The Talent Cast
225 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsFrom James Ellis, the employer brand podcast dedicated to making you smarter about recruiting and hiring. Its time to re-invent employer branding, recruiting and hiring from the ground up! If you’re ready to throw off the shackles of conventional recruiting and employer brand thinking, this is the podcast for you. Nothing is safe. No best practice is sacred. Here, we get serious about what works, so that you can punch above your weight in the war for talent.
For more details: http://thetalentcast.com
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Episodes
Thinking 'Bout Bots with Chris Murdock
June 03, 2019 05:05 - 43 minutesIf you're sure bots are evil... this conversation will not sway you. But since so many discussion about AI and bots are vendor-driven, I wanted to talk about the concept of bots with someone who actually uses them everyday. So I pinged Chris Murdock, co-founder and Chief Sourcing Officer (yes, that's really his title), and we had another meandering chat about bots today and bots tomorrow. Show Notes: Chris Murdock: Twitter, IQTalent Partners Yes, I can speak to your team! Yes! you can have m...
Presenting Your Employer Brand
May 27, 2019 05:05 - 42 minutesWhen it's time to reveal your employer brand to leadership, what's your plan? Were you just going to take a page from that episode of Mad Men and make a big creative reveal? Wow, that would be a mistake. Here is my surprisingly nuts-and-bolts approach to presenting your new employer brand to leadership to increase your odds of buy-in, acceptance, and even use it as a means to clearing out obstacles in front of you. Show Notes: Yes, I can speak to your team! Yes! you can have my ebook! Place...
Employer Brand Activation 101
May 20, 2019 05:05 - 36 minutesA great brand position, brand promise or even strategy that sits in a deck without being used is 100% worthless. So while thinking strategically is a great start, you need to activate the brand in order to see your employer brand's value. While we've talked about specific channels and media before, we've never thought through activation as a concept. In this episode, we'll reveal the secret to activating your employer brand across any channel in any company. Enjoy! Show Notes: Yes, I can spe...
Skill vs Will with Torin Ellis
May 13, 2019 05:05 - 43 minutesWhile I'm a big believer and proponent of opening the doors to let everyone find frustration and satisfaction at work, as a middle-ages white guy, I always feel out of my depth. Luckily, I know a guy who lives and breathes diversity. We have yet another rambling conversation on what its going to take to change minds and the world. I'm a huge fan of Torin Ellis, but I'm also his friend, so I'm tickled purple to bring him onto the podcast. And for real: if you get the chance to hear him speak, ...
Why Hiring Is So Hard
May 06, 2019 05:05 - 35 minutesHaven't we been doing this recruiting thing for a LONG time already? Does it feel like we're not really getting any better at it, that we're all throwing up our hands and giving up that things can be better. And if we look at recruiters and sourcers and HRBPs and hiring managers as independent actors instead of an integrated system, that might be true. But pilots and surgeons face similar problems with far higher stakes and have found ways to achieving much better outcomes. What can they tea...
The Big Red Phone
April 29, 2019 17:05 - 45 minutesToday, we try a little experiment and talk to my friend and recruitment marketing genius Tracey Parsons. Topics covered along the way: why doesn't the business work well with recruiting, creating surprise and delight in candidates and just how low the bar is t0 making most candidates thrilled to apply. If you enjoyed this "experiment," let me know! I've got a few more on deck and want to make sure its delivering value to you! Show Notes: Tracey Parsons: @TParsons, Parsons Strategic Consultin...
Strategy First
April 22, 2019 05:05 - 37 minutesHow do you define "strategy?" Go ahead. I'll wait. It's a lot harder than you might expect. Now take the definition and see how it fits as your employer brand strategy. A little awkward? Here's the deal: it's very rare that any of us are taught "strategy" as a concept, and yet our jobs depend on our ability to develop and execute one. In this episode we go hard into what a strategy is and how you should go about developing one. Show Notes: ERE San Diego Strive Conference (Chicago!) MRA Bette...
Control (and your lack thereof)
April 15, 2019 05:05 - 29 minutesIt's so much easier to work on and with the things we control. But... that's pretty limiting, isn't it? Especially in our jobs where we control almost nothing at all. If you want to succeed as an employer brand or recruitment marketing pro, the smart move is to ignore the things we control and focus on what we don't. Show notes: ERE San Diego Strive Conference (Chicago!) MRA Bettendorf Transform RecFest SRSC Philly MRA Minneapolis
Employer Brand Is A Habit
April 08, 2019 05:05 - 31 minutesIf your employer brand is the perception someone has about what it must be like to work there. where does that perception come from? More to the point, what can we do to influence and shape that perception? The answer isn't a campaign or a project, tool or seminar. The answer is in building great habits. Show Notes: Katrina Kibben of Three Ears Media ERE San Diego SHRM Talent Strive Conference (Chicago!) MRA Bettendorf Transform RecFest SRSC Philly MRA Minneapolis
EP 116 - Hooked On A Feeling
April 01, 2019 05:05 - 38 minutesFreshly back from Talent Brand Summit an 100+ employer brand pros, I was struck by how much we talk of tactics, strategies, optimizations, tools and metrics, but very very very little about emotions. But people won't do anything until they feel something. So let's start talking about eliciting and sparking emotions in candidates. Show Notes: Katrina Kibben of Three Ears Media MRA Waukesha ERE San Diego SHRM Talent Strive Conference MRA Bettendorf Transform RecFest SRSC Philly MRA Minneapolis
EP 115 - The Trouble with Tools
March 25, 2019 05:05 - 44 minutesHow much time do you think you spend on the tools you and your team use to source and recruit? Add in vendor demos and evaluation trials and internal conversations (not to mention budget conversations) and it adds up. But how often have those tools worked out? How often have they delivered the promised results? When it's all over, was spending that time and money worth it? What if there was a way to ensure that your new tools work out? In this podcast, you'll get ten questions to ask before y...
EP 114 - Different Is the Difference
March 18, 2019 05:05 - 30 minutesYour custom-designed and unique-to-you recruiting process that you developed is 99.995% the same as everyone else's. When you do everything the same, you attract people who know how to pretend to be the same. Not only does that make it near impossible to understand what makes a candidate different, it also tells the world that you're not different. And if no one can tell the difference between recruiting and companies, you make yourself interchangeable, which might explain why you are losing ...
EP 113 - Are They Buying What You're Selling?
March 11, 2019 05:05 - 32 minutesI've been interviewing people and a theme is emerging: even when the company has something unique to offer, even if it has a lot of positives to talk about, candidates simply don't believe it until they are hired and see it for themselves. There are a couple of reasons for this, but a core one has to do with understanding content marketing strategy. Webinar: How Recruiters Can Use Employer Branding (March 21) Talent Brand Summit MRA Waukesha ERE San Diego SHRM Talent Strive Conference MRA Be...
EP 112 - Recruiting's 99% Problem
March 04, 2019 06:05 - 42 minutesIn your haste and zeal to find and hire that amazing candidate, how many people are you burning in the process? In a world where talent isn't a never-ending resource, recruiters need to be very aware of how many negative brand impressions they are making, and how many people they are ensuring will never apply for another job while they find that perfect candidate. They need to stop being so short-sighted and see the long game. Show notes Webinar: How Recruiters Can Use Employer Branding (Mar...
EP 111 - The Differentiated Employer Brand
February 25, 2019 06:05 - 32 minutesMaybe it's easy to talk about making an amazing employer brand when your consumer brand is famous, is infamous, is touched and known by its millions of customers. So how can you build an effective, differentiated employer brand when there's nothing obviously different about you? In this episode, we talk trucking, regulated and commoditized trucking. Can you make one brand stand above the rest when they are all all-but-makes-no-difference the same? Yes. Yes, you can. Let's talk about how. Show...
EP 110 - The Recruiting Never Stops
February 18, 2019 06:05 - 26 minutesIf you think your jobs is to put butts in seats, your job ends the second that your hire shows up for work. But that's old world thinking. We live in a world in which we are perpetually recruiting, not to join a company, but to be engaged at work, to join a project, to not dig ones heels in to slow progress and change. So maybe your abilities are recruiters have impacts far outside the limitations of "putting butts in seats." Because if recruiting never stops, a recruiter may be the new power...
EP 109 - Choice and Confidence
February 11, 2019 06:05 - 34 minutesYou'd think offering candidates lots of choices would attract and close more offers. But that's not how it works. People think they want choice, but what they really want is certainty. Which means a recruiter should be focused on lowering uncertainty, not adding more choices. Show notes: Go get my free ebook! Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) :: ERE (April) :: SHRM Talent (April) :: Yello User Conference (May) :: Transform (June) :: RecFest (July) :: Employer Brand Manifesto :: I can help ...
EP 108 - Marie Kondo for Your Employer Brand
February 04, 2019 06:05 - 28 minutesIn the spirit of the patron saint of filling resale shops, we ask what Marie Kondo can tell us about approaching our recruitment marketing and employer brand tactics. Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) :: ERE (April) :: SHRM Talent (April) :: Yello User Conference (May) :: Transform (June) :: RecFest (July) :: Employer Brand Manifesto :: I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand thinking :: Book me for speaking engagements on employer brand and ...
EP 107 - The Smallest Is The Biggest
January 28, 2019 06:05 - 25 minutesFor all the work you put into your employer brand, the most important part isn't leadership buy-in, creative tagline or campaigns. It has nothing to do with what you say, but everything with what you do. And that's the hardest lesson to learn. Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) :: Employer Brand Manifesto :: Comprehensive Employer Brand Architecture :: I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand thinking :: Book me for speaking engagements on emp...
EP 106 - The Woke Employer Brand
January 21, 2019 06:05 - 34 minutesI'm certain that when I say the word "woke" I sound like an ass, but the new Gillette commercial has really forced us all to ask ourselves, "how woke should and can my employer brand be?" And that's what we'll talk about today. Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) :: Employer Brand Manifesto :: Comprehensive Employer Brand Architecture :: I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand thinking :: Book me for speaking engagements on employer brand and ...
EP 105 - Changing Recruiting's Minds About Employer Brand
January 14, 2019 06:05 - 42 minutesWhen it comes to employer branding, the last holdouts who refuse who play along with you are the ones who most benefit from it. Aren't we a crazy species? So how do you get recruiter's to embrace these new ways of thinking? How do you get them to change their habits and do things differently? How do you get them to see the benefits of employer brand? We get into the nitty gritty today! Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) Social Recruiting Summit in Atlanta (Jan) Employer Brand Ma...
EP 104 - Culture Is Not The Employer Brand
January 07, 2019 06:05 - 30 minutesIt's easy to get confused when we don' take the time to define our terms, but you can't swap out your employer brand for your culture. Why? Aside from the fact that they are different things, come from different places and are changed in different ways? Well, you'll have to just listen to find out. Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) Social Recruiting Summit in Atlanta (Jan) Employer Brand Manifesto I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand think...
EP 103 - The Next Five Minutes
December 31, 2018 06:05 - 35 minutesWelcome to the new year! Resolutions suck, but that doesn't mean this isn't a great time to make change happen. The trick isn't focus on a big hairy audacious goal, but to build better habits that lead you to doing amazing things! Show notes: Thank you (in no order) to Elena Valentine and Abby Cheeseman, Lindsay Parks, Katrina Kibben, Ben Gledhill, Iain Hamilton, Charu Malhotra, Audra Knight, Andrea Hurtado, Angie Verros, Hing Lee, Tiffany Lee, Will Staney and Bryan Chaney, Torin Ellis, Trace...
EP 102 - The Wrong Question
December 24, 2018 06:05 - 28 minutesIf you're focused on being seen as a great place to work, as being an attractive employer, as having a string employer brand, you are asking yourself the wrong question to win the fight for talent. What's the right question? Tune in and find out. Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) Social Recruiting Summit in Atlanta (Jan) Employer Brand Manifesto I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand thinking Book me for speaking engagements on employer bran...
EP 101 - 2019 Predictions
December 17, 2018 06:05 - 30 minutesWhat does the future hold? In this episode I pretend I know! Also, if you want that $200 discount code to the Talent Brand Summit in Austin in March (and the TTC sticker and the donation), just let me know (twitter, email, whatever works for you)! Show notes: Talent Brand Summit in Austin (Mar) Social Recruiting Summit in Atlanta (Jan) Employer Brand Manifesto I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand thinking Book me for speaking engagements on employer bra...
EP100 - Zen and the Art of Employer Brand
December 10, 2018 06:05 - 22 minutesOn this, our one hundredth episode, I try to explain the entirety of employer branding in sixty seconds. No special effects or auditory/podcast tricks. No visual aids or speed talking. I just get to the never-stated core of employer branding. Oh, and I swear a lot. This is not the podcast to play at your next holiday party while you're tucking into that meal. Well, none of these are probably good for that. Unless you're into that. You do you. I got your back. (no one ever reads these, so... t...
EP099 - I Hate Facebook / Advertising Is Not Marketing
December 03, 2018 06:05 - 39 minutesIt's been a rough week for Facebook, and all of the advertising market. This wouldn't be so much of an issue if so many recruitment and talent leaders weren't confusing advertising and marketing. They aren't the same. So here's my chance to scare you away from over-indexing and over-investing on ads and focus more on the bigger picture. Show notes: Webinar: Hiring Is Holistic. Recruiting Isn't Social Recruiting Summit in Atlanta Talent Brand Summit in Austin Employer Brand Manifesto I can he...
EP 098 - When it Gets Quiet
November 26, 2018 06:05 - 26 minutesThis is an epic opportunity! Between Thanksgiving and New Years, things get much slower. The pace of new requisitions dries up and it's time to think about the holiday party or next year's planning and budgeting. This is when you need to identify and launch that one program you never have time to get to, even though you know it will make your life easier in 2019. So get to it! Show notes: Webinar: Employer Brand Is For Business (Event Yours) Webinar: Hiring Is Holistic. Recruiting Isn't Futu...
EP 097 - The Employer Brand Is The Brand
November 19, 2018 06:05 - 37 minutesI know that the consumer marketing team gets all the money and attention. But should they? Can a case be made to say that your employer brand is more important than consumer marketing? Or at least that the employer brand is the beating heart of all other marketing efforts? I think so. So take a listen and see if you agree that your employer brand really is your company's brand. Show notes: Employer Brand Manifesto I can help your solve your messiest recruiting problems with employer brand th...
EP 096 - The Optimization Trap
November 12, 2018 06:05 - 34 minutesGetting better is great. Sometimes, as we explore and experiment with recruiting and employer branding ideas, focusing on getting a little better might be all we can shoot for. But an over-reliance on optimization, the 2%, 3%, 5% increases year of year of our channels and tactics, leads to stagnation. The best way to ensure you eventually become irrelevant is to focus exclusively on optimization. Want to really get better? Ignore optimization and seek revolution every single day. Show notes: ...
EP 095 - Who Is Your Competition?
November 05, 2018 06:05 - 27 minutesHow many people think you are competing with Google/Facebook for dev talent? You're nuts, but you're not alone. So many companies consider Google/Facebook/Amazon/et al as competition for talent, but miss their real competition. In this episode, we think through the question of who your real competition is so you can evaluate your own employer brand better. Show notes: EmployerBrand.Consulting Book me for speaking engagements on employer brand and recruitment marketing Read the Employer Brand...
EP 094 - Let's Get Emotional
October 29, 2018 05:05 - 30 minutesIf Maya Angelou was right, and people don't remember what you say as much as how you made them feel, why aren't we striving to make truly emotional employer brand messages? Why aren't we trying to make candidates feel something? Show notes: Read the Employer Brand Manifesto on LinkedIn Proactive Talent Book me for speaking engagements on employer brand and recruitment marketing Ask Me Anything! Talent Brand Alliance My latest article at Proactive Talent: Employer Brand Is About the Business...
EP 093 - The Employer Brand Manifesto
October 22, 2018 05:05 - 36 minutesThere's a reason employer brand people feel like a person without a country, not quite fitting into recruiting or marketing, but needing to influence both. In this episode, I try to plant a flag, defining the EB pro's value (to ourselves and our employers), and start to see how employer brand might just be the way we re-invent this whole recruiting thing from the ground up. Show Notes: The Employer Brand Manifesto The Cluetrain Manifesto Proactive Talent Book me for speaking engagements on e...
EP 092 - Plumbers or Architects
October 15, 2018 05:05 - 17 minutesManaging an employer brand usually means feeling more like a plumber than an architect. But here's the twist: plumbers are more important and have a bigger impact than architects. Show notes: Proactive Talent Book me for speaking engagements on employer brand and recruitment marketing Ask Me Anything! Talent Brand Alliance My latest article at Proactive Talent: Employer Brand Is About the Business (Not Just Recruiting)
EP 091 - Employer Brand for Employees
October 08, 2018 05:05 - 19 minutes99% of all employer brand conversations are about recruiters, candidates and hiring managers. Um... how did we forget employees!? Not only are they the backbone and living embodiment of the brand, they are directly impacted by it. James Ellis: http://jamesellis.us Ask me Anything! https://proactivetalent.com/advisory/ Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-c5
EP 090 - Cast Offs
October 01, 2018 05:05 - 26 minutesEvery day, you are collecting resumes from hundreds or thousands of people thinking this is their dream job, even though most won't get so much as a phone call. If I ran a business where I annoyed and disappointed so many potential customers, I'd find that concerning.
EP 089 - When It's Worth Sharing
September 24, 2018 05:05 - 30 minutesHow often should you email or reach out to your talent pool? I don't know, how often do you call your best friend? Its such a crazy question, but we hear it more and more. In this episode, I try and flip over the apple-cart of content cadences and communication planning.
EP 088 - Uncertainty Kills
September 17, 2018 05:05 - 28 minutesThe root of most recruiting problems is that we forget that candidates are riddled with uncertainty. Want more people to apply? Want more people to accept your offers? Remove uncertainty throughout the entire process!
EP 087 - How To Measure Your Employer Brand
September 10, 2018 05:05 - 26 minutesHow do you measure something that only exists in other people's minds? And how do you set your metrics up so that your boss actually understands what you do and what your value is? Show Notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-bJ
EP 086 - Employer Brand As Infinite Game
September 03, 2018 05:05 - 33 minutesThe hardest and most satisfying games to play are those without a clear way of keeping score, without start and stop times. You play to get better, not to win. This sure sounds like an employer brand to me.
EP085 - And the Kitchen Sink
June 25, 2018 05:05 - 44 minutesIn this really long episode, I clear out my notes and cover more than a dozen employer brand topics before we head out for summer break. Everything from social recruiting, deep branding, the invisible employer brand, and recruitment marketing's race to the bottom, this episode is chock full of big ideas. - Is employee advocacy a social strategy or EB strategy? - The slow EB: a big launch invites criticism and rejection. A slow play allows people to feel like the EB has always been there - Ass...
EP 084 - Being Different Is The Whole Point of Employer Brand
June 18, 2018 05:05 - 31 minutesEverything about our industry is geared towards the middle: don't do anything too different or clever with your job descriptions because you'll alienate someone, maximize audience and reach (even if you'll never hire that person), focus on the widest possible net, etc. Which is why you you can't compete. Turns out that a strong employer brand is a function of being different. And your goal in managing that brand is about cultivating that difference in the face of a million factors driving you...
EP 083 - Closing Candidates with Employer Brand
June 11, 2018 05:05 - 23 minutesYour employer brand isn't just about attracting people at the top of the funnel, or getting them to accept your InMail request. It permeates every level of the talent funnel. So if you don't know how to engage with your employer brand properly, it doesn't matter how hot your brand is, you will be wondering why so many people are rejecting your offers. Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-aQ
EP 082 - The Only Recruiting Metric That Matters
June 04, 2018 05:05 - 30 minutesWe are awash in recruiting metrics being spewed out from out ATS, our media tools, our social tools, our magic metrics tools, etc. But that are almost all worthless. There is only one single metric that you need to care about because its the only metric the business cares about. If you understand it, there's nothing you can't do. But without it, you'll be forever on the outside looking in. Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-aL
EP 081 - The End of Applications
May 28, 2018 05:05 - 23 minutesEverything in your recruiting ecosystem (tech stack, processes, people... EVERYTHING) is predicated on getting the application: the thing EVERY CANDIDATE HATES. Sorry... I got wound up. Anyway, its time to kill the very idea of the application since you don't really even need it. Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-aG
EP 080 - Better Job Postings
May 21, 2018 05:05 - 40 minutesJust because everyone knows job postings suck doesn't mean that's an excuse to keep sucking. A good or great job posting can radically change the type of people applying for jobs. But what should you change? Don't worry: we break it down for you. Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-aA
EP 079 - Boxing or Dancing?
May 14, 2018 05:05 - 29 minutesWhy are we still taking an adversarial approach to recruiting in a world where the talent has all the power? Why are we boxing when we should be dancing? Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-at
EP 078 - The Best Network Wins
May 07, 2018 05:05 - 26 minutesThe most important difference between a 20th century recruiting organization and becoming a 21st century recruiting org? Your level of commitment to building and cultivating your network. Show Notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-al
EP 077 - Where Your Employer Brand Lives
April 30, 2018 05:05 - 29 minutesWorking on your employer brand? Where? How? Unless you have a map of all the ways someone learns about your employer brand, you're just messing around. So here's the map. Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-ah
EP 076 - Storytelling for Recruiting
April 23, 2018 05:05 - 26 minutesIf everyone *knows* that storytelling is an effective means to get your recruiting message to stick, why do so many companies get it wrong? Because they think storytelling happens in a video or an article or a profile. Wrong! Show notes: http://wp.me/p806sS-a9