Recently, we sat down with two employer brand professionals for interviews to learn more about their daily projects, the scope of their roles, and projects they’re proud of. One perspective comes from a talent brander in a smart technology company modernizing healthcare in the U.S. The other from a talent brander in the Netherlands working for a company that’s recently woven together with the fabric of many companies into one, cohesive talent brand.
There’s a lot of differences between the two stories. Industry, geography, team size, and scope. But there’s similarity too. Two practitioners who have taken on new roles since the pandemic built things from the ground up and have a deep passion for the work they do.
Please note: Since this blog was written, Brent Richardville-Lund has started a new role with Zuora. Congratulations on the new role, Brent!
BRENT RICHARDVILLE-LUND
(Previous role) Talent Brand Specialist at Carbon Health
Indiana, United States
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentrichardville/
The Path | Brent has been with Carbon Health for just under a year. His mix of passion for employer branding, alignment with shared values of Carbonauts, and experience within a healthcare organization made him a perfect fit for the role. Brent joined Carbon Health after spending nearly five years at Ascension where he was the third person hired in the talent brand space in a function that ended up at 40 people.
Just a few years before building those skills if you would have told Brent he would spend the next nearly 10 years of his career in employer branding he would have said, “I have no idea what the hell that is.”
Same, Brent. Same.
Team and Scope | Brent reports into a director who oversees employer branding, recruitment marketing and sourcing efforts for Carbon Health. Brent’s peer on the team supports recruitment marketing initiatives such as email campaigns and job board strategies, while Brent focuses on branding initiatives and content.
Social media content, blogs, photos, video, internal employee advocacy ambassador program and employee referral promotion – all parts of Brent’s day-to-day work. Carbon looks at employer branding as “the why” individuals would join the organization while recruitment marketing is “the how” they find out about it.
Key Stakeholders | Marketing, Internal Communications, Recruiting teams and HR partners
What’s a project or program you’re particularly proud of? | When Brent started at Carbon Health, there wasn’t much of an organic presence for employer brand messages on social media. He built a campaign calendar that includes space for 4-5 posts per week. If you review the channels now, you’ll see a steady stream of content on Carbon’s value and culture, spotlights on people, pushes for hiring needs and more. Actually, it’s impossible to miss.
What skills do you use daily that help you be successful in your role? | Organization (to keep track of ALL THE THINGS) and writing skills. Brent recommends constantly honing your writing skills and using tools like Grammarly to help communications be as clear as possible.
Biggest Challenges | Building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders takes time and effort but is key to working with so many different teams on initiatives. Also, the constant need to mine and develop content to support objectives.
What’s a piece of your authentic self that you bring to work… and the team notices? | Brent sites his creativity. “If I can’t be creative, I don’t want to work,” he shared. “I’m glad I’ve been able to use my creativity in my roles to date. It’s what makes me love my job.”
Parting Thoughts for TBA | Brent shares guidance to find your niche. “Once you do that and go for it, that’s where you’re really going to shine.”
Take a look | Check out some of the work of Brent and his team at Carbon Health.
Employee Testimonials & Spotlights
Employee Engagement
Blog Content
MARIJE VAN DER TOGT
Global Head of Employer Branding at JustEatTakeaway.com
Amsterdam, Netherlands https://www.linkedin.com/in/marijevandertogt/
The Path | Marije started with JustEatTakeaway.com, a leading global online food delivery marketplace, in the middle of the pandemic in March 2021. She was brought on board to build and lead the function of employer branding and tell a global employer story, as the company was created from mergers of several businesses with their own unique talent brands. JustEatTakeaway.com is present in 23 countries “from Vancouver to Sydney.”
Before this latest role, Marije has held positions in the EMEA region at both Philips and Shell, bringing 10 years of experience in employer branding along with her.
Team and Scope | Marije’s team is part of Talent Acquisition and the HR function and covers all areas of employer branding for each niche and volume talent area of the business.
Marije has grown her team from two to five people over the past year, masterfully crafting a set of responsibilities for each expert where individuals have responsibility for both a targeted segment of talent and a project with a global scope. This allows the team to both own a specific area of expertise where they shine, but also develop their skills broadly and collaborate across geographies.
Key Stakeholders | Marketing, Internal and External Communications, Technology, Business partners (insights for each career area), Talent Acquisition and HR partners
What’s a project or program you’re particularly proud of? | It’s all about the team with Marije. She’s most proud of the team she’s built, the level of experience they collectively share and the way they work together to achieve success. “It’s not about who does the great thing first,” Marije shared. “It’s how we all get there together.”
At JustEatTakeaway.com, the team had the unique challenge of building a foundation by bringing together 10 companies with varied levels of talent brand experience and resources, as well as the tactical project of merging strengths of three career websites into one. On top of that, they built seven campaigns, an event toolkit and strategy, a daily social program, new social channels and an EVP.
What skills do you use daily that help you be successful in your role? | Communication skills to consistently share what the employer brand team is doing and the data or research those decisions are based on has been key for Marije. Building understanding of how employer branding is different from the other areas of communications and marketing has been important to build partnerships.
Biggest Challenges | The industry is moving fast and things change quickly, which makes longer term efforts related to workforce planning difficult to manage. Marije and her team work diligently and carefully to build solutions that are scalable and smart so they don’t build something they have to abandon but can adjust as the world and business needs change.
What’s a piece of your authentic self that you bring to work… and the team notices? | Marije stays focused on the overarching strategic view of her team and the work they’re doing. Both within her direct team and beyond, her seniority and depth of experience brings clarity to all she works with.
Within Marije’s team, she’s also driven a culture of openness and support where everyone knows “there’s always someone there.” Each week, they have a 30-minute team coffee meeting where the only rule is that you cannot talk about work. With the team spread out over multiple countries, Marije credits this as a way she keeps the team close and connected while dispersed.
Parting Thoughts for TBA | Marije recommends always starting projects and initiatives from a place of research and insights. Presenting business cases from an objective view has been a key to everything her team does.
She also recommended getting into a candidate’s space to make things relevant and authentic, and to think of ways to bring fun and happiness to campaigns. “It doesn’t all have to be super deep for every activation,” she shared.
Take a look | Check out some of the work of Marije and her team at JustEatTakeaway.com.
Employee Testimonials & Spotlights
Employee Engagement
#WeAreJET Podcast
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About Our TBA Member: Carrie Prange
Carrie Prange has more than 12 years of experience in communications and marketing and found her way into the employer brand space at SC Johnson in 2019. She is passionate about crafting useful, engaging content that drives results and partnering with global teams to engage talent around the world. Carrie’s role at SC Johnson includes strategy development, activation of materials, management of key digital channels, content and social media marketing, data analysis and more. Prior to joining SC Johnson, Carrie led communication efforts and marketing projects in the higher education and tourism industries.