♟️ Employer Brand Headlines #144: The "Glamorous Life" Edition ♟️
That's great work. But have you asked the killer question?
Mission: create one million employer brand thinkers
Employer Brand Headlines is brought to you by James Ellis. »» Say hello! ««
In this issue…
The Killer Question
The relatable organization
Being the intrapreneur
Leading a brand
The big idea
A few weeks ago at the Day Job™ I was introduced to a concept known as the Killer Question.
The idea is quite simple in conception, though rare in practice.
The Killer Question is the thing we most fear and thus do not ask. It is the question we gloss over in our brainstorming/idea phase to ensure we can give ourselves the freedom to come up with unconventional ideas, but rarely return to or actually ask.
The killer question penetrates our ego, our love for a new idea or tactic or piece of content (etc etc), and points out that, while perhaps “cool,” it isn’t really doing us any good. It is the tool that, when properly applied, helps us throw away distractions, and do more effective work. It is the pin the pops the balloon.
What are employer branding’s killer questions? How about these:
Will this attract the perfect hire? Or just a bunch of average ones?
Is this what a perfect hire would need to read/see/learn that would encourage them to consider our company (over Facebook/Goldman Sachs/Boston Dynamics/etc)?
What problem is this (social post/bullet point in the job posting/video/Tik Tok channel/etc) solving? And is this the best means by which to solve the problem?
How would the perfect hire even find this content, because we know they aren’t looking for a job?
If a piece of content was seen by 10,000, why would you assume your target audiences was among them?
Is this tagline in any way differentiating from other companies?
If I swapped the logos on this career site with a competitor, would anyone even notice?
Is this content good enough to draw attention away from cat videos, tech toy unboxing, John Oliver features, or sports highlights that are sitting directly above and below my content?
Is this something that makes someone stop and ask a question, or does this just encourage someone who was already going to apply to apply?
It is really easy to just “do things to do things.” It is really easy to become infatuated with our own ideas and deliverables. Without killer questions like these (and I’m sure you can come up with even more your own), you will spend your tenure spinning your wheels and never get anywhere.
But before you take umbrage at this idea, ask yourself if you’re more annoyed that I came up with some killer questions like these? Or terrified that your boss will ask them before you ask them of yourself.
Season 2 of The Talent Cast continues!
The revised and annotated audio version of Talent Chooses You (recorded in 4-way sound!) continues with episode 16: employer brand architecture. This is the deepest and nerdiest episode of the entire season, but for some of you, it will help you understand where your employer brand comes from.
Headlines!
Rise of the relatable organization
Nothing new, but a lot of data points on why you need to change your messaging to reflect specific audiences, to take a stand in social change, and to re-think what work looks like. [Mercer via EB Stars]
9 Great Employer Branding Examples to Inspire You in 2022
A quick quibble: these are examples of employer brand activations, not employer brands. How you style your headshots and what you stick on Instagram is NOT your employer brand. That said, it’s a nice reminder that your brand should inform the millions of decisions you make (from how to style your headshots to what you put on Instagram). [AIHR]
How Do I Become an Intrapreneur?
1: I love this series where professionals get real coaching. 2: As you are building and expanding a function within a business, I’m pretty sure that means you’re an intrapreneur. Don’t limit yourself to what you’re told to do - you need to wake up every day and ask yourself “what can I do to build and support the brand?” [HBR]
Workplace culture - beware of promises in the brochure
Netflix has some of the best employer branding in the world. Hell, they got famous for their culture deck, which they eventually turned into a best-selling book. Turns out, all those amazing things said about their culture had a dark side (all strengths are weaknesses, remember), and as the market turns on Netflix, the market is happy to talk about it. The lesson? Maybe your branding shouldn’t be as obsessed with reach as it is in telling a more complete and authentic story. [Make Work Better]
The Leadership Skill Critical To Brand Relevance
It starts by having the courage to see things as they are (not as we want them to be) and then taking action. [Brand Strategy Insider]
The brave, new world of work
I feel like a broken record, but it’s worth repeating: work itself is changing. That means how you see, talk about, and promote the work needs to change, too. [strategy+business]
More Companies Will Invest in People in 2022 – Here’s Why
The unstated argument deep within the Great Resignation/Great Reset talk, is that if work itself is changing, the business will reinvent the work itself to be more productive. Example: what if you had two hours of fewer meetings every week? Or what if you were working in a shared platform so that your boss has perpetual line of sight to your work, obviating the need for regular 1:1s? So when businesses say they need to invest in their businesses, it isn’t all about mental health care and working from home. [Recruiter.com]
The Strategy Behind Barnes & Noble’s Brand Revitalization
Strategy: stop acting like a big box retailer and more like an independent bookshop. Interesting ideas and lessons in brand localization. [Brand Strategy Insider]
Inside the fortune cookie
“In the moment before it’s ready, that’s when it’s ready.” - Seth Godin
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Here’s the 2022 version of The Employer Brand Manifesto.
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Cheers and thanks!
-James Ellis (LinkedIn)
Where the subject line came from:
Sheila E - The Glamorous Life
Yes, Prince wrote it. Yes, Prince played on it. Yes, that’s Prince on background vocals. But is it a Prince song? Oh no. This song is 100% about Shelia and her drums. Her latin percussion is the entire groove and she knows it, to the point where Prince has the good sense to stay out of its way.
If you are enjoying the music, congratulations, you’re old! Just for you, I made a Spotify playlist of all the subject line 80’s songs I’ve referenced over the last year and a half. You don’t even need hairspray to enjoy it:
