Let’s set the stage: we all have been a part of a team or are currently part of a team, who no matter how many roles you’re filling, you can’t seem to please stakeholders. Aurelio Tedesco, Talent Acquisition Manager of C&K – The Creche and Kindergarten Association, shared with us how he revitalised his team’s brand.
C&K is a Queensland-based organisation, which employs staff for 330 centres and provides care to over 18,000 children.
Aurelio defined “brand” with a simple summation: it’s the value you add + how your clients feel about the value you add.
Why is having a strong brand so important?
With a strong brand, a Talent Acquisition function can achieve:
⁃ More engaged managers
⁃ Easier and faster processes
⁃ Positive interactions
⁃ More likelihood of secure Strategic benefits / funding
⁃ Resistance to business downturn
⁃ A seat at the table where your ideas are respected and you have access to decisions
Of course, bringing a team on the journey is where the special sauce is.
Aurelio shared that when he joined C&K two years ago, his incredibly passionate team were ready to uncover what the breakdown was in their offering.
The first step to understanding what their growth opportunity was to communicate. In doing so, he understood who their stakeholders were, what they wanted and how they needed the Talent function to communicate with them. “No update” is an update in itself. With that, he established that Mondays and Thursdays were comms days for the team. Stakeholders now now when they’ll hear from their Talent Partner on campaigns. Additionally, he puts out a quarterly newsletter.
Some tips around communication are:
- Know how often you’ll communicate and be consistent!
- Automate the operational- use your ATS!
- No update is a good update!
Other critical aspects of understanding Talent’s brand and opportunities for growth are to measure everything as data uncovers the truth behind processes and relationships. An important takeaway was that he ensured that all Talent Partners were responsible to know the data for their business units.
Food for thought: is your team comfortable managing and speaking to data?
The topic of developing a team brand has been hot in the market of late. Aurelio’s team knew that they needed to communicate what they stood for with their stakeholders.
Simply put, they state: “We are team talent and we give a shit”
Lastly, brand is built on the team’s credibility through expertise.
Aurelio’s team does this by regularly sharing industry knowledge with their stakeholder groups. This can be something as simple as sharing reports from Seek or market mapping data from LinkedIn. He also recommends setting up sessions for hiring managers to uncover tips and tricks for the interview process and having your team shadow their hiring managers to truly understand the operational aspect of the job.
A huge thanks to Aurelio and Qulla for joining us at ATC2024. Have you checked out the wrap up and photo gallery?
