Traditionally, HR and marketing departments have operated in silos, with HR focused on responsibilities such as recruiting, compliance and employee benefits, while marketing handles functions such as brand promotion and customer engagement.
But a competitive job market and the rise of employer branding have necessitated closer collaboration between the two. As companies view their employees as the ultimate brand ambassadors, they require consistent, strategic messaging both internally and externally.
“Marketing really is what connects the entire organization,” says Richard Maclachlan, the recently appointed CMO of Workhuman, a company that provides cloud-based software solutions to help organizations build and improve their culture.
McLachlan believes there is a growing recognition that the CMO's role is not just about marketing, but is integral to a company's overall business strategy.
Despite the marketing field's obvious importance, CMOs have become something of an endangered species in recent years, with their average tenure at a company hitting a 10-year low. Several major brands, including Johnson & Johnson, Starbucks, and UPS, have eliminated the CMO role. (Others have apparently changed their minds; Coca-Cola reinstated the CMO role just two years after eliminating it.)
In other areas, the CMO role hasn't gone away, but has taken on bigger roles and more oversight. In his new role, for example, McLachlan oversees the global marketing team, managing operations across brand and creative, product marketing, digital transformation, growth marketing, revenue operations and global communications. Prior to his promotion to CMO in May, McLachlan was Workhuman's SVP, global head of marketing.
The integration of marketing and HR functions has been driven not only by companies’ need to address the modern demands of talent management, encompassing responsibilities from recruitment to employee engagement, but also by the rise of AI.
“AI has the potential to solve problems by delivering better results faster,” Maclachlan explains. “By using AI, we can solve our internal challenges and make our teams happier and more productive.”
Rick Hammell, founder and CEO of talent support platform Helios, explains that beyond simply automating repetitive tasks, technology today can help HR departments personalize the employee experience, enhance the hiring process, streamline employee communications, and develop more targeted employer branding strategies.
“Effective HR marketing goes beyond simply advertising a job. It involves crafting a story that resonates with candidates and employees and highlighting the organization's values, mission and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” he says. “By leveraging technology alongside powerful storytelling, HR can create a more engaging, human-centric approach to work.”
Wende Smith, head of human resources at talent support platform BambooHR, says HR and marketing have one key element in common: talent. “Both aim to attract, engage, and retain individuals by understanding their needs, preferences, and behaviors,” she says.
And in Smith's view, this convergence paves the way for aligning company goals with employee capabilities.
