Leveraging your Employee Asset

Photo by ChuckThePhotographer

Leverage. In high school physics, we were taught how even a child can lift an anvil using a see-saw. It's all about using the right tools to get the job done more efficiently. Working smarter, not harder. Last week I stressed the importance of leveraging technology to get HR tasks done. But sometimes HR pros forget that they have another powerful fulcrum for recruiting: the human assets already on staff.

Forbes reported yesterday that using current employees to aid in recruiting has emerged as a top workplace trend in 2013. Instead of wasting money on advertising, they are getting the word out through employees' social networks.  In order to do this effectively, however, you need to make sure that you arm them with the proper tools.

If EVERY employee understands the company's core values and relates their message out in the proper tone or "voice" you're doing something right. Having a well defined talent brand becomes a foundational element in this regard. Take Google, for example. Google has been able to distill down their cultural mission into this simple statement: do cool things that matter. It's spotlighted prominently on the Google career page. Can you sum up your cultural "battle cry" in a single sentence? Can your employees? If so, you may be a master at leverage.