On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we have Brinda Krishnan, Global Head- Employer brand & Tech community, Agoda
Having worked in advertising and marketing for over 15 years, Brinda frequently shares her perspectives on talent and brand through her articles on LinkedIn.
In this episode, we discuss:
Making your career break count:
Humans are designed to work and network. Articles written by Brinda mostly revolve around women and their career journeys. In this discussion, she emphasizes women choosing career breaks. If a woman picks this option, it does not mean she is not willing to work. She has to prioritize something else that she feels is more important. It is not a problem at an organizational level but a regional level. Hiring women offer more diversity in the workplace. Thus, currently, organizations provide plenty of networking options for people who might have taken career breaks. However, individuals have equal responsibility for understanding their priorities. They need to figure out the what, why, and how of restarting their careers. They need to stay sharp and updated with the industrial happenings. Moreover, they need to display confidence while interviewing and networking.
Power of storytelling in employer branding:
Brinda mentions how people enjoy storytelling. People like to experience a journey with people they can connect with. An organization can beat its storm. However, if a candidate is not connecting with them as a person, the effort made in employer branding gets totally wasted. Organizations need to focus on humanizing their brands through factors like sentiments, props, people, and modules.
Storytelling allows space for humor and sentiments that brands want the audience to carry back. And every organization needs a marketer to perform this effectively.
New ways of better employee recognition:
Employees appreciate a little recognition now and then. It motivates them to perform better. Since the majority of people are working from home, the simple modes of appreciation have changed. According to Brinda, organizations should put a great emphasis on driving peer-to-peer recognition. They can create simple online ‘thank you’ templates. In addition, colleague appreciation sessions, team shoutouts, and other virtual team-building activities. All these ideas turn out to be effective gestures to bridge the gap between homes and offices.
Offering a better candidate experience:
Candidates are the customers that should never be disappointed. Organizations should build an effective employer branding strategy backed with a strong employee value proposition (EVP).
Organizations should ensure that the EVP remains the same throughout the candidate journey.
The success of an entire candidate process heavily relies on the recruiters and interviewers. Thus recruiters should be made a part of the business discussions. Moreover, the hiring managers should be trained to reflect the organizational culture and EVP. They need to do their homework before interviewing a candidate.
The following key move to enhance this procedure is the simplification of the application process. Brinda talks about a survey that says 60% of candidates stop filling applications because of their length.
Follow Brinda on LinkedIn
Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Lokesh Gautam