Monday, August 18, 2014

Is HR Damaging Your Brand?

"Marketing?  Not my job."

Due to the changes in the job market over the past two decades, professionals keep their resumes up-to-date and monitor the open job postings.  An executive never knows when there will be a layoff, restructuring, buyout or merger.  When things are good open positions provide insight into the strength of the economy, changes within the structure of competitors, and leverage when asking for a raise.  During a downturn resumes are sent as a hedge against an unexpected meeting with the boss and a representative from human resources.  Postings on Monster, CareerBuilder and Indeed provide insight into an organization that can be more damning that an angry former employee’s screed on GlassDoor.

How?


"Work here.  We re-post the same job over and over."

Since 2007, a content and conversion company based in Utah has consistently re-advertised the same Marketing Manager position.  Sometimes the position may not be advertised for six-months – other times it may consistently be posted for over a year.

At networking events marketing professionals consistently complained that they had not heard from the company’s Human Resources Department.  The complaints turned to derision, the derision turned to humor at the company’s expense.  “Are they a real company?”  “How f**ked up are things over there they cannot return an email?”  The most concerning, “If this is how they handle HR, how bad is their customer service?”

A major non-profit consistently advertises for an Executive Director, Marketing Manager, or both every year about six-weeks prior to their primary telethon.  This has led to the positions being filled by the desperate, under-qualified, or recent college graduates as experienced executives avoid applying with this group.

What About the Brand?


"It doesn't take much to bust a brand."

The executives watching these job boards are also decision-makers.  They select vendors, and where company funds and resources will be allocated regarding charities.  How human resources advertises open positions and deals with applicants will make an impression regarding the company’s brand.  Repeated posting of the same position will bias if it’s a company with whom an individual wants to do business.  Not having the courtesy to reply to an applicant will leave a negative impression if that company ever wants to do business with the executive’s new company.  A non-profit who continually re-posts the same position will find a decline in donations.

What Should be Done?


"At least the job posting was truthful."
Companies need to recognize any external communication will be a reflection upon the brand.  Human Resource staff may understand benefits, company policies, and EEO regulations – but they are not trained on the company stylebook.  Job postings should be handled like a press release.  The company needs to be presented in the best light.  Even when posted as “company confidential”, it doesn’t take much sleuthing to make an educated guess as to who is hiring.  Including the corporate marketing department in editing the posting can avoid the embarrassment of a poorly executed job advertisement.  

"We're cooler than you because we already work here."

And, for goodness sake, have the courtesy to acknowledge an applicant’s submission.  People apply for a position believing they are a great fit for the position.  Thanking them for their time and letting them know their status in the filling of the position can positively or negatively affect their opinion of the company.  Human Resources is the customer service department for the human element of a company.

A customer may not always be right, but they are always the customer.


If you have questions regarding your practice's marketing strategy, feel free to contact me at darrensomsen@gmail.com.






Thursday, August 14, 2014

Are You Experienced Enough to Protect the Brand?




Are You Experienced?
Ah! Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have

-          Jimi Hendrix

Released in 1967, Are You Experienced was an expression of teenage angst, “free-love”, and drug use (tripping balls on LSD) with a left turn in the final line:


Ah! But Are You Experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?

Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful

In the last line, the song tried to wink and nod that it wasn't about sex and drugs, but about feeling your inner beauty.  It became a Peter, Paul and Mary folk song with a driving electric guitar.

This song was born from a generation that yelled, “Don’t trust anyone over 30!”  Unfortunately, Jimi didn’t live long enough to be mistrusted.

Illustration by Craig Swanson

Forty-seven years later society is now embracing Millenials with an attitude of, “Trust anyone under 30!”  Some companies believe the under-30 crowd entering the workforce know how to speak to the 18 to 34 demographic.  Others just see them as cheap labor willing to accept lower pay in exchange for a title and perceived authority.

But, does their arrogance damage the brand?

Learning from mistakes requires enough time to have made mistakes from with to learn – with enough experience to be humble enough to acknowledge mistakes were made.

A Lesson Learned


"Just because your Mom laughed at the joke doesn't make it good."


The above example arrived in mailboxes as part of a ValPak card deck which consisting of 40 to 50 individual, double-sided advertisements.  Depending upon how the envelope is opened determines which side of the offer is seen first.  An advertisement has about one-second to capture the reader’s attention – as card decks are often sorted over a trashcan.

So, why did this piece end up in the garbage?
  1. George Burns Impersonator.  To whom is this advertisement aimed?  George Burns last appeared on screen in 1994 and died in 1996.  This image has no more relevance to twenty-somethings than an image of Harold Lloyd.
  2. Tagline.  Lose the Goo!?  This piece COULD NOT have been focused-grouped with a 65 to 84 demographic as the 35 to 44 demographic responded with, “What the hell!”
  3.  Dentures and “goo”.  The adage, “I like hot dogs, so I never want to see how they’re made.” fits this image.  It’s like selling adult diapers by showing an older model with wet pants and the tagline, “Next time, better use Depends.”
  4.  Fonts.  It’s a rookie mistake to use multiple fonts on one advertisement – particularly one of this size.  Pick two and be consistent.
  5. Offers.  What are they?  The line art images do not draw the eye to the individual offers and the font of the pricing overwhelms the description.  The florescent green-yellow splotches are annoyance.
  6.  Logo.  Or lack of logo.  The image at the bottom is NOT the logo for the dental practice who sent the advertisement.  The practice’s logo should be prominent on both sides of the offer – not a vendor.
  7. Expiration date.  This piece does not state the offers are a sale price -- so why does the offer expire.  If there is an expiration date on a piece it should have an explanation as to what will expire.  A better line is, "Prices subject to change."
A few facts about this example:  a.) It was produced by a 26-year-old, b.) It cost the business $1,600.00 for printing and mailing.

The Price of Experience


"Don't worry.  I've logged hundreds of hours . . . on a simulator."

The dental practice purportedly hired the person responsible for this piece in a cost-cutting measure.  They reported the person was willing to do the job for one-third the wage of the previous marketing director.  It now takes 2 ½ inexperienced people to do the job previously done by a single, seasoned professional.

What is important regarding this mailer, and subsequent mailers like this, is the loss of the dental practice's reputation and credibility.  By entrusting their marketing to an inexperienced team they make themselves look inexperienced.  Any goodwill established with earlier marketing pieces is diminished with a ham-handed attempt at humor.

But, with the lack of branding on both sides of the advertisement, hopefully all they lost was 1,600 bucks.  

If you have questions regarding your practice's marketing strategy, feel free to contact me at darrensomsen@gmail.com.






Saturday, August 9, 2014

Data, Data Storage and Data Sanitization: The Basics



da·ta (datə,ˈdātə): 1. Computing.  The quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer, being stored and transmitted in the form of electrical signals and recorded on magnetic, optical, or mechanical recording media.

Data, in a nutshell, is a collection of information – as mundane as a favorite cookie recipe or as sensitive to medical records.  As business has evolved this information has moved from filing cabinets to scanned documents and databases stored on a hard drive.  Sensitive information used to be stored under lock-and-key, now it’s hidden behind a password. 


A lesson learned during the 1979 US Embassy hostage crisis is a shredded document is not destroyed, simply more difficult to decipher.  The revolutionaries occupying the Embassy painstakingly reconstructed numerous documents thought to be destroyed.  This resulted in the disclosure of confidential information and the identities of Embassy staff and intelligent assets.  Events like this resulted in the development and use of cross-cut shredders to make the restoration of shredded documents far more difficult – but not impossible.  Unless burnt to ash these documents CAN be reassembled.

Data in the Digital Age


Advancements in computers, data storage and how information is moved requires business to update and replace equipment every four to six years.  New programs require advancements in operating systems and operating systems need more computing power.  Data, images and documents require more storage space.  Twenty-years ago a 240MB hard drive was considered large – now mobile phones are shipped with 16GB on board.  A mobile phone can store 64 TIMES the amount of data as a twenty-year-old hard drive.  These advancements necessitate continuous upgrades of drives and storage devices.



It’s important to know what happens to data and files once transferred to a new computer or hard drive.  “Deleted” data is not actually deleted.  Computer operating systems use tables or nodes to identify where a file begins and ends.  When a user initiates a DELETE command (or moves a file to the Trash Can icon) the operating system does not delete the file, it simply removes the pointers to the file and indicates the space is available to over-written.  Using an older reference: it’s similar to placing a piece of tape over the holes on the bottom of a cassette tape.  The original music remains until new music is recorded over.  

Data Sanitization




Once files and data are transferred from an outdated hard drive to a new computer it’s important to consider how to dispose of the old drive.  There are many opinions as to best practice in hard drive destruction.  Some advocate removing the drive from the computer, soaking it in salt water for several days, then smashing it with a hammer.  Others state drilling a hole in the obsolete hard drive is sufficient for data destruction.  In both cases this necessitates time to open the computer and remove the drive.  Not only is this time-consuming, but will require a drill press or buckets of salt water left about the office for several days.  This also assumes the computers are intended for complete destruction.  A computer at the end of its lifecycle in a business environment may remain perfectly viable in a classroom or other location.

Another option for destruction is to pay an eRecycling company to handle the removal and destruction of old computers and hard drives.  This assumes the company will not misuse the data and/or will actually destroy the equipment.  In 2012, executives of a Denver-based e-cycler were convicted in federal court for mail and wire fraud.  The company told customers the computers would be recycled in the United States.  Records were found showing the equipment was sold to overseas companies and sent off-shore intact. 

A clean, affordable method of insuring company records, patient information, and proprietary databases are securely wiped from obsolete computers and hard drives is data sanitization.  Data sanitization programs are easy to install and do not require disassembly of the computers.  Once the program has securely wiped all the data from obsolete equipment a company can confidently donate the computers or turn them over to an eRecycler for proper destruction.

Companies like WhiteCanyon™ Software offer programs like WipeDrive and SystemSaver which are very effective data sanitization tools.  These programs provide companies and individuals peace of mind that sensitive data will not end up in the wrong hands due to improper hardware disposal.

If you have questions regarding your practice's marketing strategy, feel free to contact me at darrensomsen@gmail.com.