Introducing; "Co-Created; How to build authentic content with employees"

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Employer Bland podcast. I'm joined on this episode with my good friend, fellow podcaster Chris Laconde Harwood. And we talk about quite a few bits here. So there's a bunch of stuff that we're covering this autumn. It's all really centered around the community that we created towards the start of 2025, the employer content Club. Both of us, super passionate about bringing people together in organizations that are responsible for this, you know, specific topic. It's often a community and group of people that, that work in silos, they work independently, or they work in really small teams and don't have tons of people to bounce off. So we're really hoping that we can kind of flip the script on that and create an engaging community of people that can really help each other, bring ideas to life, share ideas, share problems, all of that good stuff. So anyway, we've got a bunch of stuff coming up this autumn and yeah, I think this will be an episode that you will want to listen to. I hope it is. Anyway, thanks, Chris. [00:01:09] Speaker B: How you doing? [00:01:10] Speaker A: I'm really good, thank you, mate. Yeah, how are you? [00:01:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it's good. Lots, lots going on, lots to come, which is like, particularly excited to talk about, you know, so there's a bit. Few things to cover off today, but yeah, particularly happy with, excited about what's going to be coming this autumn. [00:01:26] Speaker A: Me too, me too. And you know what? It feels like a funny time of year because hitting October, for some reason it was the realization that a ridiculous chunk of this year has already happened and for some silly reason, it's kind of hit me out of nowhere. But you're right, you know, we've done some amazing things so far this year. Still some great things to come and, and good time to catch up and reflect on some of that, I think. [00:01:51] Speaker B: Yeah, look, employ Content Club and say we had our first event in May, but it'd be good to kind of, I think, just touch a bit on why we created it in the first place. You know, this thing about creating this community of people who are in the business of in house of creating employer content and creating content with employees. So, you know, why is that? You know, what are the challenges facing facing these individuals and these teams in organizations? [00:02:24] Speaker A: I think that the reason that I was so keen to go on this journey with you, you know, when we started speaking about Employer Content Club or the various kind of names we had for it back then, that the crux of this was always about, you know, employer content and creating some form of community is that it's, you know, the beating heart of, of an employer brand and effective talent attraction is employer content in my opinion. You know, there will be people that have slightly different opinions, but in my opinion it is the beating heart of everything. And I think it's such a critically important part of the process. But often it's a part of the process that is a little bit neglected or it's part of the process that is piled onto one person that sits in a siloed tiny team and they've got so much pressure on their shoulders. And I think one of the reasons that I was really drawn to the concept of community around this, particularly driving that with you, Chris, is that we all need people to talk to about this stuff. You know, the good, the bad, the ugly, the ideas, the, you know, the pitfalls, the challenges, the really cool stuff. And you know, we'll probably get more out of projects that we're working on and quite often you haven't got people to talk to about this stuff generally. So the idea of forming community around it was just. For me anyway. For me that was just super, super appealing. But same question back to you. You know, why. Why were you so interested about us doing this? [00:03:53] Speaker B: You're right. I think, you know, we both got our own podcast and I think, you know, I was particularly keen to kind of introduce an in person element because every time I go to events, you know, it's, it's great. Meeting up with people is just so good, you know, especially in this hybrid working world and just having conversation with people and knowing that there is a need. There's a gap here which is, you know, if you're an individual or it's part of your role, there's a team involved in creating content in house that they, yeah, they like you say they, they need other people to talk to. And I think in particular looking at the challenges that organizations face. Doing more with less absolutely is a phrase that a lot of people will be hearing across the halls of organizations, especially in the world of employer branding and talent acquisition. But also that need of in a way the tiktokification of content which is now that TikTok and Instagram reels is, is now bigger feature in people's day to day lives. There is so much more content out there. Add AI on top of that. But there's a thing about you. The branded, branded, you know, showpiece content which typically see is seen as in campaigns is no doubt important, but it's his other content and that balance between the two of content created with Employees is absolutely crucial. So. But how do you do it? How do you feed that? You know, and I think these are the kind of questions that we've already covered off in, in our first event back in May in, in East London. That was great. You know, a room, room full of people and a great panel discussion about the art of in house employee content creation. So I'm like, again, it was like, yes, there's, there is a need for this. This is like proof of concept. We managed to get people in a, in a room, especially when there was a big other event going on on the same day. So that's, you know, quite nice to see. We, we weathered that, that challenge and really excited about what's coming up next. You know, this is early days for employer content club but again, I've been having conversations with people about it and they're like, this is, this is a great thing to have. So autumn, next few weeks, we've got a lot of stuff going on, haven't we? Let's, let's chat about that. [00:06:17] Speaker A: So Chris, we've got an autumn series coming up, haven't we? We've got an autumn series. We've got a lot packed into the autumn series. So we're going to be doing kind of various bits, you know, between October, November, you know, into kind of, you know, early mid December. Can you give us a little bit of a snapshot to the kind of key, key headline points? [00:06:38] Speaker B: Well, so, you know, this is literally kind of hot off the press, so to speak. But you know, we've got it our series, five episodes and it's called Co created How to Build Authentic Content with Employees. So we're going to start off with, I am going to be going to the Recruitment Marketing Awards next week and I'll be vlogging from there, me. And you've been having some conversations as well, but I'll be kind of the man on the ground for that one. And I really is having conversations with people about, about this piece of the role of employees in co creating content and the role that they have in that and talking about, you know, how they do things. So I'm expecting lots of great conversations and more importantly, great tips and experiences from other people to actually, you know, show, you know, what it takes because we've got a room full of people, you know, so I'm going to be chatting with some of them for sure. So yeah, I'm looking forward to that. [00:07:40] Speaker A: And I think the great thing about you being at the RMAs and apologies, it's one of the only dates I can't make in, in our calendar. But I think one of the great things about you there is that it's a room full of disruptors. It's a room full of people that are being, you know, rewarded for the brave work that they're doing in this field. You know, so many of the people in that room are the people that are doing things differently. They're, they're trying to stand out from the crowd. They don't want to be bland, they don't want to be vanilla. You know, they, they want to kind of, you know, authentically communicate who their company is and what their company stands for. So I'm really looking forward to what comes out of, of those conversations because I think it's a room full of exactly the type of people we want to hear from. [00:08:26] Speaker B: And actually doing a series like this really helps because I think it helps really focus thinking around it, you know. So I think there'll be some great conversations off the back of that and not just from the day itself, but afterwards as well. And then the next episode is going to be a conversation with an organization that has been involved in implementing co created campaigns projects with employees. So, you know, and then we got a second episode, kind of second part with another company who's doing the same. But we kind of want to look at different stages of the journey. So talk about kind of first of all starting out, how do you get started but then the next episode being about success and what does that look like? Yeah, so both are equally valuable depending on people's kind of stage of their journey when it comes to co creating content with employees. [00:09:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think there's going to be so much for us to dissect in those conversations as well because there's so many different elements that will hopefully be really helpful to people listening, you know, because it's not just about buying some software, rolling out some software and wait for everything, everything to flood in you. There's, there's got to be an entire culture that is built around the philosophy of generating, you know, employer generated, employee generated content. And I'm really looking forward to hearing some of those cultural, like the, the, the elements of philosophy that these leaders are kind of implemented in companies that are really making it appealing for these people to contribute to these projects. Because the companies that are doing it well and they're the companies that we're going to be speaking to, they're doing it really well and they're getting people on board, they've got advocates who are Flying flags so aggressively because they're just so happy to be in these places. And there's some magic wrapped up in all of that stuff. So I'm looking forward to us uncovering some of that. [00:10:23] Speaker B: Yeah, it's thinking about the kind of preparation for that, you know, when we having our conversations with our guests. It's the kind of things that I want to be focusing on are things like how to get buy in. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Yes. [00:10:37] Speaker B: You know, how to get buy in from stakeholders to, to invest time and money into something like, you know, this, this, this piece. How do you connect it with employee advocacy, but also how do you get employment? I have so many interesting conversations about, with people about how do you get employees engaged in it. [00:10:56] Speaker A: Yes. [00:10:57] Speaker B: Not everyone likes jumping in front of a camera like me and you do, Chris, you know, but it's, but, but there's things I think, you know, we definitely want to. There's some, definitely some key things we're going to be ticking off when we have those two episodes, definitely. So, yeah, that's, that's going to be a good one, I think. Really keen to make sure that all of this is about, you know, having those conversations with people so that it just makes everyone else's lives a little bit easier. You know, we can bring the conversations to them instead of them having to go out and find, find those conversations themselves. Because it, the world of employer branding, you know, can feel like a lonely place, can't it? But yeah, if you're the role of creating content, because you could argue, can feel even lonelier. So, yeah, so, you know, a rising tide with it. Rising tide, right. Raises all boats, doesn't it? [00:11:48] Speaker A: And again, I think that leads straight back into the, the whole community philosophy that we're investing in with the employer content club. Because I think with employee generated content and employee content generally, I think there, there can be this tendency to just be. I think Ben Phillips, know, on a conversation I had with him, summarized this brilliantly, but it was like, there can be a tendency to just float in the middle of the river of me and, and, and I think that that can be. [00:12:24] Speaker B: I remember that episode. Yeah. [00:12:25] Speaker A: And that can be a byproduct of, of not having community and not having people around you to kind of give you confidence that your ideas aren't stupid. You know, they might be brave, they might have a little bit out there, they might be a bit left field. But, but I think when you've got community, you know, you have got the ability to kind of actually lose a bit of imposter. Syndrome and generate a bravery and those ideas that you've been a bit scared to execute on, I think you, you're probably going to have a bit more confidence to, to lean into and I think that's a really, really critical thing for all of this because there is so much like river of me content out there and, and certainly one of the things I'm looking to get out of all of this and the community that we're creating is, you know, all coming together and encouraging, you know, members of the community to be brave and do things differently and you know, you know, stand out a bit. [00:13:25] Speaker B: Well, this is for me this is about know helping organizations give their people the platform to, to share their opinions, their, their stories and their experiences. [00:13:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:36] Speaker B: And that's incredible thing to do but actually also to do it for the people helping those people. [00:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:41] Speaker B: The employer brand is, you know, the, the person who's in Maybe in a TA team that's doing it as 20% of their job, you know, is those things that also giving, giving them a platform, you know, to, to share and talk and, and raise their profile altogether. Elevating this, this specialism that is creating content, you know, for attracting and retaining talent in house thing is growing more and more. So I think it's, you know, it's a really good thing to focus on actually. That's kind of tied in nicely with the other thing we're doing which is, you know, while we're doing these episodes we've got, we're going to be using the Vouch platform and Vouch another shout out to vouch for supporting us on this series. But if only there was a place where you could, you know, you could go and upload videos based on questions you'll be given to answer. So actually we're using it for this. We're recording it now using Vouch. [00:14:37] Speaker A: Very good. By the way. I've had a great experience so far. Yeah. Very user friendly. [00:14:41] Speaker B: Absolutely. I'm loving it. [00:14:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:45] Speaker B: And it's. We've got this thing where we're going to be getting a bunch of people in, in the world of employer content creation in house and EB is to share their kind of on the ground viewpoints. So very keen for anybody who's interested is, is to. Is to sign up to employer content club. We've got a wait list so that when we have other, other initiatives coming. So we're going to have some events coming up that will, will let you know about that. But also we'd like to get you involved in other ways. So, so to get your voice and so if you want to have your voice heard and you know, get your opinion and, and experiences shared, then, then definitely sign up to the, to the wait list L. Near this episode. Somewhere near, near this chat for sure. Yeah, exactly, exactly. [00:15:31] Speaker A: Quite enjoy. [00:15:33] Speaker B: And then, and then we've got finishing off in November. We're going to be meeting up in London, aren't we, me and you? [00:15:39] Speaker A: We are indeed, yeah. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Going to have a bit of a lunch with some people. So not a, not necessarily a presentation lunch, but just a bunch of, bunch of us getting together to talk about this, talk about what we found, you know, over the last few weeks and, and we'll be sharing our thoughts from that as a, as an in person podcast episode. So I'm looking forward to that, definitely. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Yeah, me too. Me too, mate. And I think that would just be a really nice time for us to kind of reflect not only on the autumn series and all of, you know, a bunch of stuff that we're covering in the autumn series, but also a little bit of a 2025 reflection point as well. So I think there's going to be a, a bunch of stuff for us to cover know with the people that, that we're going to be with on the, on the day for that. But also what's happened in this year to date. It's been, it's been a pretty jam packed one, isn't it? [00:16:30] Speaker B: Definitely. And this, this is such a good time of year to do it because I think to do this season because it's not just about looking back at the, back at the year, but it's, to be honest, looking back is always just about helping looking forward, isn't it? So that thing about just getting ready for next year and going again and, and seeing a, you know, another year in the calendar notched up. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:52] Speaker B: And seeing it as an opportunity to go is a way of doing things differently or is there a way of having conversations with people, you know, which is going to help us, you know, help individuals do do what they do and enjoy what they do even more. So that's a big thing. I'm really looking forward to events dropping, you know, over the course of next year as well. And this is a big part of kind of getting us to that point for sure. So yeah, good times, lots going on, but for good reason. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Yes, there's so much going on. Looking forward to, particularly looking forward to this, this Auum series and yeah, also the planning that's to come for 2026. [00:17:27] Speaker B: Anyone listening make sure you go to that link. Check out a bit more about Employer Content Club. So our first event was in May. Great. It's great fun. Loads of great conversations from between our panel and the people in, in the, in the audience. And you also get a chance to sign up to the waitlist as well. So when we have more initiatives coming along, which will be coming along, opportunities for you to get involved, then we'll be letting you know through the waitlist and of course let you know as and when we have events from online events coming up to in person meetup. So always good to chat. Chris, we'll see you in the next one. [00:18:04] Speaker A: Yeah, great to see you and see you very soon.