Uplevel your HR Career, with guest Jo Blake: Group Talent Acquisition Lead at Absa Group Limited

12/04/22 • 34 min

In this debut episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO: Brain eBox, speaks with Jo Blake, Group Talent Acquisition Lead at Absa Group Limited about her career journey from her very first HR role to where she finds herself today, as an HR Executive.

With almost two decades of experience in the HR field, Jo has also earned her Honours Degree in Psychology at Stellenbosch University and achieved a Masters Degree in Psychology at UKZN, all while juggling a successful modelling career! Being a seasoned head hunter, negotiator, and talent match maker, Jo’s dedication, drive and experience has pushed her beyond imagination.

Originally Jo pursued her dream of becoming a therapist, but things quickly changed once Jo became exposed to the Marketing & PR field. She was encouraged to pursue a role in recruitment – this marked a turning point for her career. One of her first placements happened to be a graduate who found a home in corporate. Seeing the positive impact she had on him and his family, had a profound impact on Jo, and her love for HR was born.

Since then she has enjoyed a full career with experience both in working in recruitment agencies, and working internally as a Talent Acquisition consultant. At present, Jo is the Group Talent Acquisition Lead at Absa Group Limited – a role that is “made for her” – as it blends her expertise in Talent Acquisition, Employer & Personal Branding and Senior Leadership.

In this episode, Jo shares with us about her career journey starting from her first role in HR, right through to her first senior role and beyond. She shares her insights into how to partner with a sponsor to guide your career and how to showcase your contribution so that you can move to the next level. She also tells us about her role at Absa and the next-level strategies that she is exploring and implementing, with her team, to build Absa’s Employer Brand.

What you’ll learn from this episode:

05:00 The importance of speaking the language of your client as an external recruiter
07:00 The value of having a sponsor in your career
08:20 The difference between being an external recruitment consultant vs internal talent acquisition specialist
10:25 Where to start when looking for a career sponsor, especially as women in the workplace.
16:00 Jo’s advice for those HR professionals who are wanting to move to the next level in their career and the organisation.
20:02 Tips on how to showcase your work within the organisation
24:27 Absa’s employer brand and its value to the organisation
26:20 What’s next for Talent at Absa, and what Absa and Jo Blake are looking for
29:08 A next-level strategy for developing your Employer Brand
33:19 What Talent is looking for from organisations

Connect with us:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

What you’ll learn from this episode:

05:00 The importance of speaking the language of your client as an external recruiter
07:00 The value of having a sponsor in your career
08:20 The difference between being an external recruitment consultant vs internal talent acquisition specialist
10:25 Where to start when looking for a career sponsor, especially as women in the workplace.
16:00 Jo’s advice for those HR professionals who are wanting to move to the next level in their career and the organisation.
20:02 Tips on how to showcase your work within the organisation
24:27 Absa’s employer brand and its value to the organisation
26:20 What’s next for Talent at Absa, and what Absa and Jo Blake are looking for
29:08 A next-level strategy for developing your Employer Brand
33:19 What Talent is looking for from organisations

Connect with us:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

Next Episode

Best Practices for Grad Programmes, with guest Jen van Heerden: Director at Meraki Collective

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, speaks with Jen van Heerden, Owner and Director of Meraki Collective about Graduate Development.

Optimist by nature, curious problem solver, relentless creative, Jen has over 14 years’ worth of experience working with young adults in corporates, NGO’s, universities and in government. During those years, Jen gained exposure to the lives of young adults and has an excellent all-round view of the learning needs and realities of the South African youth.

Jen founded Meraki Collective, a values-driven human capital consultancy, which supports its clients with a full suite of HR services including strategic consulting, programme development, facilitation and coaching. Knowing that South African youth are ever evolving, Jen noticed that corporates were not igniting the full potential of youth in the workplace. Meraki Collective tackles this gap by looking at the learner as a social being with real life experiences.

In this episode, Jen shares her experience regarding best practices for Graduate Development programmes and her insights into what graduates need to succeed in the workplace. She also shares the questions HR teams need to consider if they are thinking about hiring graduates.

This is a must-listen to conversation for any HR professional hiring graduates or developing a Graduate Development programme.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

2:58 Best practices for putting a Grad Programme together

8:38 The importance of the Line Manager in the success of the graduate in the workplace

12:55 What do graduates want from the companies they work for

20:22 Tips for HR teams wanting to set-up a Grad Programme

22:50 What is exciting Jen in the Grad Development space right now

Featured in the Show:

To get in touch with Jen van Heerden, email: [email protected]
To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/