Hiring for Creative Excellence with CCO Jean Batthany

Kate Sargent is a talent acquisition expert and job search strategy coach, assisting both companies and candidates alike in matching top talent with career defining roles. In Part 1 of their deep dive conversation, Kate and Roy discuss how candidates can successfully approach and prepare for a job search, and how fostering authentic relationships in the networking process can make or break a job search.

Kate lends a unique perspective to the conversation – she’s served as Head of Global Talent Acquisition for iconic brands like Allbirds and Method, and has most recently served as the VP of People Operations at The Citizenry. Simultaneously, Kate’s built a successful career coaching business, helping candidates refine their search strategy, hone their job seeking assets, and distill their experience into highly relevant and engaging interviews. Her expansive knowledge of the talent pipeline and acquisition process make this discussion essential listening for both candidates and recruiters. 

Highlights from our conversation include:

• How Kate coaches and supports job seekers (3:59)
• How to prepare for a job search  (5:47)
• The importance of distilling and communicating personal narratives (11:29)
• Ways in which Kate helps job candidates develop a focused job search (17:02)
• How to track progress during the job search (22:23)
• Using resources like Linkedin to research roles, network, and maintain relationships (25:36)
• Ways to foster authentic and reciprocal relationships (27:29)
• Tips to help job seekers network more successfully (30:26)
• Building and maintaining relationships with recruiters (34:18)

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Bryan Adams is the founder and CEO of Ph.Creative, an employer branding agency helping companies attract top talent. Ph.Creative works with brands to distill and express clear, authentic employee value propositions in order to enhance the applicant experience and retain candidates. Their clients include LinkedIn, Apple, Nike, and many more.

Bryan is also the best-selling author of Give and Get Employer Branding: Repel the Many and Compel the Few with Impact, Purpose, and Belonging, in which he discusses the ins and outs of employer branding, as well as the philosophy and methodology behind his work. Bryan and Roy discuss the integral role of brand reputation in talent attraction, the importance of culture and citizenship within a company, recent recruitment trends, and much more. 

Highlights from our conversation include:

• The concept of repelling and compelling the right talent (3:22)
• How Bryan and his team at Ph.Creative help client companies (4:45)
• The process of distilling and refining an organization’s EVP (6:01)
• Finding the balance between an organization’s reality of today and their aspirations for tomorrow (7:36)
• The business case for employer branding strategy (9:19)
• When differently sized brands should start developing/implementing their employer strategy and who typically initiates the process (10:55)
• Aligning business strategy with employer brand strategy (14:30)
• How to measure ROI on employer branding and talent attraction efforts (17:36)
• Maintaining an employer brand (19:52)
• Recent talent acquisition trends, challenges, and opportunities (21:51)
• Where companies typically fall short in employer branding and talent attraction (27:23)
• How Ph.Creative helps companies avoid false negatives and hiring mistakes (29:16)

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As we look ahead to 2024, we’re reflecting on some of our favorite moments shared on the podcast over the past year. Our guests brought an incredible mix of hiring insights and experience to the show. Highlights from this episode include:

• Noto Group’s team of executive recruiters:
  • Why openness is necessary in finding the right candidate (1:13)
  • Why it’s important to attract talent with different perspectives or lived experiences (1:55)
  • What candidates are looking for in a potential leader or company (2:42)
  • The necessity of having a strong talent strategy (3:56)
• John Vlastelica, Founder and CEO of Recruiting Toolbox:
  • How to avoid costly hiring mistakes (4:39)
• Katherine Melchior Ray, Global CMO
  • The importance of adaptability in prospective talent (7:02)
• Jean Batthany, CCO
  • Why passion is essential to both sides of the hiring process (8:05)
• Andy Ruben, Founder of Trove
  • The essential role of clarity in interviewing (9:23)
• Darcy Winslow, Co-Founder of the Academy for Systems Change (fmr. Nike)
  • The value of curiosity and learning in recruitment and hiring (10:34)
• Seth Ellison (fmr. Nike, Quiksilver, Levi Strauss & Co.)
  • How candidates’ experiences in previous roles can provide major insights into the value they might bring to a new position (11:24)
• Amani Duncan, Music and Entertainment Executive
  • The importance of looking beyond “perfect” to add to your team (12:40)

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John Vlastelica is the founder and CEO of Recruiting Toolbox, a consulting and training firm helping companies recruit and hire better; with more speed, efficacy, and diversity. John and Roy dig into current and future trends in recruiting, common mistakes that companies make in the hiring process, and how clarity and alignment can make all the difference in attracting and retaining top talent.

John brings an incredible wealth of recruiting experience and perspective to the conversation. He has spent the last two decades refining effective hiring tools and processes, developing employment sourcing and interviewing strategies for a wide range of legendary brands like Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Pepsi, Nike, and many more. John and his team at Recruiting Toolbox develop customized training for corporate recruiters and hiring managers to help them improve who and how they hire.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• How John and his team help client companies (2:46)
• The components and importance of a holistic talent strategy (3:45)
• When companies need to start thinking about talent strategy (6:20)
• Trends, challenges, and opportunities facing talent acquisition leaders (11:56)
• Where companies are falling short in talent acquisition (13:41)
• How John and his team help companies determine what good looks like in hiring (15:54)
• Ways in which companies can inventory their processes and personnel to enhance the recruitment process (19:25)
• Helping companies avoid false negatives and improve their hiring decision quality (22:41)
• John’s predictions for the future of recruiting (25:33)
• Hiring advice for smaller companies without talent acquisition leadership (30:42)

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Organizational coach Greer Van Dyck joins Roy to explore how organizations can better support, motivate, and retain people throughout their parenthood journey.

Maintaining a full time job and starting a family presents unique challenges – along with an opportunity for organizations to more effectively support their employees in the process. Through her coaching business, Windrose, Greer works with management and leadership teams to foster psychological safety, transparency, and support for employees in all stages of parenthood. In her own words, Greer is “helping change the way organizations lead.” 

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Greer’s approach to supporting clients (2:36)
• Challenges, failure points, and risks organizations run into around parenthood (4:38) 
• When leaders should look for outside support (7:29)
• How to address troubling workplace statistics related to parents and parental benefits (9:51)
• The importance of communicating needs in order to affect organizational change (13:19)
• How somebody might initiate a dialogue with their company around parental support (15:36) 
• How candidates can evaluate parental support within an organization (16:45)
• Incorporating and communicating parental support within the recruitment process (18:52)
• Initial steps to make your company more parent friendly (19:57)

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Seth Ellison has led teams at iconic brands like Nike, Levi Strauss & Co., and Quiksilver. Today, he joins Roy to discuss how these roles have shaped his hiring philosophy and what we can learn from the talent strategy of top apparel companies.

Seth has decades of experience in brand building and merchandising, having led and built global teams for legendary brands. Seth’s extensive resume includes the growth of large-scale DTC and wholesale businesses across international markets, industry leading corporate strategy, widely successful C-Suite leadership, extensive team building and brand development, and high level execution across diverse consumer segments. 

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Lifelong lessons from Seth’s early days in the surf apparel business (4:15)
• How his time at Nike shaped his hiring philosophy (9:05)
• Developing internal talent vs. seeking external talent (11:55)
• Opportunities and challenges he experienced during Nike’s acquisition of Hurley (15:26)
• Seth’s process for making decisions on important hires (18:13)
• Seth’s interview strategy and criteria (22:35) 
• The elements of successful hires vs. hiring mistakes (25:22)
• Advice for young and emerging leaders (27:31)

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International marketing specialist Katherine Melchior Ray joins Roy to discuss her impressive career and the wisdom that she’s gained as a global business leader. They dig into what makes an outstanding, modern CMO, the benefits and challenges of pursuing a global career, and how to connect across cultures as an expat leader.

Katherine’s professional journey spans nearly three decades and includes mobilizing growth in a variety of businesses across five different industries and three continents. Her wealth of experience extends across a wide spectrum of business sectors, including beauty, hospitality, and fashion. She’s worked with legendary brands like Gucci, Shiseido, Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Hyatt, and currently teaches International Marketing at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.  

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Factors and experiences that shaped Katherine’s leadership and hiring philosophy (6:48)
• Navigating language barriers and developing cultural competency (8:27)
• Lessons learned from hiring and leading global teams (10:10)
• How to develop and manage the capabilities of new teams (11:22)
• How she makes decisions around important hires (14:09)
• Insights gained from hiring successes and failures (14:54)
• What makes a great CMO (15:58)
• How Katherine applies her knowledge of history to marketing strategies (17:19)

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Trove Founder and Executive Chairman Andy Ruben joins Roy to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship, how his business’s needs and culture have evolved over the years, and why he values thoughtful talent strategy.

Andy has spent the better part of the past three decades working in brand strategy, retail, consumer products, and sustainability. In 2004, he became Walmart's inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer, where he led change across the business and its suppliers before serving as a VP with the retailer. While Andy hadn’t always planned to pursue sustainability, he discovered a passion for the work and went on to found Trove, one of the most innovative companies in the space. 

Over the years, Andy and his team have helped drive the growing re-commerce market. Through their trade-in and branded resale services, Trove has teamed up with world-class brands like Lululemon, Patagonia, Levi’s, REI and others to keep their products in circulation and reduce waste.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Andy’s unexpected path to sustainability work (3:24)
• How he brought sustainability into Walmart’s boardroom (6:09)
• Taking the leap from Walmart to Trove (9:44)
• How Trove’s hiring needs changed as the brand scaled (15:13)
• The role vision and mission plays in recruiting prospective talent (17:43)
• Andy’s approach to building success profiles (20:23)
• Lessons learned from past hiring mistakes (26:16)
• Understanding cultural elements that attract or repel talent (30:25)
• How Trove is navigating in-office, remote, hybrid, and flexible arrangements (39:02)

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Darcy Winslow is an inspiring leader whose decades of experience at Nike and sustainability-focused nonprofits have cemented her legacy as a forward-thinking, values-driven executive. In her time at Nike, Darcy focused on how the company could employ sustainable practices in footwear and apparel manufacturing. As a part of this process, she created Nike’s groundbreaking Sustainable Business Strategies Division and set her sights on sweeping systems transformation within the company. Darcy was able to marry Nike’s distinct approach to design and creation with the innovative spirit inherent to sustainability work. Darcy left the company in 2008 to further pursue these goals, founding the Academy for Systems Change and the Magnolia Moonshot 2030 project. She and her collaborators empower current and emerging leaders with the skills, networks, and values needed to tackle the climate crisis via global systems change.

Darcy joins Roy to discuss her foundational experiences at Nike, the necessity for authenticity in effective leadership, her vision for building networks of future leaders and system thinkers, her unique perspective on assembling teams that can collectively work towards widespread, positive change, and much more.  

Highlights from our conversation include:

• Darcy’s career journey and sustainability achievements (1:50)
• Experiences that influenced her leadership approach (7:25)
• How Darcy was able to put sustainability on the radar at Nike (9:30)
• Contemplating and incorporating values as part of her leadership (12:46)
• The inner and outer journey of a leader (14:06)
• How Darcy’s experience influenced her approach to hiring (15:02)
• Examples of hiring successes and challenges (16:46)
• How she inspired leaders to integrate and scale sustainability (18:37)
• Her connection and work with MIT’s Peter Senge (21:04)
• The vision and accomplishments of the ASC (22:36)
• How leaders and businesses can affect positive change in the climate crisis (23:47)
• The Magnolia Moonshot 2030 Project (26:23)
  • The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• Advice for current and emerging leaders (28:22)

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Award-winning global creative executive Jean Batthany sits down with Roy to dig into the nuances of creative leadership, when organizations should hire a creative leader, and how to assess the skills and competencies that make them successful.

Jean brings a wealth of experience and insight to the podcast; she has spent over thirty years leading brand-side and agency creative teams. Jean began her career at top advertising agencies like BBDO, M&C Saatchi, Merkley+Partners, and Saatchi & Saatchi before transitioning to leading in-house creative strategy for Disney Parks and Resorts, where she served as VP, Global Creative. Most recently, she led a team of over 300 creatives at Walmart as Chief Creative Officer.

Highlights from our conversation include:

• The key elements of a successful brand strategy (4:44)
• Balancing creativity and leadership skills in teams (5:33)
• When and why brands should hire a Chief Creative Officer (7:14)
• How to measure the success of a brand creative leader (7:50)
• The role CCOs play in driving great creative (9:59)
• The best advice Jean received as a young creative (12:28)
• What she looks for in creative leaders (13:40)
• The difference between a brand creative leader and a CMO -- and how they work together (14:29)
• Jean’s advice to early-career creatives (15:51)

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