Employer Brand Headlines: The "You Are What You Is" Edition (#76)
We’re not the biggest and best employer brand newsletter… oh, wait. Yes, we are!
In this issue
Are you a consultant?
Who’s going to fix it?
Hiring without resumes?
Does anyone care about your brand values?
The big idea
Are you a consultant? Trick question! Of course, you are! I don’t care if you’re the junior social media specialist in your particular employer brand team; with seventeen layers of people between you and the CEO, you are a consultant.
Do you know how I know? Because employer brand has no direct and clear business outcomes (think: a pile of cash) to show for its efforts. Be the best of the best, and you might increase new hire quality (near impossible to measure meaningfully), you might increase retention (good luck that was thanks to you), and you might make your employer the most desired employer on the face of the earth (what’s the financial impact of that again?). But none of that gives you… what’s the word? Power. Yours is a game of influence, just like consultants. So embrace it and be a consultant, even if you’re in-house.
So if you’re a consultant, and no one taught you how (join the club!), Bud Caddell has an amazing write-up on what it means to be a consultant, which I think is a must-read (I wrote something somewhat similar a million years ago, if it adds a little more flavor).
Bringing a consultant’s mindset to what you are doing elevates your work because it helps unstick yourself from the day-to-day grind/drudgery of getting that post done to the deadline or that report completed in time for someone on high to ignore it. It helps you see opportunities and ways of succeeding, even when you don’t think you have much in the way of resources (and who among us thinks they have enough resources? It’s seemingly a defining factor of the job).
So yeah, think like a consultant.
Headlines!
Sad but true: we’ve dropped billions of dollars (euros, yen, pounds (really, UK? Really???)) trying to better engage employees and it’s gotten us nothing. In fact, according to some data points, 1 in 5 of our current employees might be actively trying to hurt the company from the inside. Yikes. This isn’t about positive Glassdoor reviews or everyone giving a 7 out of 10 on that pulse survey. It’s about commitment to a cause and effort towards it. The lack of engagement (made harder by Covid, WHF, endless Zoom meetings, feelings of disconnection, and personal fear) is what’s going to eat your company from the inside. Good thing you’re here to help the company fix that right? This might a great way to spark an internal conversation about your value and scope.
Another post from Bud Caddell: here’s some data showing that in the US, people have decided that the government isn’t going to fix things, so on some level that means businesses need to play a bigger role, not just in maximizing shareholder value, but in making the world a better place, to fix the obvious problems in front of all of us. As we’ve talked about before, the time for your business and CEO to stand on the sidelines is past. Getting in the game may cost a few short-term customers but yield greater customer and employee loyalty.
I really appreciated this article that breaks down misconceptions around lead generation in the B2B space. Why should you care? Well, B2B marketing and lead generation is a long-tail process that is often under-invested in, ripe with misunderstandings so that leads generated are thrown over a wall to salespeople to close. Sound like our industry? I thought so, too.
I’m in the middle of hiring an intern (pity the poor college student who gets a nerd like me for a boss), and I was reminded yet again of my personal bugbear: resumes as the driver of the recruiting process. The candidate distills their entire professional life into 2 pages of marketing copy polished to a high sheen to show only the positive and never the negative. The recruiter tries to attract the candidate with a poorly written (because it is poorly thought out) job posting that tries hard not to actually say what the job is. The hiring manager engages in a conversation to try desperately to peek behind the resume to discover who the person is while the candidate dances in the other direction to figure out if they can get enough information to make a decision. It sucks. So I was heartened to see the HBR, a bastion of “that’s the way things are done, kid” consider that maybe we can hire better without resumes.
Want to support “better diversity hire outcomes” (I think that’s bingo!)? You might be surprised to hear that a clear driver is speed.
When I need a dose of reality and clear thinking, I know I can rely on Charu Malhotra (here she is on The Talent Cast). And she nails it with the idea that no one cares about your brand values. Okay, maybe your mom and whoever cut the check for the work, but really, no one cares. A must-read.
Finally, some interesting data points that might make you change your recruitment marketing strategy.
Quick hits
How finding a job will be different in 2021
Why should marketing care about employer branding?
How Talent Development Makes a Positive Impact on Your Business
10 brands getting creative with GIFs and looping video on Instagram
Tip of the week
Have you seen your CEO or SVP like your recent LinkedIn postings lately? Think of the networks that they have. Think of the credibility they bring, both inside and outside the org. When your CEO likes an employee spotlight or job ad (not a “we’re hiring!” post, I beg of you!), it reaches more people, but it also tells people internally that someone high up is watching, that they care about telling better employee stories and attracting the best talent. So when was the last time you asked them to like those posts?
Inside the fortune cookie
“If you don’t make a mistake, you’re not trying hard enough.” - Charlie Parker
Thanks, everyone!
And as always, when you reply to this email I will read your questions and comments. Is there any article I should be commenting on? A book? A podcast? Is there something you what to know? How can I help? Just reply to this email and it comes directly to me.
Cheers and thanks!
-James Ellis (LinkedIn | Twitter | Podcast | Articles)
By James Ellis, Employer Brand Nerd
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