The reputation of a team lead: a tool that will attract the best employees

Anel Kerimbekova, Head of PR and Communications at Kolesa Group, shared secrets on how a team lead’s or manager’s personality influences the hiring process and discussed proven tools from her own practice.

About Me

I joined the company in 2019 as a Brand Manager, and over five years, my team and I developed our social media channels, established a steady stream of media publications, and defined key performance indicators. Currently, I lead a team of five people and serve as the Product Owner for internal and external HR resources.

How employees’ personal brands help the company

We collect feedback from candidates who come to us for interviews. It often turns out that their impressions are directly linked to the personality of the person who conducted the interview. HR is the first point of contact with the company, and the team lead is the second person the candidate sees and hears.

We look not only at our own processes but also at market trends. In early 2024, we conducted a large-scale study using the Top of Mind methodology. We took an external database and surveyed 912 people by phone, asking them about the criteria that influence their choice of employer.

As always, salary is the key factor. However, there are two other important motivators: corporate culture and the atmosphere within the company. These are linked to the competence of the team and leadership.

People are paying more attention to who they work with.
Another interesting study was conducted by the company “Ecopsy” in January–February of this year. They surveyed over 1,000 people within IT companies in Kazakhstan and identified the top 10 criteria influencing the choice of an employer. These include an eco-friendly attitude, a professional environment, and the company leadership’s interest in employees. Three out of ten criteria are somehow related to the team, people, and the image of the leadership.

Based on these studies, we drew conclusions from the perspective of the employer brand:
— For people, it is important who they will work with.
— A leader can influence the hiring funnel through their personal brand by attracting relevant people.

Often, candidates want to work in a specific team because it is led by a professional they know. When a leader clearly demonstrates their values, management style, and achievements, they build trust and loyalty both within the team and outside of it. People are drawn to those who inspire, are willing to lead, and care about the development of every team member.
Why employees should develop their personal brand

A personal brand is an effective tool with undeniable advantages:
— The company values you as an expert. This improves your reputation internally and directly impacts income growth.
— You can influence the market. Promote healthy, interesting, and useful ideas that help the market develop.
— You become a valuable asset in the job market. People already know you and want to work with you.

However, doubts always exist. There are many reasons why specialists do not develop their personal brand. Some fear publicity, while others do not see concrete results. I will share how we at Kolesa Group apply simple tools and measure the results of experts’ public activity.

Where to start

Audiences have developed immunity to “expert expertise,” when personal branding is associated with info-cyber scams. There are several ideas on how to positively stand out from most similar authors:
— Useful content is based on personal experience.
— It is better to present it as specific examples from practice, showing measurable results.
— Professional blogs should avoid advertising.

We strive for a balance between the personal brands of our specialists and the employer brand. To help employees develop their brand on behalf of the company, it is necessary to outline the main communication principles—from presentation topics to dress code.

How to measure results

There is a belief that the effect of a personal brand is difficult to convert into measurable indicators. I will share our experience.

Case #1. When we started selling tickets for Kolesa TeamLead Day, I made an announcement in a chat community of Kazakhstani team leads. It was a standard text, but with a link and UTM tags, which included sources and communication channels.

We recorded all applications received through this link in a Google Sheet. This allowed us to track which resource each purchase came from. For this, we needed a Google Sheet, a UTM tag generator, and a backend developer who connected the sheet to the website, landing page, and payment system.

As a result, we received relevant responses from channels that are easy to track. Even a simple announcement in a thematic chat can yield significant results if it is well-structured and tailored to the audience.

Case #2. We launched an internship for product managers. For example, the CPO of the Kolesa.kz product made an announcement on his LinkedIn page and invited everyone interested to apply for our internship.

He had a personal link with UTM tags. Thanks to this, we were able to track the number of people who came through his recommendation. This was 24 people, two of whom received an offer.

Advice for managers who want to learn how to evaluate results: collaborate with your HR and PR managers. It is quite simple. I share the process established at Kolesa Group:

A content plan is created: we determine channels and publication deadlines.
We write a draft post with the main information and pass it to managers. They adapt this text for their social networks.
We create separate personal links with UTM tags for each manager.
We begin the “sowing” phase—publishing materials.

After two to three days, you can already evaluate the effectiveness of your PR campaign.

Where to find your audience

From a hiring perspective, any contact between a potential candidate and company representatives is useful. It does not have to be a large speech; it is enough to maintain an account on LinkedIn or Twitter. You can publish posts on professional topics in your cozy space.

For example:

Professional chats

Many join small communities and discuss work issues there. For example, in our team lead community, heated discussions sometimes arise.

Podcasts

You can try yourself in a new direction of content. It is interesting, and moreover, they are carefully edited. If you said something incorrectly or did not like something, you can always discuss edits with the organizers during post-production.

Panel discussions and apartment talks

These are comfortable formats for those who are not ready to be in the spotlight, as several people participate in the discussion.

Own Telegram channel

A place to practice expressing your thoughts and talking about professional matters. It is normal if only a few people read the author at first. The main thing is to choose your Tone of Voice, which will help overcome imposter syndrome.

Professional publications and articles on behalf of the company in the media

For the IT market, these are VC, Medium, and “Habr.” An excellent way to announce yourself through media visibility.

Speeches at conferences

This is the highest level. You do not need to immediately apply for Kolesa Conf. Start by speaking in front of your team, then move on to meetups, and then go bigger.

In conclusion, I will provide a useful link—a single document containing all the life hacks of Kolesa Group on how to prepare and present a successful conference talk.