Archive for the ‘HR Management’ Category

Hiring Freelancers and Contractors: Tips and Best Practices

Wednesday, November 29th, 2023

While Uber and Lyft have popularized the concept of the gig economy, the truth is that gig, freelance, or contract workers have been around for a long time. In fact, I’ve been one of these since 1981, when I first started writing business articles for a wide range of trade and business publications. I’ve worked remotely with publishers and editors for years—most of them I’ve never physically met! My interest in the gig economy, which traditionally had been referred to as telecommuting, led me to research and write a book on the topic some years ago. (more…)

Setting Boundaries When Working From Home

Tuesday, July 7th, 2020

Working from home is top-of-mind for many people these days. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in innumerable businesses sending innumerable employees home to work to keep them safe and isolated from others. Working from home has long been top-of-mind for us–we’ve been a virtual business since 2008. So from a workday standpoint, the virus hasn’t created that much disruption for us. It has created some new opportunities, though.

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Networking: Secret Weapon for Recruiting and Hiring

Wednesday, September 25th, 2019

There’s an old saying that is familiar to any job seeker: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” That same idea could be applied to recruiting and hiring. Smart networking can provide big benefits when it comes to recruiting. The broader the network, the better the chances of reaching job seekers. In a digital world, hiring and recruiting often takes place online. That doesn’t mean, though, that online recruiting should be the only channel used, or that social media is always the best place to find candidates.

While much of our work involves helping individuals and organizations promote their products and services, more and more lately we’re being called upon to help them with their recruiting. For good reason! The same tried-and-true principles that work for effective product and service marketing also work when “marketing” for employees. And, perhaps even more so than with traditional product or service marketing, networking can make a big difference and have a great impact in companies’ ability to recruit top candidates.

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Building Your Digital Marketing Team

Tuesday, October 25th, 2016

MentorDigital marketing is a key aspect of any organization’s marketing mix. As digital marketing grows to represent a greater proportion of your marketing mix, at some point you’ll need to start thinking about splitting up the digital marketing responsibilities among multiple employees. Below we look at some tips and strategies for putting together an effective digital marketing team for your organization. (more…)

Branding “From the Inside, Out”: Two Important Considerations

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016

Generally, we advise clients to view their organizations, products and services from the “outside in.” In other words, they need to put themselves in the position of their desired audience and consider what is important to their audience, rather than what is important to them. Too often organizations talk about how they need to “communicate our value proposition.” The truth is, it’s not their value proposition that matters– (more…)

Should Rank-and-File Employees Be Speaking on Behalf of Brands?

Thursday, October 29th, 2015

The question of whether front-line, everyday employees should be speaking on behalf of a company and its brand has been in the minds of business owners and executives for years. On the one hand, harnessing the full weight of a company’s workforce can put a lot of bodies into the marketing effort. At the same time, companies often fear the potential negative, counter-productive impact of “rogue” or un-coached employees. Think of the employee complaining about her job on her Facebook page, or the insider who gives friends and neighbors the “real story” about his company at a backyard BBQ. (more…)

Managing the “Employer Brand”

Tuesday, April 28th, 2015

Every company is–or should be–concerned about its brand. Even those that are, though, tend to focus more on the customer-facing brand. Granted, customer and prospects perspectives are important. But there’s another key audience that often gets overlooked in the rush to build brand. (more…)

The Difference Between Leadership and Management

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Leaders lead. Managers manage. Followers follow. Each of these roles within any organization is important, but there is often confusion about what leaders do vs. what managers do.

To me the distinction is clear. (more…)

Hiring Missteps and How to Avoid Them

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

Have you ever made a bad hire? Me too. And while painful–for all involved–as with anything, we can learn important lessons from the missteps we make. We can also learn from the missteps of others. Over the years I’ve learned both through the research I’ve done in writing hundreds of business articles and a number of books on HR-related topics, including recruitment and hiring and, of course, from my own experiences. A reporter recently asked me for some insights about what are the biggest “hiring missteps” I’ve observed. Here’s what I shared: (more…)