Marketing and Trade Show Event Teams often don’t interact with HR regularly and may be missing an opportunity to collaborate with an internal resource. Lydia Rohn, Vice President Human Resources at QuadMed was interviewed this week and shared insights on why forging a partnership with HR is so important for a company’s growth and for marketers alike. She has a unique perspective having worked in HR at one of the largest exhibit companies as well as for large healthcare organizations where there was massive change with mergers and acquisitions. Here are the highlights from the interview:
5 Things Marketers Need To Know About HR
- Marketing can help HR with the Employment Brand and Communicating the message out to candidates. When a company is recruiting and looking to attract top talent, marketing is the strategic resource that can help with how the company image appears on hiring websites like Glass Door. Clear messaging is also important and the first impression future employees have when they visit your website could be the differentiating factor on whether they are interested in opportunities.
- Marketers need to network across the organization. Collaborating with HR is an opportunity to offer solutions and get visibility right away throughout your organization. Approach HR with ideas on how you can help with focus groups and other data driven solutions that can help attract the best talent to your company.
“Change is a constant- sooner you accept that the better” – Lydia Rohn
- HR can help resolve conflicts. Take advantage of your internal resource and use the internal expertise to find common ground between different stakeholders. Finding shared values and goals is the place to start and having someone you can bounce ideas off of is very helpful when you are trying to get to YES on an approval of a project.
- Navigate big change by staying close with HR. When you have a strong relationship with key HR leaders they can help you evaluate things like the direction the company is taking, if there any gaps in the future plans and how to decide if the gap is too big whether you need to pursue alternative career options. You will feel in control of your destiny when you know the full picture and HR is the department to help empower you to make decisions. Always remember you are in control don’t be reactive be proactive
- Supporting HR Opens Doors For Your Future. Many people wonder what do people in HR look for in a candidate. When Marketing offers strategies for recruiting, it is an opportunity to learn things like behaviors the company is looking for, the insights they want people to have before they interview and how to communicate the culture of the company. You can take that knowledge and use it for future internal and external opportunities.
“The more versatile we can be the better – there is no one size fits all”-Lydia Rohn
Lydia also shared important tips for anyone looking to make a career change.
Job Search Power Tips:
- Before interviewing, educate yourself about the company by networking with people within the company. Learning basic “about” information doesn’t provide the real information about the company’s culture.
- Join organizations that have members from the companies you are interested in pursuing for a new job opportunity.
- When you go to the interview, present 2-3 ideas of how you could help the company in marketing that they haven’t thought of and you will be seen as a WOW candidate
- Think outside of the box for opportunities-what are your passions? Look for ways to integrate your passion in your career. Expand your mind look how you can connect what interests you to other opportunities.
- As much as a company is looking at you as a candidate, you need to look at the company and evaluate their culture- What kind of feel do you get when you walk in the door? What does top leadership look like is there diversity are there women? First impressions of how people approach you from the time you enter the building are important.
Now that you have prepared for the companies that interest you-should you use a recruiter?
Recruiter vs. Going it Alone
- You need a recruiter and you also need to be your own business development networker to look for career opportunities
- Companies don’t always share everything with a recruiter-you need to look for
- Networking is crucial to be top of mind with decision makers
- Think about all the places you go outside of work-your network is much broader than you think including your community, school, neighbors, places of worship and more.
Inspiration for volunteering and being a Servant Leader: Lydia feels that when she is helping others it is part of her personal development. Studies show that there is a positive physiological response when you mentor or coach others and her giving back is part of her wellness plan.
Favorite Resources: LinkedIn Crain’s Chicago Business
Favorite Book: From Values to Action by Harry M. Kraemer
Quadmedical.com– QuadMed provides primary care through onsite clinics for employers with over 750 employees. You can find more about Lydia Rohn on LinkedIn here.
If you questions visit LinkedIn group Rock Your Trade Show and find marketers and trade show experts just like you! And if you have a question, or want to take your marketing program to the next level, reach out to me, I love hearing from you!
