In this episode of the HRchat Podcast, Keirsten Greggs interviews Aaron Backman, a passionate advocate within the people and talent community.
Listen as they discuss employer branding strategies. Aaron provides a comprehensive definition of employer branding, emphasizing the importance of understanding an organization's unique DNA and translating it into clear, consistent messaging to attract and engage talent. He highlights that employer branding is an interdisciplinary skill set that goes beyond recruitment and requires collaboration across functions.
Aaron also talks about effectively managing social media pages for employer branding. He emphasizes the importance of knowing where the target audience is and tailoring strategies accordingly. The key takeaway from the day is that employer branding is an iterative process that looks different for every organization, and continuous improvement is essential.
Takeaways include:
Employer branding is about understanding an organization's unique DNA and translating it into clear, consistent messaging.
Employer branding is an interdisciplinary skill set that goes beyond recruitment and requires collaboration across functions.
Tailoring social media strategies to the target audience's preferred platforms is crucial for effective employer branding.
Employer branding is an iterative process that requires continuous improvement and adaptation.
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Speaker 2:
Hey everyone, it's Trap Recruiter back again with another TA Week recap. I am very excited to be joined today by my guest, erin Backman, who is a passionate advocate within the people and talent community, championing reasonable, scalable and ethical practices that elevate and positively impact the communities we serve. Erin dedicates his time to debunking myths and sharing valuable insights on topics such as LGBTQ issues, mental health and contemporary recruitment strategies, coming to us all the way from the West Coast, seattle, washington and also I'm going to put a little personal spin in it one of my plant godparents, because Erin has taught me a great deal about taking care of my plant babies. Erin, please introduce yourself to the folks.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Kirsten. I appreciate that kind introduction. I don't think I really have a whole ton to add, other than I've been in this field across human resources. Talent acquisition is kind of this specialty that I've really kind of honed in on throughout my 15-year career. I am absolutely a plant daddy. Thank you so much for that. I know I've helped a couple of our peers in the talent community so it's a fun kind of side thing that I do in addition to this. So excited to be here talking about TA Week.
Speaker 2:
Great. So you were both a participant and a presenter, and I have you here today to talk about employer branding strategies. So, as an employer branding strategies attendee, what does employer branding mean to you?
Speaker 3:
This is a really great question and I think it can be a little ambiguous for people, really an ethereal concept. So when I think about employer branding, it's really, at its core is about understanding the unique DNA of our organizations, our people and their practices. So it's about translating this understanding of ourselves and who we are today, distilling it into clear, consistent, direct messaging that we're using to attract talent, as well as engage, motivate and develop our existing employees. So it's this holistic, you know, the entire life cycle focus. It's not just about recruitment, you know, it's an interdisciplinary skill set. We have to have a business mindset and we have to collaborate across functions in order to execute and meet our goals. So it's really it's a big thing and it can mean different things at different sized organizations too. So that's another complexity of the space.
Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
That was a very comprehensive definition and one that I wasn't quite expecting, and it actually gave me some new insights into what employer branding is and one of the things you pointed out. I do tend to look at it through only a recruitment lens, so I appreciate you pointing out that it is an interdisciplinary practice and strategy that we should be employing within our organizations. Why was it important for you, as a TA Pro, to beat in attendance on day two?
Speaker 3:
That's a great question as well. I really liked day two and the the structure of the the sessions, because it's really important to shine a light on these aspects that we don't necessarily see when we're in the startup, small business or mid-market spaces. You know, like I kind of alluded to already, it's a little daunting when you're already feeling under-resourced and like you've kind of already done everything you could possibly think of in your talent acquisition strategy. So seeing this perspective from the consultants who help organizations of every side as well as you know, direct perspective from these fortune 500s who have gone through the the various journeys to get where they are, it's really illuminating and it can kind of help you identify what your path to that place might look like.
Speaker 3:
And I think one of the things I really enjoyed was, during the keynote session, really like that the speaker focused for a minute on what this employer branding competency Can mean for you as a professional and your career. Too often in these conferences we only focus on what the benefits are for our organizations, which you know. Their success is our success as well. But we do have to think about, you know, who am I as a talent acquisition professional or HR professional or employer branding, whatever you know, your, your competency may be and like. What are the things I want to know, what are the things I want to develop? You know, what are these other aspects of this space that I don't necessarily know about, and giving us a clear picture of what those things look like.
Speaker 2:
As you alluded to, the day was filled with learning opportunities, with topics ranging from the bottom line on employer branding, researching and creating talent personas, attracting job seekers with video, employer value proposition and much more. What was your favorite session of the day and why?
Speaker 3:
You know I'm a sucker for a session that really kind of focuses on the tactical things that you can take home and Execute on later that day or the next day without having to, you know, hire a consultant and go through huge amounts of Institutional thought energy on. So, really, for me it was the effectively managing a social media page for employer branding. I think that this is like a really important space. It's continuously evolving and one of the messages from that particular session that is really important is about Knowing where the people you're trying to communicate with are and not trying to make Something fit that doesn't fit. You know it's when you're recruiting truck drivers. They are probably not on LinkedIn.
Speaker 3:
So if you're a trucking and transportation company and you almost exclusively hire the driving type talent, does it really benefit you to put a lot of effort into a social strategy on LinkedIn? No, it may be better to focus on other avenues, like one of Meta's properties or, you know, x or one of the other things that are out there where they are more likely to be, and and we can direct that to the other companies that are out there and we can direct our efforts, our money, resources, everything there. So I really liked that aspect of it. You know I tactical that's what a lot of this out there like you're like, just tell me what to do. Just tell me what to do. And that resonates with me, because that was me especially earlier in my career.
Speaker 2:
I Love that. Just tell me what to do. I feel that way most days. Now you may have just told us, but in the event that you didn't, what was your biggest takeaway from the day?
Speaker 3:
I think, if you are really to synthesize the entire day, the takeaway for me is that this is going to look differently at every organization and that it is an iterative process. You are not going to come out of the gate at your ideal state. You are going to consistently work towards it. I am of the mindset that we are continuously improving, so we are never actually going to get to that ideal state, because it is going to constantly change as we grow, develop and mature. I think that is a really important takeaway from the day and it is something that we can forget. As we want to be perfectionists, we want to put out into the world that perfect thing, but often the 80% is good enough and that is what we need to ship. So I think that was a message included in the day that I hope other people took away.
Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
In what ways can employer branding improve hiring strategies for neurodivergent talent?
Speaker 3:
This is a great question, near and dear to my heart. It ties back to my initial definition of employer branding and understanding that unique DNA of your organization, who you are, your practices, and this is everything from how you interact with one another. So missions, values, evps, they can often be aspirational and not necessarily an indicative picture of who you are today. So I think that employer branding kind of forces you to take a look at who you are and how do we really treat people, what is our environment we like and you can identify. Maybe we aren't the best place for neurodivergent talent and maybe that's something we should take a look at, how we can improve. So by doing this thought, work, this introspection, this evaluation and continuous analysis, we have the ability to understand ourselves better and have the ability to research how we would be able to interact with these different populations better. So there's lots that can be done, but it's really that understanding, that research process, which this is a really heavy research, research, heavy space.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for that. I have so enjoyed our conversation. It has blown by, though, and we don't like to keep folks too long, so I'm just going to ask you to close out with where can we learn more about you?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn. It's Erin Backman AARON B-A-C-K-M-A-N. I am fairly active out there. I have plenty of time on my hands these days and really I'm just kind of open to having conversations with people about this whole space. I never stopped talking about it.
Speaker 2:
Thank you so much for bringing the attendee perspective to the TA Week recap. We truly appreciate you, erin, and make sure you tune in for the next episode, day three, and we'll talk soon.