The C-Suite is listening

They’re back! Although in truth they never went anywhere – UNLEASH was just too busy launching its own contribution to the pantheon of audio content.

Now things have calmed down and equalized out (a little bit), we are delighted to feature another great instalment from half of the world’s most dangerous HR podcast (the Chad half), plus guest presenter and Cult Employer Brand master Julie Calli. The guest on this week’s episode is Lisa Zone, managing director at Dix & Eaton who joins to talk about how recruiting, hiring, engagement, and talent management is at the center of every board room conversation. Let’s have a taster…

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Lisa Zone: I think many companies are sort of, not quite sure where this [retention initiatives] lives, because historically this has been a function that lives in HR, but the more companies are having these conversations and, you know, certainly they’re being elevated to a higher level because they are, in some instances at a crisis level, within some organizations or industries, the CEO, is paying more attention to this as an issue overall.

“So what has historically lived within the HR function? I would purport if a company gets their marketing brains behind how to support the HR team, they’re going to have a competitive advantage against the other companies they’re competing for talent against.” 

Chad Sowash: I personally don’t think marketing professionals are ready for this line of thinking. Talent acquisition teams have pushed candidates and possible customers through horrible application processes and hiring experiences for decades. So why should marketing care now other than the CEO told them to care?

LZ: Right.

CS: You’re talking about an entirely different skillset. One that’s not really predicated on lead gen or selling widgets. It’s more focused on process and the processes and the technologies that we have in place today for HR, talent, acquisition, talent management, et cetera, et cetera. Marketing has no clue what’s going on under the sheets. So, why should marketing even get involved?

LZ: Well, I think the fact that companies are facing these challenges in recruitment and even retention is a testament to the fact that this is a critical business function within an organization if the organization wants to be successful. So while the marketing function probably doesn’t understand the ins and outs necessarily of the talent acquisition process, what they can bring to the table is an understanding of messaging of branding, of building out a customer journey map, and really using some of the techniques and tools that they’ve used for customers.

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We’ve been saying this for ages! Marketing can have a huge part to play in the HR function. Glad it’s not just us. The convo moves on to budgets and employer branding, and without spoiling it, let’s finish by saying that it’s great to see marketing and HR in the same conversation for so long. Business units leveraging each others’ strengths to beat the competition. We love to see it.

Check out the full episode for yourselves, above.

The Chad & Cheese Podcast is a trusted partner of UNLEASH Podcasts.