Since the onset of the pandemic, talent brand teams across the globe have been working to reshape their strategies while maintaining a positive candidate experience and continuing to reinforce that talent branding is needed now more than ever.
But when the content plans are redrafted and the sun has set on another day, many practitioners may be wondering what’s next for them as we transition into the “new normal” —both personally and professionally.
For the past month, the Talent Brand Alliance has hosted a series of weekly member calls to discuss challenges and professional implications of COVID-19. Before we jumped into our session, we got a pulse for what our members were doing at their respective companies. Whether it was business as usual or wearing multiple hats, no two situations were quite the same. Here’s what they had to say:
What Members Are Doing
Zakiya Nashad - “I’ve been leaning more into HR Comms to assist our Manufacturing team. There was always a strong desire to connect with Internal Comms and HR, and the pandemic really helped that relationship come to fruition. It’s helped to drive engagement and provide a consistent message across all lines of communication.”
Holland McCue - “As an EB leader, I had a firm grasp of the right talent attraction channels and levers to pull in our campaigns. I’m currently working on a temporary assignment supporting our Internal Comms team, which has required me to rethink channel strategy to support new employee programs and the messages we are trying to drive.”
Hailey Cash - “My role has changed quite a bit. Early on I was assisting the Internal Comms team with daily communications, boosting morale, and leveraging our career site to resources for furloughed employees. Along with that, I’ve been tasked with really developing the employer brand internally.”
While trite, Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In quote that “careers aren’t a ladder, they’re a jungle gym,” is a truth that many talent brand professionals are experiencing.
Potential Paths
During the call, hosts posed the question: When you think about the jungle gym model, what career paths exist for talent branders?
What Members Are Thinking
Zakiya Nashad - “Diversity & Inclusion, as a lot of talent branders already lean into this via their roles or through a partnership. Another one is analytics, especially those who focus more on recruitment marketing and campaign analysis.”
Bryan Chaney - “Some clear paths include consumer marketing and communications.”
Hailey Cash - “Joining a digital advertising agency.”
Key Takeaways
You Have Options - Unlike other areas of the business, talent branders are well versed in project management. At any given time, you’re working with multiple internal stakeholders, handling multiple projects from start to finish.
You’ve Been Here Before - Most talent branders didn’t follow the same path and have come from all walks of life. If the pandemic has put a wrench in your plans, you have the fortitude and skills to easily pivot again.
Pivoting Isn’t Bad - If you have to leave your talent branding role, take it as a chance to learn more about an individual area or the rest of the company. Doing so will provide you with much-needed knowledge and help you build up your repertoire.
Skill Stacking
As talent branders take on new roles or think about what’s next, one exercise they should consider is skill stacking. Skill stacking is utilizing various skills that you have acquired throughout your life and combining them in a unique way that is individual to you and far more useful. You don’t have to be an expert at all of them, but your unique mix of skill sets is what sets you apart from others and often raises your value to add to a team or organization.
“Successwise, you’re better off being good at two complementary skills than being excellent at one ”
What Members Are Thinking
Alex Her - “Talent branders are super proactive, always making something out of nothing. We utilize major project management to be successful.”
Hailey Cash - “We’re all naturally edgy, have great people skills, and are great at relationship building.”
Will Staney - “Naturally talent branders are entrepreneurs, resourceful, and scrappy. Having such a broad skill set sets you up for success.”
Key Takeaways
Channel Your Badassery! - Whether you’re early on in your talent brand journey or a veteran, you’re a badass! You’ve been thrown into the fire, walked right through, and continue achieving impossible tasks while being successful.
You’re a Natural-Born Leader - Being a talent brand professional is not for the faint of heart. No matter what company you work for, you’ve had to work with all internal stakeholders to build relationships and learn everything about them while managing their priorities to work together as a team.
Again, Pivoting Isn’t Bad - If you have to leave your talent branding role, take it as a chance to learn more about an individual area or the rest of the company. Doing so will provide you with much-needed knowledge and help you build up your repertoire.
After you’ve identified your skills, shop them and see what roles align with your experience.
Do some market research on your skills — what typical and atypical roles surface?
Google your skills —what sorts of resumes pop up in images? What roles have those people held?
Next, carve time to level up during this downtime work on your general badassery! To help you work on some additional skills, we put together a list of sites to get you started:
LinkedIn Learning
Free with a public library card
HarvardX
Hubspot
Masterclass
Skillshare
While closing out the call, we left our members with a little homework. However, if you’re not a member, you can still participate and learn more about the skill stack that you possess.
What’s Next?
We have one more call left in our TBA COVID-19 Series. We have been tackling topics that are near and dear to our hearts, addressing the challenges that we’re all going through. To join the calls, we invite you to join the TBA Facebook Group. We’re a community of over 1,000 employer brand and recruitment marketing leaders. No sales, just insights and sharing among global peers. Click here to request to join.
Community Job Search and Current EB/RM Opportunities – the board and entire community (5/8/2020 @ 12 pm EST)
Holland McCue, the call host, runs the talent attraction and new hire experience team at Delta Air Lines. She also leads the TBA Marketing Committee and oversees messaging, PR, and internal/external communications to better inform, coordinate, and promote member activity and TBA initiatives.
Alex Her leads the Global Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing at Informatica across 26 countries. Along with that, he's also a member of the TBA Marketing Committee.