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Hug #101 — 30 May 2024
 | 8 Storytelling Devices to Captivate Top CandidatesUse these themes to create compelling employer brand content. |
 | 6 SEO Myths Employer Brand Professionals Should KnowSEO or SE-no? An expert debunks your top misconceptions. |
Once more we get up close and personal with talent industry notables to contemplate the creation of joy, the tequila sesh and other hot topics.
This week, it's…
What is the best part of what you do?
The best part of my job is the people. I began my career at Huler in Employee Experience with a passion for creating a work environment and culture where people genuinely enjoy coming to work and feel free to be themselves. Since people spend a significant portion of their lives at work, being in a position to positively impact their lives is so rewarding. Now, as someone responsible for both Customer and Employee Experience, it’s amazing to extend that impact to our customers' employees through the tech and services we offer at Huler.
How would it improve?
More time! I’m passionate about promoting a positive work-life balance for our people. However, I often struggle to follow my own advice. I’d love more time to focus on the exciting aspects of integrating our EX and CX journeys, spend more time with my family, exercise etc. That’s why I find our approach to flexible working so beneficial. There are times when work demands more attention, but I won’t hesitate to take time back to attend Stay & Play at nursery, finish early for a gym session or catch up on life admin which is 100x easier without the tiny humans around.
What podcasts are you listening to?
On days when I need a distraction, I enjoy listening to Crack the Customer Code for CX insights and WorkLife with Adam Grant for EX inspiration.
What are you watching?
If it were up to my daughter Georgie, it would be Gabby’s Dollhouse on repeat. When the kids don’t control the TV, we’ve just started watching Sugar on AppleTV with Colin Farrell – definitely worth a watch!
What was your nickname when you were younger?
I didn’t have a nickname, but I wasn’t known as Suzi until my teenage years. Seeing my full name, Suzanne, on paperwork or in formal conversations always takes me back to moments when my mom would use my full name, often making me feel like I was in trouble!
It's my round, what are you having?
I’m not a big drinker day-to-day. However, on a night out, I’m fairly well known for being a lover of tequila.
Quote a line from a film.
One of my all-time favourite films is The Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. In the film, they mention two questions asked at the entry to Heaven: “Have you found joy in your life? Has your life brought joy to others?” While I’m not religious, absolute admiration for people who have faith in their lives and can be guided by the principles of what you cannot see.
Who plays you when they make the movie of your life?
Remind me not to ask this question in job interviews! It’s a tough one, but I’d choose Sophie Turner. I like a lot of her work, and I admire how she uses her media presence to highlight issues like ‘mom guilt’, which resonates with me and so many other parents I know.
Nominate someone to do this next.
Nicky Hoyland, CEO at Huler
There's a lot of talk about reduced budgets for EB right now, but what's your experience? Budgets are... |
FREE WEBINAR
When: Thursday 30 May 5:30 (GMT)
Where: Online (register below)
Just having an employer brand isn't enough; you need to actively manage and promote it both inside and outside your company to truly attract and keep top talent. In this engaging session, we'll dive into common mistakes that lead to underused employer brands and share real-life success stories of brands that turned their recruitment around with effective strategies.
Plus, we'll have a live, interactive planning session to show you how to bring your employer brand to life using recruitment marketing, social media, content creation, and employee advocacy.
Tech boss sticking by bold AI forecast
Companies might need to radically rethink their recruitment and employer branding practices quicker than first thought, if further warnings about the impact of AI from tech pioneer Kai-Fu Lee are to be taken seriously.
Back in 2017 the Sinovation Ventures chief predicted that AI systems will "probably replace 50% of human jobs" by 2027. It was viewed as hyperbolic by some at the time, but seven years later, he is sticking by it.
With that disruption timeline less than three years away, he says businesses are woefully unprepared for the rapid obsolescence of many roles.
"AI will likely eliminate white-collar jobs faster than blue-collar jobs," Lee said.
To continue landing the best candidates in an AI-dominated future, employers must showcase how they have embraced AI as an essential tool for augmenting human capabilities, not replacing them outright. Companies need to reposition as one that enables talent to "harness AI and use all the tools so that they can be the best that they can be," said Lee.
Crucially, organisations must highlight how working alongside AI will allow employees to double down on uniquely human skills like emotional intelligence, creativity, and trust-building that machines can't easily replicate.
Failing to evolve recruiting approaches could leave companies struggling to attract the entrepreneurial, emotionally-adept candidates they need to thrive in Lee’s AI-powered future.
Links ’n’ Thinks
READ: White collar workers are embracing the Friday WFH economy
Hair masks, spas, day drinking and no camera meetings.
TRY: How to ask questions that get people to open up
Tumbleweeds in workshops and one-to-ones, be gone!
LAUGH: Just when you thought LinkedIn couldn’t get any cringier
… Some guy compares his fiancé to B2B sales.
LEARN: Why bosses are reluctant to hire Gen Z candidates
Whack “overly confrontational” on the list of stereotypes.
ICYMI
Events
SHRM 24
23-26 June, Chicago
RecFest
11 July, Knebworth
September, TBC
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