PR teams to make last-minute pitch changes.
