RPO and Talent Management Blog by Ochre House | Ochre Talk

Feelings probably range from utter relief to wild celebration (but not on company expenses) and certainly 2010 looks like being less troublesome for HR, if not yet entirely predictable.  The “bloodbath” that was predicted a year ago was realised in many businesses, with redundancies and down-sizing rife across the board. Many businesses have changed shape and direction, had to develop new product and service offerings fast and have had to compete much harder with leaner work forces and often with different skill sets. HR has had to respond like at no other time in its history, suddenly back-to-back fire fighting and with less time for strategic planning. Employee engagement and recruitment dropped down the priority list as attrition rates plummeted and organisational development work rose to the fore as businesses tried to fit their new leaner, meaner work force to their new world that was emerging.
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Or to put it another way… X Factor didn’t!

Never has it been clearer that you cannot afford to ignore the power of social media. Whether this was a protest vote or not, it is proof positive that with the right message you can reach a vast market quickly, directly and cheaply. And once again, you can only fight the battle for your brand if you enter the debate and try to influence it head on. If you stick your head in the sand, don’t embrace it as part of the “new norm”, then the opportunity cost be enormous.

When considering your Employer Brand we have had a stark reminder this week that you need to be in control of your message in ALL media, but particularly online where opinion is rampant and freely and cheaply expressed.

So who will be Christmas Number 1?  Joe McElderry with a bland, regurgitated version of an original by Hannah Montana (yes, its true!), called “The Climb”?  Or Rage Against The Machine’s dire, little-known expletive-laden (apparently that’s why they chose it) 1992 track called “Killing in The Name”.  “Who cares” I hear you ask.  Well, hundreds of thousands of people do and are making their voices heard through a Facebook group called Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No 1.  Some would argue that this opinion is not entirely rational, but it is nevertheless out there, growing fast, and even spending cash!
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