The Concept of Marketing and Human Resources Department - Essay Example

?Human Resource Development Human Resource Development is inevitable for the overall smooth functioning of the organization. Herb Kelleher, the former CEO of Southwest airlines once said "Our employees are our first customers". Good HR is important for the smooth functioning of any organization. Marketing as management process Marketing was viewed as a separate department in several traditional organizations for ages. But, modern day corporate companies consider marketing as a management process, rather than a dedicated department. The concept of integrated marketing was first introduced by Kotler. He stated every company should concentrate on External marketing directed towards the customers and Internal marketing directed towards the employees (Kotler, 13). While external marketing takes care of processes like advertising and selling internal marketing takes care of "hiring, training and motivating able employees who want to serve customers well" says Kotler. Internal marketing should precede external marketing to give hundred percent satisfactions to the customers. It is up to the human resource development team to make the internal marketing successful. The concept of Marketing as management gained more popularity after the "Introduction to Market-based management" booklet was released. The booklet highlights instilling ethics, self-dedication and incentive based motivation to employees is important for smooth operation of any organization. The HR department should act like a friend, philosopher and guide in creating an open, friendly atmosphere for the employees. Every employee should be motivated to work towards a common mission individually and as a team. An accountant in a firm should have a feeling that his accurate and fast billing capacities plays a key role in customer satisfaction, while the domestic worker should believe a cleaner environment helps employees works better and improves the image of the company. An "invisible hand" should drive every person in the company towards selling the product or creating the best product, not the marketing department personnel alone. Marketing and Stakeholders Analyzing from a Human resource point of view, stakeholder is any person who can exert control over the HR department and alter their activities. It can be the boss or the employee union or the customer who forces HR to train the employees better. The stakeholders outside the organization are the buyers while the ones inside the company are the value creators for the stake holder’s money (Reed, 1983). Some stakeholders act as barriers while others support productive activities. Integrated marketing concept helps an organization to identify the needs of all classes of stakeholders quite easily and efficiently. Deloitte – a major Consulting Firm Deloitte Consulting is a major auditing firm transacting over $31.3 billion annually. Their Human Resource system is studied by every management student in the world. It manages over 193000 employees and is spread over 150 countries (Khurana, 2010). The auditing firm has a versatile client list. They train each of their employees with utmost concern to serve the best clients, their marketing department lures in with much effort. Deloitte’s future plan Deloitte is next to Pricewaterhousecoopers in terms of money transaction. Their aim is to reach the number one position in the market within a short period of time. They already have the largest client list in the world. They provide auditing and taxation assistance services to several huge companies in the world. They look forward to expand their companies consulting services in several growing eastern economies like China, Korea and southern countries like Brazil. Traditional companies operated in a pyramid model with the CEO on top. The modern companies use an inverted pyramid marketing strategy, where the customer is at the top, the front end sellers dealing with them directly is next, the middle managers are placed third and the CEO is placed last whose job is to give the necessary resources and freedom to middle managers. Deloitte Consulting operates in this inverted pyramid structure. Its marketing and human resources department are closely linked to each other. Unlike companies producing physical goods, their man power of brain power of the employees is what they market in auditing firms. Hence, much importance is given to keep the employees well trained and happy to gain a competitive edge above others. Marketing Plan Mission/Vision Deloitte Consulting aims in acquiring the best clients in the new market, training the employees to meet their needs and establishing themselves as one of the best auditing companies in par with local firms. Who is involved? Every part of the company gets involved in the new expansion project in Deloitte consulting, not only the new hirers. The marketing plan targeting the growing countries drawn by the Deloitte Consulting services starts with a survey. They target the countries with extensively good economic conditions and identify the key industries in them. The experienced employees have the right to voice their opinion about the choice of the country, corporate company and the type of service given to them. Their efficiency is used to a great level in training the newbie’s too. The second level employees are given a chance to manage the major projects, while the senior officials are involved in the major expansion, giving them a good opportunity to express their leadership skill. Target Market The marketing team of Deloitte consultancy targets companies which depend upon outsourcing and companies which indulge in international import/export. Such companies will have a local auditing firm to assist them. But will struggle to meet the international auditing standards. The marketing team sorts out potential clients with such issues from the major auditing firms of the country and offer their service to them. They do no alienate the local auditing, companies, but work hand in hand with them to get the trust of the clients. Three phase Marketing strategy They train the new and the experienced employees in the audits and laws related to the specific country. Culture serves as an important barrier while interacting with the easterners. Hence, the friendship and coalition with the local companies serve inevitable for them to understand their clients and serve them better. They have advanced tie-ups with banks like HSBC, which are keen on expanding their branches in such countries. They check the reliability of their client through a good network before offering their services. They hire the best brains in the local markets of the foreign countries ahead of other auditing firms with good salary and brand name. They make best use of their knowledge in every possible way. Western infrastructure and advanced software along with the co-operation of the local companies and experts will ensure Deloitte consultancy wins over its peers in a short period of time. Major Competitors The international auditing firms like Ernst & Young, and KPMG which also look into tapping the benefits of new emerging technologies are the main competitors. . Auditing is a very important process for any company and no major conglomerate will come forward to engage a foreign company in the process that easily. Deloitte’s has started its expansion services well before a decade. The reputation of the firm in the main cities will help them and the employees who had been working with them for a long period of time are their greatest assets in winning the reliability of the core companies. Support in Implementation of the Marketing Plan The support of Human resource development team is important in implementing the plan. Training, cultural barriers and top down hierarchical management will be the key issues faced by the team. Hiring the best brains is just not enough. “Even high-potential employees can’t do their jobs if they don’t know what to do or how to do it. Therefore…ensure that your employee do know what to do and how to do it. This is the purpose of…training employees” (Dessler, 246). It is important to make sure the hired employees are trained to meet the stringent standards for a particular time with patience. The marketing team should bring in the experienced team from the west to manage the work load in the time the local force gets trained. Every employee in the institution should be briefed about the importance of the job they are doing. As mentioned earlier an “invisible hand” should drive each and every person involved in the process. Diversity in the workplace will give place to lots of cultural differences. “Human resources are the key to success in both public and private organization” (Maidment, 2009). A customer walking into the office will not be pleased to see a bunch of foreigners chattering in another language. They will simply feel bewildered and walk out. Several differences might occur between the employees working together from various cultures. Appropriate outings, mixing programs and motivation from the HR side to develop knowledge about intercultural activities will help a lot. For example, the HR department will arrange for grand New Year Celebrations on January 1st as well as Chinese New Year. Most of the people in the eastern world are used to hierarchical management. Giving the responsibility to them right away can make them feel left alone or abandoned. They can interpret it as a plot to lay them off. Proper monitoring, reassurance and lending a helping hand when necessary will help them understand the way the Deloitte consultancy works. Reviewing and evaluation should target on appreciating the good qualities of the employees rather than scrutinizing them for the first few months. This is important to gain the trust of the employees first to get the trust of the customer in turn. References 1. Khurana, A. (2010), ‘Marketing Strategy of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu International’, Retrieved 7th December from http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/marketing-management/211102-marketing-strategy-deloitte-touche-tohmatsu-international.html 2. Desseler, G. (2001), ‘Human Resource Management’, Person Education Inc, New Jersey 3. Freeman, E. & Reed, K., (1983), ‘Stockholders and stakeholders: a new perspective on corporate governance", Huvinga, U.K. 4. Maidment, H Fred (2009), ‘Annual Edition, Human Resources’, The McGraw Hill, New York 5. Kotler, P. (2002), ‘Marketing Management, Millenium Edition’, Person Education Inc, New Jersey 6. Tsui, A.S. (1987), ‘Defining the activities and effectiveness of the human resource department: a multiple constituencies approach’, Human Resource Management. Read More