Let me make something abundantly clear: I’ve never taken awards too seriously.

Why? It’s not because I’ve never been recognized or won one of them. I have. And it’s not because I’ve been snubbed by awards or other recognition platforms. That’s happened too.

There are numerous lists that an HR technology vendor has cobbled together to raise its brand awareness. Want to get the eyes of your audience on a piece of content? Highlight the people who already have the gravitational pull of your audience’s attention. So you might say I’m a bit numb to being in someone’s promotional listicle. This is not that.

For recruitment marketing and employer branding practitioners, it’s time to be recognized

I’ve also seen the valiant efforts of people in competition for awards, and it makes my heart hurt for those who do good work that doesn’t get recognized. Maybe the “powers that be” are looking for something more on trend that day. Maybe it’s more timely or newsworthy to recognize one piece of work or subject matter over another. Maybe that judge just happens to know someone at the agency who works with that client. Or maybe it’s just not their day.

the first ever talent brand awards are here - by practitioners, for practitioners, in-house or agency

I’m so proud to announce something that may not understand yet. The Talent Brand Alliance is launching the first-ever Talent Brand Awards in the Americas. We’re recognizing practitioners who do amazing work—according to the practitioners who are also pretty noteworthy. That’s right, peer-to-peer vetted awards.

At the moment, no vendor is underwriting the awards themselves or pushing an agenda or their latest HR tech or recruitment marketing product. And you don’t have to pay a fee to submit nominations for yourself or your peers to be recognized by the Talent Brand Alliance community.

We’re excited to offer the following award categories for our inaugural North American Talent Brandies:

• Most Creative Campaign / Media - The best branding message, video, career site, advertisement, integrated recruitment marketing campaign, or simply the best creative—period.

• Best Social Media Handle/Account - We’re talking about careers- or recruiting-focused social media accounts or channels. Usually Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or the like, but any site for holistic social engagement will do.

• Inspirational Solo Talent Brander - Most of us are going it alone, making things happen for our companies one project deadline at a time. For those of us who are inspiring others and accomplishing things on limited resources and budgets, this is for you.

• Talent Brand Team of the Year - Some companies are lucky enough to have multiple people on a team who focus on the organization’s recruitment marketing or employer branding efforts. Whether it’s by geography, skill set, or recruitment audience, these are the teams that show us what’s possible. And yes, agency teams supporting a client absolutely count.

You don’t have to be at the Summit to win or even to be nominated. You just have to be doing good work, and then fill out this form, which should take about five minutes if you have the story and details ready to go. If you’re nominating someone else, we ask for your contact information - that’s it.

So, who’s doing the judging, you ask?

Our TBA board is doing the honors. Nine practitioners across consumer packaged goods, financial services, technology, transportation, education, and medicine—both in-house corporate and agency professionals.

This means that the individuals or teams who ultimately get recognized will have earned their kudos and respect from their peers. They’ll have helped push our profession forward and inspired future talent branders to join us. To me, that’s pretty impressive.

For those of you wondering about our global peers, no need to fret. We will be launching the European edition of the Talent Brand Awards at our next international Summit.

Submit your nominations by May 31, 2020 for consideration in the inaugural Talent Brand Awards, which will be presented at Talent Brand Summit on july 9, 2020.

About Our Member:

Bryan Chaney is a global talent sourcing and attraction strategist and a cofounder of the Talent Brand Alliance. He’s worked at IBM, Twilio, and currently leads employment brand for corporate recruitment at Indeed. Bryan has worked in recruitment, technology, and marketing, providing him insights into the marketing of hiring, the importance of technology, and the buying process that candidates make when applying for jobs. You can follow along with him at @bryanchaney.