Who are you competing with?

Maybe it should be you?

Use AI to build a stronger employer brand?

I have run perhaps a thousand competitive brand audits. And let me tell you: it is time consuming and easy to mess up. Which is why I’ve been experimenting with ChatGPT to run faster and better audits. And I'm really to share my methods and prompts with you.

Sign up for my 1-hour class and you'll learn how to take advantage of AI to better understand of how you're perceived by candidates and identify stronger branding and recruiting messages. It’s April 9 (and if you can’t make it, I’ll send you the full recording and prompts). Don’t miss it!

I saw something on LinkedIn or Instagram that I wish I had saved (this is a big issue with feed-driven social platforms: it’s VERY hard to find something once you’ve seen it) that burrowed its way into my brain.

Luckily, I have a newsletter where I can let those ideas escape! You’re welcome!

It was an image that said:

“I don’t want to compete. I want everyone to win.”

It struck me because lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about who we compete with. Probably because I’m thinking about how to better run competitive audits (check out my class on AI-driven audits at the top), but also because competition is the core of strategy.

Hiring is a zero-sum game: If I hire someone, you can’t hire them (not for a while, anyway). And vice versa. Which means we are all competing for talent.

This is the most obvious in industries where talent requires specific degree or certification (Anyone who recruiters for dentists, veterinarians or people with security clearance know the exact number of people with DDS, DVM and clearance out there).

So clearly, we should know who we are competing against for talent. Which means we should know what they offer candidates. And it should go without saying that we should know what we offer candidates.

And suddenly, it clicks: in a perfect world, are we competing?

Let’s take two mythical companies. The first offers candidates health insurance, PTO, stock, and the expectation that people will work with some of the coolest technology out there to invent the future. The second offers candidates health insurance with mental health benefits, unlimited PTO, stock, offices close 2 weeks a year, work-from-anywhere policies, meals in office, and adoption support.

Now let’s say each company makes those offerings crystal clear. Not just a listing of benefits, but stories from employees about those benefits, or blog posts about the technology, or quotes from execs about why they focus on support as a means to get the best out of their people, or listing of patents and product announcements that have phrases like, “never before seen” and “invented” and “for the first time.”

On the most transactional of levels, these companies are competing. But are they?

People are going to be more attracted to either getting deep levels of support or working on the cutting edge of tech. If you can’t have both and are forced to make a choice, which do they choose?

And if they choose one company over another in this situation, doesn’t that mean they prefer support over innovation or innovation over performance?

Suddenly, these companies aren’t competing. They are telling their story, explaining how they are different, making it clear what a candidate will get that they won’t get other places.

In the same way that people don’t choose between Burger King and Shake Shack (despite the fact that they are both sell hamburgers and fries), people aren’t really choosing between these companies. Because the companies aren’t the same.

When you make it clear how you are different in a meaningful way, you get the chance to stop competing with other companies, and the game becomes about how well you can explain your difference. How credible it is. How clear it is.

Which means you aren’t competing with them. You’re competing with you.

Hey! You know those stats you fling around about the power of employer brand? Chances are they are 8-10 years old. How long ago is 10 years? That’s a time before Discus and Periscope (remember Periscope?!). So lets get some better (and more up-to-date) stats. EB Space is collecting open source data (meaning a company isn’t going to own these and you’ll get the full report when it’s done) about employer branding. 🏁Go fill it out!!🏁

🌓 RTO: The fastest way to get rid of all your best women! » »

🌗 RTO: The fastest way to lose your best people! »

🌓 Glassdoor has no f’ing idea what it’s purpose is anymore, huh? »

🌗 Turns out, cost cutting kills your culture »

🌓 Manufacture free time now or fail later »

🌗 Really interesting case story on how broad cultural narratives change »

🌓 11 ways to get better feedback from your manager (or really, anyone) »

🌗 If you know social, you know the PESO Model. Gini Dietrich (inventor of the model) has given it a 10th anniversary refresh »

🌓 Luxury brands have interesting parallels to employer branding: appealing to the few, subtle but more emotional calls (I mean, it’s simply not rational to pay $11k for a Birkin). And since you only have that one job, it can play into ideas of exclusivity. So your company may not offer Prada-level bonuses, but there are some things to learn »

🌗 For companies advertising lots of sub brands (and all the complexities that come along with it), understand that consumer marketing has already spent a few decades thinking about these issues »

🌓 Super in-depth investigation of the LinkedIn algo »

🌗 Speaking of the LinkedIn algo, did you know that a share (with nothing added) has a bigger impact on your reach than when someone shares it with thoughts? I know, right? »

🏛️ All 2,300+ articles from this newsletter are in a searchable archive. Go get ‘em!

Did you hear how amazing RecFest was in Nashville last year?
Well, this year will literally be twice as good.
See you there!

Whether you know his name or not, you know Joel Lalgee. After all, he’s The Realest Recruiter, creating some of the most memorable and funny videos about recruiting and job seeking on Tik Tok (220,000 followers, 5.5M likes). Clearly, he knows how to break the “standard” rules of recruiting to attract and hire people. And he’s having some fun while doing it.

If you’ve missed any of the previous episodes with Rory Sutherland, Jasmine Bina, Alex M H Smith, and Chad Sowash, check them out.

The Definition of Insanity podcast is available on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.

Classes, podcasts, videos, downloadables, all to help you take advantage of your employer brand. Where? At employerbrand.ing

***This Newsletter Contains No ChatGPT***

-James Ellis [LinkedIn] [Website]

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