Recruitment Marketing, Happiness, and Purpose in the High-Tech Industry

The Case of Critical TechWorks

Abstract

Recruitment marketing is grounded in a new paradigm that truly intersects Marketing and Human Resources (Schaeffer, 2016), promoting an alignment between employees’ individual purpose and the organisation’s purpose, within a framework of social responsibility, meaning-making, and impact toward a better world. However, particularly in the high-tech industry, scientific literature on this topic remains surprisingly scarce. Addressing this gap, the present study aims to explore the specificities and potential of recruitment marketing in the IT industry, through a case study of the company Critical TechWorks (CTW). Founded in 2018 as a joint venture between Critical Software and the BMW Group, CTW was awarded in 2020 with the Fast Mover Employment prize (recognising the company with the highest growth in qualified job creation in the Portuguese tech sector) and the Fast Mover Turnover prize. With a horizontal, innovative, and distinctive organisational structure, CTW places “Purpose” at the core of its operations. This principle underpins the integration of the Happiness, Hearts, Marketing, and Talent departments, fostering alignment and bridges across functional areas with a shared focus on people.