Jen B. Leon
delivering the EVP throughout the candidate experience
- EVP, Brand Development and activation
- Process and Technology Optimization
ABOUT
ME
My passion is helping employers attract the right talent to allow their businesses to grow, sustain, and flourish. Every organization is unique. My craft is helping you find the messages that connect with the right talent and building the strategies and tactics that put those messages in the right place at the right time.
Over my 20+ year career, I've built employee value propositions, employer brands, and pragmatic marketing strategies that not only 'stick' but achieve and exceed expected results. My experience is deep and diverse. It crosses medium to enterprise organizations, healthcare to technology, agriculture to consumer products, and medical devices to government contractors.
With a keen understanding of TA operations, my approach and recommendations also optimize processes, technologies, talent capabilities, and metrics.
EVp and Employer Brand
The Employer Value Proposition is the company's promise to what they offer to future and existing employees. The Employer Brand is the perception talent has about the company - giving an emotional connection.
Conducting extensive research is essential to articulate the EVP in a clear and concise statement that delivers the essence of the organization as an employer.
I ensure the EVP is effectively communicated and integrated into the candidate experience through content pillars and messaging.
Industry: Agricutulre
FINDINGS: STRONG SOUTHERN ROOTS, Company values are authentic and witnessed throughout the organization. The brand awareness is strong nationally, beyond the agriculture industry.
Content Pillar ALIGNMENT
To create compelling content, marketers must grasp what job seekers desire in an employer and what the company provides. This knowledge forms the basis for all content topics.
Qualitative research makes quantitative research come to life. I uncover the emotional significance of content topics through focus groups and interviews.
Content pillars are a content theme library of how and where the stories come to life throughout the organization. They serve as a framework to guide your content creation efforts and ensure consistency across different channels and platforms.
WHAT TALENT WANTS AND WHAT EMPLOYEES VALUE
Industry: NATIONAL VETERINARY CLINIC
FINDINGS: The client has a significant offering of what the talent audience is looking for in an employer. The stories are extensive.
CONTENT PILLARS
Talent personas
Personas are a fictional representation of a cluster of ideal candidates used to create content and experiences to best engage with talent.
VETERINARIAN Bio
MESSAGES THAT MATTER
The market research I used to develop personas included internal and external surveys, interviews, focus groups, online research and labor market insights.
Building marketing strategies based on the the persona's demographics, interests, behaviors, and career perceptions increases the brand's awareness, engagement, and action.
INTERESTS, BEHAVIORS, MOTIVES
CONTENT PILLAR ALIGNMENT
Industry: NATIONAL VETERINARY CLINIC
FINDINGS: CAREER GROWTH AND AUTONOMY NOT RECOGNIZED IN THE INDUSTRY. The organization did not capitalize on the values the talent audience lookes for.
Talent personas
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES
CDL DRIVER
Industry: REGIONAL US AGRICULTURE
FINDINGS: COMPANY DRIVERS ARE UNIQUE TO THE TRADITIONAL CDL DRIVER. HOME EVERY NIGHT.
SCIENTIST
CONTENT PILLAR ALIGNMENT
Industry: GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL
FINDINGS: A STRONG BRAND AWARENESS, HOWEVER NOT RECOGNIZED AS AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE
MANUFACTURING associate
MESSAGES THAT MATTER
Industry: GLOBAL MEDICAL DEVICE
FINDINGS: IMPACT BECAME A REASON TO JOIN THE ORGANIZATION
Diversity Assessment
Conducting a diversity assessment will identify gaps and opportunities the organization has in providing an equitable workplace.
An assessment not only looks at internal insights, such as employee surveys, employee focus groups, leadership interviews, benefits, DE&I programs, and applicant flow, but it also looks outwardly in the perspective from the talent audience lens.
Areas of opportunity could lie at the top of the funnel or throughout any other part of the candidate/employee experience.
Industry: Global Publsiher
FINDINGS: Equal representation at the top of the funnel for all diverse audiences. Opportunities for improvement at the selection process led to additional training and coaching throughout the organization leadership
Gaining insight into the organization's EVP and communicating that narrative to the external audience is just one aspect of the equation. The other element involves comprehending the brand's position relative to its competitors.
Competitor Research & analysis
By understanding the competitor's business go-to-market strategy and their talent brand and talent engagement strategy, organizations can identify areas for improvement, capitalize on opportunities, and differentiate themselves in the market.
Staying true to the organization's brand and not succumbing to the competition's marketing strategy will deliver an authentic brand that is trusted and valued.
process & Technology optimization
Ensuring the technology aligns with the processes without forcing processes to change to fit the technology creates efficiency while having data integrity.
Considering users' needs and incorporating them into future recommendations can boost adoption rates and customer satisfaction.
Industry: Government contractor
FINDINGS: Recruiters operated outside the system, decreasing tracking and efficiency. technology optimization led to reducing candidate apply time from 55 minutes to 90 seconds.
Social media strategy: A case study
Optimizing social media to engage millennials
Challenge: A global technology company in the Southwest faced an impending exodus of employees reaching retirement age.
Utilizing the survey, interview, focus group, and online research, I created an engagement strategy that included social media.
I implemented this strategy by collaborating with the corporate marketing team to curate the content. I trained the marketing team over three months, equipping them with the necessary tools to sustain the engagement strategy.
During my three months of managing the engagement, I exceeded expectations.
Industry: Global Technology Government Contractor
Project: Manage recommended social media strategy for three months while training and transitioning to the marketing team.
MORE ABOUT
ME
To share a bit about what makes me, me...
I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. YES! Go Steelers! As a first-generation college graduate with a degree in marketing from Mercyhurst University, I seek knowledge and adventure. All those who meet me describe me as a creative sponge.
After entering a banking career, I got a call that launched my love affair with recruiting. I never looked back - only my affair was a threesome - with recruiting, marketing, and candidate experience.
With my husband, John, I have raised Jack (22) and Addison (17) through many of life's offerings in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia (Bucks County), and now Denver, CO. We are a soccer, foodie, and dog-loving family.
When I'm not building TA strategies, I am either on the soccer field snapping pictures or creating and hosting lovely food experiences for my favorite people.
