Gone are the days when creating a ‘big impact’ people comms campaign meant booking a double page spread in your local rag.
And then crossing your fingers and hoping the right people bought it.
These days, campaigns can – and usually do – involve press and print, digital media, video, social activation, experiential marketing and a whole lot more.
For a growing number of our clients, those campaigns aren’t just focused on one city, one region, or even one country. They’re truly international.
One of those clients is Nobia, Europe's leading kitchen specialist. This is why a few of the guys here at the Roost have spent the last few months regularly jetting off to various destinations in Europe to help plan, launch, and create an employer brand that literally crosses international boundaries.
We tracked down Susanne, head of employer branding at Nobia Global, to find out a little bit more about how she found her way there.
How did you get into the industry?
Back in 2010, I moved back to Stockholm, decided to change my career and set my mind on employer branding. Before that, I worked within events for a long time and even wrote my thesis about retention management at events. But even while working in events, my aim was to bring people with different skills and interests together in order to create and experience something together. This definitely resonates for the work I do now with employer branding.
As I didn’t have a degree in the field or work experience, I started off working within employer brand research to learn the ropes, and moved on to consult other companies to help with their employer branding strategy. And since last year, I’ve been managing Nobia’s employer brand.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?
Don’t be too scared to try something new!
What advice would you give to someone starting out in the HR sector?
Try to get a variety of experience – HR is such a wide sector but it’s all interlinked. It’s good to test a few things as it will give you a holistic picture of what HR and working with people is about. You’re touching people’s lives with everything you do, be it in recruiting, employer branding, talent management or leadership – so it all needs to fit in with each other.
What’s the best thing about working with Chatter?
The people! I really appreciate that they have a real focus on employee communication as well as expertise across all areas - the creative, the strategic, the technical part. This makes it easier for us to get an aligned and holistic delivery.
What are you reading, watching and listening to at the moment?
I am reading a book by a Swedish author called “Hjärnstark”. It talks about the impact training has on our brain and how we can become more resilient to stress, depression etc. A great podcast I’m following is “Employer Branding Podcast”, in which companies share their latest EB projects and thoughts on employer branding.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate (that was hard to guess, wasn’t it?!).
Three words to describe yourself?
Curious, open-minded and positive.
What fact would surprise people about you?
I can read Korean (and speak some very basic phrases), as I spent nearly 12 months in Seoul during a university exchange and an internship. Kimchi and Bibimbap are still some of my favourites.
