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Picture of Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is the CEO of Red Branch Media, a full-service B2B marketing agency that primarily serves HR and global workforce clients in the U.K., Africa, China, Israel, Europe and North America. With over 14 years of marketing experience and as a community builder in the HR and recruiting industry, Hogan has built successful online communities, deployed brand strategies in both the B2B and B2C sectors, and been a prolific contributor of thought leadership in the global recruitment and talent space. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies and SMBs around the globe, and she has served as chief marketing officer, advisor, and board member for over ten companies in the last seven years. You can connect with Maren on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as well as read her latest posts on Marenated.com and RedBranchMedia.com
Picture of Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is the CEO of Red Branch Media, a full-service B2B marketing agency that primarily serves HR and global workforce clients in the U.K., Africa, China, Israel, Europe and North America. With over 14 years of marketing experience and as a community builder in the HR and recruiting industry, Hogan has built successful online communities, deployed brand strategies in both the B2B and B2C sectors, and been a prolific contributor of thought leadership in the global recruitment and talent space. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies and SMBs around the globe, and she has served as chief marketing officer, advisor, and board member for over ten companies in the last seven years. You can connect with Maren on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, as well as read her latest posts on Marenated.com and RedBranchMedia.com

Stand Out From Competitors With Benefits Like These

Recruitment is a constant battle for HR. It’s a persistently nagging requirement, it never goes away. Just as soon as you think you’ve got enough stellar team members on board, someone else hands in their notice and you’re back to square one. Locating talent takes a lot of time. It’s expensive, and excruciatingly difficult to get right. And even when you’ve spent time, money and resources finding the perfect fit – how do you get that person to stay? Half the battle is retention. As an HR and benefits professional, you know the key is making your business an attractive place

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Zappos

Zappos Says Farewell To Job Postings

Zappos, an online retailer, has been one of the most talked about companies in the HR and recruiting space mainly because of their unique practice in offering employees bonuses to quit the company. Now, Zappos is changing their hiring process beginning with the very first step: the job posting. The job description is one of the first interactions a potential candidate has with the company, and while most companies rely on job descriptions to explain to candidates what the position entails, Zappos has a different opinion. “Job postings are a conversation killer,” stated Zappos’ candidate experience and engagement strategist, Stacy Zapar,

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Employee-Engagement

The Flip Side of Employee Engagement

In a world where Gallup pollsters say 71% of American workers are “disengaged” from their work, “employee engagement” is clearly an issue needing to be addressed.  There have been numerous posts on TalentCulture about employee engagement, and Meghan M. Biro recently published an article about it in Forbes.  Dan Pink’s book “Drive” talks at length about the science of what motivates us. (Oddly enough, it’s not money, at least, money does not motivate the kind of work that really matters these days, like problem-solving and creative/visionary thinking.) Since more and more of our work falls into “creative” categories, and emotional engagement is key to maximizing creativity and thus productivity,

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Hiring-Process

5 Ways To Simplify Your Hiring Process

Hiring managers and recruiters often have something to say about the behavior and lack of professionalism of candidates. But maybe it’s time to look in the mirror. Have you ever considered that your recruiting practices might be wasting people’s time, confusing applicants and driving away top candidates? Leading organizations focus on all the touch-points with their customers, suppliers and, yes, candidates. You need to start caring more about your candidate’s overall experience and exceeding their expectations. Here’s how: Offer Clear And Specific Job Descriptions Deliberately vague-sounding job descriptions irritate candidates. They make it seems like you don’t know what you’re looking for, haven’t spent enough

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Employee-Relations

Dating In The Workplace: An Employee Relations Primer

Dating someone you work with is frequently cited by workforce experts as a very bad idea. Yet 40% of workers admitted they did so in a 2013 CareerBuilder survey – and we have no reason to believe that number has gone down since then. As summertime rolls around, inevitably relationships will begin to spring up. After all, the average working American spends one-third of their lives at the office. So, what does the burgeoning office relationship mean for employers? Relationships gone sour have the potential to raise tension in the office. Couples that practice ODA (Office Display of Affection) make other employees uncomfortable. And there are bigger stakes for

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Resilient-Workplace

#TChat Preview: Building A Culture Of Resiliency

The TalentCulture #TChat Show is back live on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. #TChat Radio starts at 6:30 pm ET (3:30 pm PT) and the convo continues on #TChat Twitter chat from 7-8 pm ET (4-5 pm PT). Last week we talked about creating a better candidate experience for a better ROI, and this week we’re going to cover building resilient workplace cultures. Because without resiliency, the ability to bounce back from life’s everyday obstacles and overwhelming adversities would be a daunting task. Workplace cultures that build resiliency create more productive and safer environments.The good news is that resiliency can be learned; it’s a process, a belief

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Email Screenshot

Leaders Communicate THIS Way

I’ve written before around my frustration with people (prematurely) proclaiming things are dead and email it seems is the most common victim of this technology bashing. Why in the world are there so many marketers and leaders ready to say “down” with email? There are a few reasons: Overload So many people are overwhelmed with the size of their inbox, they can’t even see straight. In fact, an entire lexicon has built up around the corporate email swamp. Heard the terms “inbox zero” or “autoresponder” or “canned response”? These are all responses to the vast amount of email that people send

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recruit_interns_budget_talent_culture

No Money? No Problem! Recruiting Awesome Interns On A Budget!

If you want to stand out as an internship employer of choice these days, you may have to think of new and innovative ways to find those star interns. Some organizations now turn to contests, conduct VIP happy hours, and even ask even candidates to play video games to recruit young top talent. But there’s one major flaw in all of these strategies: You may run up a tab you can’t handle, leaving your already dwindling hiring budget in the pits. I’m not saying cool and innovative recruiting techniques aren’t necessary. After all, there’s an average of 250 resumes per job

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Effective_Leader

7 Ways To Become A More Effective Leader

Long-winded professionals make lousy leaders. You feel no inspiration hearing them tear through another management monologue. You can’t readily recall the most important messages from the last lengthy lecture you heard from senior leadership, and you’re tired of hearing executives repeat themselves over and over again. The brutal reality in business today is that verbose leaders have few followers. In today’s world of constant connectivity and endless information, brevity is now a leadership necessity, not a nicety. Getting to the point quickly is the new, non-negotiable standard for senior managers to climb through the ranks and lead in an attention economy.

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google

10 Reasons Why Your Business Should Be On Google+

Editor’s Note: Google+ Is in the news today due to its most vocal internal champion leaving Google. Many tech pundits are wondering what will happen to the social network, with most postulating it will shift to more of a platform for Android devices and less of a social network. It is an interesting time to be using the service and TalentCulture will continue to watch its evolution closely. Read more here and join our Google+ Community. 1. Be Discovered. Google is the most used search engine in the world. In 2013 Google search averaged 5,922,000,000 searches per day. Google helps people find

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coverletter

Cover Letters: Necessary or Not, Here’s How They’re Done

Cover letters, are they necessary? Applicants don’t know. Recruiters don’t care. And leaders? Well, leaders seem to be divided on the issue. But let’s assume for a moment that you should, in any position for which you are applying, include a cover letter. If it IS read by your future boss, what should it say? Not these three scary examples from David Silverman over at Harvard Business Reviewc: The recap: The résumé in prose form. It’s redundant, harder to read than the résumé, and provides no additional insight. The form letter: This says, essentially, “Dear Sir or Madam: I saw your ad in the

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HR Acuity Annual Workplace Survey Infographic

Employee Issues Increase HR Tech Demand [Infographic]

The past few #TChat shows have really dug deep into the concept and issues surrounding employee engagement. Every week we’ve asked what employee engagement truly means, and we’ve looked into numerous practices that can increase engagement and retain our talent. However, it’s time to dig a bit deeper into why employees aren’t being fully engaged. Employee engagement is a complex concept, and many factors contribute to whether employees are disengaged or not. Employee relation issues like social media abuse and bullying are on the rise, and as these employee issues increase so does the need for HR tech like workplace investigation

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juggle

Stop Juggling! Reach Your Goals by Doing Less

“The hardest thing to learn is not “how to juggle,” but how to let the balls drop.”  Anthony Frost “My name is Lisa, and I am a multitask-aholic.” (Hi, Lisa…) Wouldn’t it be nice to have a support group where already overextended HR professionals could come together and share the burdens of having to do everything all at once? Multitasking has become the modus operandi of the corporate world, and Human Resources is no exception.  Because of the involvement of HR professionals in so many aspects of a business, they often feel they have to multitask in order to succeed. With days filled with planned

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infographic

Want Better Talent? Go For Diversity [Infographic]

Building a great team starts with great hiring strategies. While you may be aiming to recruit professionals who have similar backgrounds, educational histories, or skillsets, I encourage you to think outside the box. Incorporate diversity recruitment initiatives in order to stay competitive, grow as an organization, and avoid staying stuck in outdated practices. A diverse team is a better team. The majority of companies (81 percent) plan to focus on recruiting diverse candidates in 2014; in fact, more than 85 percent of companies are taking action to hire African Americans, Latinos, and women. The choice is clear: Hire the same old

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Make Your Meetings More Successful (And Shorter!)

Make Your Meetings More Successful (And Shorter!)

It’s 9:15 a.m. and you’re just getting into the rhythm of your day. The phone rings, and on the other end of the line, one of your colleagues unexpectedly asks you to attend a meeting that starts in 45 minutes. Although you respect your colleague and would like to support her, you had plans for your morning and are getting closer to a few deadlines of your own. How would you respond to the meeting invitation? Stick to your existing plan and graciously say “no.” Be a “team player” and let your colleague know that you’ll attend the meeting, but clearly set a

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7 Questions To Ask Yourself When Making A Tough Career Decision

7 Questions To Ask Yourself When Making A Difficult Career Decision

Your 20s are an important time. We’re told the personal and professional choices you make during this decade set the foundation of your adult life. No pressure, right? A good problem you’re likely to face is which job to take: The one that promises security or the one that promises experience? The higher-paid one or the one with fast growth opportunity? Or, your significant other wants to move across the country to pursue her dreams — do you quit your new job, pack up and follow her? Or do you follow your dreams, even when they’re hazy and sometimes change by the

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Live Your Dreams On Your Own Dime

Live Your Dreams On Your Own Dime

One of the most difficult skills for a young professional is handling money. It’s not about balancing your checkbook or keeping up on student loan payments, but about strategically setting up your assets to get somewhere. Most of us get out of college, find a “real-world” job and figure out a way to cover our costs while remaining as comfortable as possible. This type of stagnant attitude is what left our parents waking up at age 45 and going to the same old job with little to show for their time. It’s not what our generation is about. We’re reaching for financial independence

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#TChat Preview: How Employee Assistance Programs Engage And Nurture Talent

#TChat Preview: How Employee Assistance Programs Engage And Nurture Talent

The TalentCulture #TChat Show is back live on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. #TChat Radio starts at 6:30 pm ET (3:30 pm PT) and the convo continues on #TChat Twitter chat from 7-8 pm ET. Last week we talked about employee engagement, and this week we’re going to talk about how employee assistance programs (EAP) are today help organizations engage, nurture and retain talent. EAP services aren’t the first thing you hear when you’re talking about talent management, but these programs are critical for businesses. They help manage costs by reducing absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, health care costs, accidents and by freeing manager

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Colorful hand

Employee Engagement: Is There a Strategic Advantage?

According to a recent Gallup study, worldwide, only 13% of employees are engaged at work. In a 142-country study on the State of the Global Workplace, that amounts to about one in eight workers — roughly 180 million employees in the countries studied — are psychologically committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organizations. Companies that understand the value of employee engagement know that motivating high performance and aligning talent with business strategy requires getting to the heart of what matters to employees. Employee engagement is largely about social connections happening in organizations and aligning

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Employee Engagement is No Picnic

Employee Engagement Is No Picnic

Seriously, employee engagement isn’t spurred by casual Fridays or company picnics. Effective engagement efforts aren’t perks thrown at the workforce dartboard in hopes of hitting a bull’s eye. Employee engagement takes constant communication, change and growth. We can talk about the benefits of employee engagement all day; but what it all boils down to in business, is the Engagement Profit Chain, as outlined by Forbes contributor and serial entrepreneur, Kevin Kruse (@K_Kruse). Engaged Employees Lead to… Higher service, quality, and productivity, which leads to… Higher customer satisfaction, which leads to… Increased sales (repeat business and referrals), which leads to… Higher levels of profit, which

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