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We have moved to Wordpress! Posted by Jason Links to this post The Recruiting Front Lines has evolved. At the beginning of the year, I changed jobs within my company, moving away from Outreach and Education, and into my new role as Director of Business Development. While I remain closely involved with our field activity, I am now more focused on strategic partnerships, social media, and the world of internet recruitment resources. As I have made this change, the focus of my blog content has also changed. Recently, I began to feel that many of the ideas I had for blog posts would not fit within the framework of The Recruiting Front Lines. This was a cause of some frustration, as I felt that I was either misrepresenting my content with the title of my blog, or that I was stifling my writing because I felt it didn't fit. To rectify this situation, I have created a new blog home, now on WordPress. I am still ironing out the wrinkles, but feel that it is far enough along that I can move all my past content, and begin posting all new content, at the new address. I would like to formally welcome everyone to come check out my new home at jasonblais.com. I can't wait to hear what you think! Best Regards, and Thank you for your time and attention over the past 18 months. Jason

Feb 27, 2009

RFL: Down Economy? Don't Just Sit On Your Hands!

Word of caution to all HR and staffing professionals. NOW is certainly NOT the time to ignore your recruiting strategies. I've spoken with a few companies recently who have expressed that due to the economy, and their hiring freeze or reductions, they aren't giving any attention to the employment brand or recruiting strategies at all. That line of thinking will only serve to position you to lose out on the best talent when the economy shifts or you simply need to fill a key position. Let me explain.

THE BEST COMPANIES INCREASE EXPOSURE IN DOWN ECONOMY
In a down economy, the strongest companies maintain or increase their advertising and marketing. You'll often see big name brands advertising during a downturn that you don't see during strong economic times. This is done to gain market share and reinforce brand awareness that will be leveraged when the economy does turnaround. Despite slowing or declining revenues, businesses promote the unique value of their products/services to remain top of mind with consumers. At the same time, some companies opt for cutting their advertising and marketing budgets and efforts, resulting in loss of market share and brand awareness, and negatively affecting their ability to rebound when the pendulum swings. They simply lose out to the companies with greatet TOMA- Top Of Mind Awareness.

CONSUMER BRANDING PRINCIPLES APPLY TO THE LABOR MARKET
This very same dynamic exists in the labor market. To be positioned to attract the best talent when you are hiring requires, businesses must apply the strategies of consumer branding to their employment branding practices. That's to say, a business looking to outperform others in the acquisition of key talent, must continue to promote and reinforce their employment brand despite hiring freezes or cutbacks. This is critical to your business's long term success. A business that fails to acquire key talent will fail to be as productive as those who do capture the best candidates, over the long term. Failing to pay attention to your employment brand is only slightly less detrimental to you business than failing to pay your electricity bill.

In my next post, I'll discuss 4 keys to promoting your employment brand during a recession.

That's how it looks today from the Recruiting Front Lines! Please feel free to share your comments, or shoot me an email if you have questions about any topics at jayblais@yahoo.com, or read more from me in the Recruiting Review Newsletter!

Jason Blais on FoxNews

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Wordle: The Recruiting Front Lines

Using Video to Reinforce Employment Brand