Why HR Leaders Need to Create Content - with John Baldino
If HR wants to shape the future of work, it has to be part of the conversation.
At Transform 2025, I sat down with John Baldino—HR exec, speaker, and co-host of But First, Coffee —to talk about why content isn’t just for marketers anymore. We got into what it really means to stay visible without being performative, and how creating content can help HR leaders build trust, attract talent, and show up as more than a job title.
Whether you’re already posting or still thinking about it, this one’s full of honest perspective and practical advice.
What we talk about:
- Why consistency builds trust
- What “being real” looks like in content
- How leadership starts with showing up for your own voice
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Rhona Pierce:
What if the secret to authentic content is liking who you are off camera?
John Baldino:
I like myself. That's so ridiculous to say out loud. I know. But I like myself, and so I don't want my brands to be counter to who I am even if I might get more clicks.
Rhona Pierce:
That's John Baldino, HR leader, speaker, and cohost of But First Coffee. We recorded this conversation live at Transform twenty twenty five, and it's one of the most honest ones I've had on this show.
John Baldino:
Overselling that every day you're going to be changing lives is unrealistic. It's a grind. I think that's okay.
Rhona Pierce:
We talk about building trust through content, showing up without pretending, and why being real beats being performative every time.
John Baldino:
There's nothing wrong with being a worker bee. I really, like, wanna make sure people know that. It's tremendous. Not everyone can be the queen.
Rhona Pierce:
If you've ever wondered how to stay visible and stay real, this one's for you.
Speaker 3:
Hey, John. Thank you so, so much for being here on the show today.
John Baldino:
Thank you for asking me. It's awesome.
Speaker 3:
How have you enjoyed Transform so far?
John Baldino:
It is one of my favorites. So but it is. I just think it's really community based, and so there's a lot of natural conversation that happens with people. And I enjoy that, and there's a lot of space to be able to do that. Right?
John Baldino:
So it makes it really nice to do that.
Speaker 3:
You do a lot of everything. You've been in HR for
John Baldino:
I'm gonna take that as a compliment. Keep going.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. You've been in you've been in HR for thirty plus years, but you're also a speaker, content creator. You have a amazing live show every week. What made you start creating content?
John Baldino:
So background, my undergrad major was English. So communication minor. I like writing. So many moons ago, and I still do write a blog, and that was a great outlet for me. But from a business standpoint, it also was really smart, to be honest, because it gave identifying themes of the kind of work that I do, kinds of values that I have in the work that I do.
John Baldino:
And so it just enables for me, it enables organizations to sort of find out quickly what's the vibe of this person. So it was both an outlet and served sort of a marketing purpose, obviously, as an entrepreneur. But through the years, I think that has changed. It's actually really interesting. The the blog numbers are down generally.
John Baldino:
Right? In our again, not mine specific, but generally, people are reading less blogs. And so the video started to be much more of the consumable media that people wanted. And that medium made sense, right, to sort of lean into a bit more. And so I've just evolved those things.
John Baldino:
In many ways, some of the video is is sort of a spoken blog Yeah. Right, instead of a written blog. And I just think it's worked out well. So just be mindful of that genesis, how things have changed.
Speaker 3:
You kinda touched on it a little. But other than than than what you mentioned, have you seen any other, like, benefits or any other impacts, positive or negative, to creating content on your career in general?
John Baldino:
Yeah. And it's and, I mean, I feel like I'm preaching to the choir, right, because you do such a great job and do so much content as well. On the negative, which is a terrible HR thing to do, start with the negative. But on the negative, I think that it is sometimes seen as influencer celebrity something, and that's unfortunate that that might be sort of the first to dig that some people will think of when they see all of us doing what we do. I get it, but it's unfortunate.
John Baldino:
And so I think that partly because I think there's been some folks who have done it briefly, stepped in, stepped out, stepped in, stepped out. So the inconsistency makes it feel like it's not genuine, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
John Baldino:
Right? But I I think much more positively, though. Genuinely, at least my experience. I love coming to a conference, genuinely seeing people who are like, oh my gosh. Your blog last week was on point.
John Baldino:
Or I saw you and Jackie do my first coffee, and I could not stop laughing, but you were totally, you know, speaking the truth. Because we're in many ways, while we are a dispersed community, we're a small community. And so for people to have that kind of connection in a dispersed manner, I think, is really valuable. And I feel, for me, a sense of responsibility to it. And so if there is some of the negative that might come with it, I don't think it's really as much of a big deal as all the positive that I see.
Speaker 3:
True. Yeah. Yeah. And and I think it's very like you, it's been very little, like, negative things. It's more I think sometimes people think that when you are a creator and you're all they see is you on LinkedIn, that you're not a practitioner as well.
Speaker 3:
And that's so far from it because most of us, I would say 90 ish percent, like, high percentage of us are still practitioners.
John Baldino:
Yeah. And and it's funny because it's a great point because I'm I'm an entrepreneur, but I'm an entrepreneur who runs an HR consulting firm
Speaker 3:
Exactly.
John Baldino:
In the weeds of HR day to day. But if all you know of me, and I understand that this is the give and get, if all of you know of me is sort of that persona. You know, you do the show. You write this blog. You speak at all these conferences.
John Baldino:
If that's all you know of me, then I can appreciate that it is two dimensional.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
John Baldino:
But my encouragement is always be discerning. Really vet the content. Right? Yeah. Just because somebody says it doesn't mean it's true.
John Baldino:
It's like the Internet. Exactly. Just because you Google it and something comes up doesn't mean it's right. I would say the same thing has to hold true, which is why from a content standpoint, one of the things that I think is extraordinarily important is consistency and continuity. If it's a flash in the pan, then I can appreciate why people don't find that to be as valuable.
John Baldino:
But if if there's a thread of, I have read Baldino's blog for a dozen years. I get his voice. I hear his voice when I'm reading this. I know that what he's sharing is based on what he has traveled in the HR world. It's not conjecture, and we're not angry.
John Baldino:
And we're not angry. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And I think anger sometimes has been used as sort of a marketing ploy with some of the content that's created.
John Baldino:
That's unfortunate.
Speaker 3:
Agree. Yeah. It's it's just, I mean and I try to be respectful of everyone's styles because that is a style. I have a I have a client. He's not in our space.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. But that's, like, his whole thing. He's very not angry, I should say. But it's like going against everything in his industry, and he's extremely successful. But that also you have to do that strategically.
Speaker 3:
You can't just be angry on the Internet.
John Baldino:
Yes. Yes. It's so funny you're saying this. Right? Because I think part of this too is I like myself.
John Baldino:
That's so ridiculous to say out loud. I know. But I like myself, and so I don't want my brand to be counter to who I am even if I might get more clicks or engagement. Do know what I mean? And it would be so inauthentic for me to be the angry Baldino.
Speaker 3:
And then everyone meets you, and you're such a happy person that yeah. It would be to me, the biggest nightmare would be for someone to meet me at a conference and be like,
John Baldino:
oh. Right.
Speaker 3:
The first thing people usually say is like, oh, you're just like you're online. Well, how else would I be? Right.
John Baldino:
Right. And your facial expression. So, oh. Yeah. It's like that's no.
John Baldino:
I don't want that. I want and I will tell you, for me, that's probably one of the highest compliments I can be given is you are who we see. You are who we read.
Speaker 3:
Exactly. Exactly. HR leaders, they're used to I think we're used to being behind the scenes. HR is never the on the forefront. Well, AI is changing these things for us because, like, now everyone wants our opinion Yes.
Speaker 3:
And everything.
John Baldino:
Yes.
Speaker 3:
But we're used to being behind the scenes. And I think when I speak to people, that's a lot of why they don't necessarily want to create content because they feel that our place is, like, behind the scenes. What would you say to someone who who says that, like, no. As an HR person, I just wanna, like, stay back. I don't wanna be out there.
John Baldino:
Probably two things come to mind. First, okay. Because we we do, and we need certain people to be behind the scenes. Worker bees. There's nothing wrong with being a worker bee.
John Baldino:
I really, like, wanna make sure people know that. It's tremendous. Not everyone can be the queen. Exactly. That causes a lot of problems in some organizations when everyone wants to be queen.
John Baldino:
Right? Yeah. So I think we need to celebrate people who know themselves enough to say, I really would like to serve. It's I have a servant heart. I like being awesome.
John Baldino:
I don't wanna make someone feel badly about that. But I would say if if the reason that they're doing it is fear, so asking some good discerning questions with that person to determine if it's really personality vibe versus fear. I think there's wisdom in that. Fear can be because it's unknown. I've never done something like this before.
John Baldino:
I'm an introvert, so therefore, I must serve behind the scenes. Well, that's actually not the same thing.
Speaker 3:
Exactly. Right?
John Baldino:
So being with people in their statement and then saying, tell me more about that, where does that come from? Have you had an experience where you tried, and what happened? You know, those and really just walk people back and be like, oh my gosh. You you spoke at an event once, and it all went terrible. You are not alone.
John Baldino:
Let me tell you about the 10 times I've done it, and it's gone terrible. But I got back up and tried and just trying to be that encouragement to people.
Speaker 3:
Do you think that I don't know if I wanna say we have a responsibility, but let's start this way. We have a perception problem with HR and TA. We really do. And I think part of what the rise of content creators in our space has done is peel back and like, hey, people. This is the type of work that we do.
Speaker 3:
So I think it helps with our perception problem. Do you think that's kind of like something we should lean on or a responsibility per se that we have of helping? Because, yeah, some people are like, no. I wanna stay behind the scenes, but it's like, but they also wanna change the perception of HR.
John Baldino:
Yeah.
Speaker 3:
Would you encourage them to start creating content?
John Baldino:
Not everyone. Okay. Yeah. It's a fair question. Not everyone sometimes and I think we're seeing a bit of this, in my opinion, now is that the amount of content creation that's going on can really sort of bottleneck, and you're not sure who to listen to or how much of it to listen to or, you know, this week, so and so, next week, this one.
John Baldino:
And it can become daunting. And we have to remember that the average HR practitioner, I think very confidently, I can say this, does not have hours upon hours each week to just sit back and listen to us go on about everything. So if there are people though, to come back to your question though, if there are people that we should be an encouragement to, I like the idea of trying to do that to start in bite size ways. Start in house. Have someone do something bite size, ten minutes with a small group of people.
John Baldino:
And that person, that might be terrifying to start with. Okay. Be afraid. And then breathe through it. And take the twenty minutes with these this small group of people that you're talking about benefits with.
John Baldino:
I don't know. Whatever practical thing it can be, just start with something comfortable. I don't have to tell you, okay. You've got twenty minutes to talk about the three criteria for picking HR technology. What?
John Baldino:
Wait. Why would you do that to someone? Right? Let them start with something they're familiar with.
Speaker 3:
I think when we talk about content creation, people think LinkedIn, Instagram. Yes. There's a lot of content creation that you can do as a practitioner internally. Amen. Like, your internal comms team wants the content.
Speaker 3:
They can help you, like, lean on this, work with these people that I've always
John Baldino:
helped safest audience.
Speaker 3:
Yes.
John Baldino:
If you and I work together in human resources in an organization, and my mouth is always going, Let's try to imagine that. My mouth is always going. And I turn to you and say, Okay, your turn. Wait, what? Your frame of reference is, I'm asking you to do it just like I do it.
John Baldino:
That's not good. What I wanna say is, you've got ten minutes to talk about benefits. What do you wanna talk about
Speaker 3:
Exactly.
John Baldino:
With these few people? What makes the most sense for you? They never fill out the enrollment form correctly. Okay. Then let's start with that.
John Baldino:
Yes.
Speaker 3:
Let's teach that. Amazing. Amazing. So a lot of content is created really to attract talent. Let's face it.
Speaker 3:
Like, yes, we're educating people and everything, but we're also attracting talent. What mistakes have you seen HR leaders do when they start creating content for talent attraction purposes?
John Baldino:
What a good question. What a good question. I'm gonna align talent attraction purpose in some ways with sales purpose because sometimes content is created for business development as well. And I'm aligning them because in talent attraction, there's a bit of salesperson ship that has to happen. You're selling the company, right, to qualified talent that you want to work in your organization.
John Baldino:
Okay. I'll take that business development angle with it. I think sometimes the mistakes that are made are overselling. It isn't always wonderful to work at your company. It's just not.
John Baldino:
It's just not. It's just not. It doesn't mean it's terrible. The opposite doesn't have to be what we emphasize, but there are some days I'm just doing the grind. Did I leave after eight hours feeling like I've accomplished some things?
John Baldino:
Maybe yes. Maybe I'm like, shoot. I've my to do list carried over to tomorrow, but it's a grind. I think that's okay. Overselling that every day you're going to be changing lives is unrealistic.
Speaker 3:
I still remember the face of the hiring manager when I started, like, creating videos with him, and I was in house. And I, okay. We're gonna sit down, and we're gonna do this video for talent attraction. I asked all the the normal questions, and I said, what sucks about this job? Like, I Right?
Speaker 3:
That we did a blooper that I shared. It was like, wait. What? Yeah. I'm like, no.
Speaker 3:
No. No. Yeah. We're this is a serious question we're talking about in this, and this is gonna be part of the video.
John Baldino:
And after the initial shock of being asked the question, then usually the next thought is, oh, I can't say what I think Yeah. No. It's like I'm gonna get fired, or I'm gonna get in trouble. And it's like, wow. We no.
John Baldino:
I really need to know why on those days. And I think that, again, coming back to the the previous question, if you're working in a particular industry where every day is not hearts and rainbows, then let's give people the right realistic job preview on the content that we're creating. I'm not saying that we walk around again saying everything is awful. But if you're an educator, as an example, in a school system, there are days where the the students aren't wonderful. I was not a wonderful student every day, so I know what I'm saying has some merit of truth to it.
John Baldino:
So if I just show that here's all of our educators every day achieving a % success in content delivery, education, and receptivity, my gosh. That is a high bar for a teacher to think is gonna happen. And when a teacher sees that as what it might be like to transfer districts to work somewhere else, honestly, that talent will self select out because I don't teach. That's not true for me. They'll never want me.
John Baldino:
That's awful. You potentially missed out on a wonderful, wonderful person to be a part of your school district because you set it up at such a level they self select it out. Silly. Why do that?
Speaker 3:
And also, if they've been working, if they've been in the industry long enough, they know it's not true. Correct. Like, so why spend all this time and money Right. Trying to paint this beautiful picture? Like, most of your people aren't gonna believe that unless they're new to the industry.
Speaker 3:
They might be like, oh, maybe. Anyone who's been in the industry is gonna know it's like, no.
John Baldino:
That's not how it is. Reason why they'll self select because that's not true. I don't wanna be a part of a district that tries to sell this. And so, again, another reason to self select. Why are we doing this?
Speaker 3:
Exactly. What can we in our industry learn about other content creators and how they create content when it comes to, like, talent attraction? So what can we learn from creators outside of our industry?
John Baldino:
One, creativity. I think it's okay to be a bit on the edge with some things. And I don't mean on the edge like you spell language. That's not on the edge. Give me a break.
John Baldino:
But on the edge of, like, the way it's filmed, the way it's produced, the messaging that comes with it, who's delivering the messages. If it's the same one or two people, I just think we need to be more creative about it. Yeah. I think the visual arts is another area to be thoughtful of. Does it always have to be sort of verbal overlay on a video shot?
John Baldino:
Can someone actually create something, paint something, sculpt something? And it's like, no. No. Well, we do we're a manufacturing company. So what?
John Baldino:
So what? You don't think you have people in in your establishment that are creative? Yeah. Did you ever ask? I've had people come in and they do like metal sculpture, and people are like, I didn't know you did that.
John Baldino:
Right. So let's start asking people. Right? So I think creativity has to be number one. The other thing that I would say from an innovation standpoint is be wise about platform and forum for where this content is going.
John Baldino:
Not everything should be everywhere. If you are posting the same thing on six social media platforms that and you're like, man, we're not getting the numbers. Well, you're diluting your content. It's the same stuff everywhere. Be thoughtful about this is the kind of content we want on Instagram, and this is the kind of content we want on x or blue sky or what you know?
John Baldino:
Yeah. Be thoughtful about having some differentiation there for sure.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. I think there's a lot that we can learn. I know I personally look at people in other like, creators in other industries because there's so much to learn from. If we look at our own little bubble and we all do the same thing, then we're all gonna lose because it's like we're all gonna start sounding and and doing the same exact things. And there's so like, in this world that we live in now, it's all about content.
Speaker 3:
All about, like, the marketing. So there's so much to learn from.
John Baldino:
So much. Yeah. And and cross to exactly your point, look outside of HR. Right? How does it happen on Twitch?
John Baldino:
How does it happen on Snapchat? Like
Speaker 3:
And you know the thing is, we're trying to attract people who are most of us aren't trying to hire other HR people or other TA people. So why are we catering our content to what we like
John Baldino:
Yeah.
Speaker 3:
And how we consume?
John Baldino:
Yes.
Speaker 3:
Think about the people that you're trying to attract. So the software engineers, they're not on LinkedIn. Like, when I was hiring software engineers, I didn't even post on LinkedIn.
John Baldino:
Because they don't want they're harassed so much that they've all gotten off. Right?
Speaker 3:
I was on Twitter back on the day in the day. Yeah. That's where they were. That that's where you go hang out. So
John Baldino:
Yeah. And I think that you have to also think about the audience you need. So I'll give you a for example, if you're in the casino industry. That's a good one. If you're in the casino industry, you might have a vibe that wants, second career people, retired people who wanna work part time in a fun environment, and so they're looking for a little bit extra.
John Baldino:
Okay. You may wanna post a lot more on Facebook than on Snapchat for those jobs because that's where that audience will sit a bit more there. Be wise.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. I always say, think like a marketer. And if you don't know how to think like a marketer, talk to your marketing They will, like, ask a marketer
Rhona Pierce:
Right. Idea.
John Baldino:
Isn't that shocking?
Speaker 3:
They will sit there for hours, and they'll tell you all about it. Leverage in the people that you have.
John Baldino:
I'm trying to market these jobs. Did you talk to anybody in marketing? No.
Speaker 3:
It's what they do all day. It's what they do all day. And we found them. We know, like, their strength and everything.
John Baldino:
Admire them. Right.
Speaker 3:
And then we're like, don't use them when we need it. It's like, come on.
John Baldino:
It's such a good blog.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So what types of content do you find that have been, like, the most successful for you in, like, attracting opportunities? Because a lot of us also do this to get speaking engagements and things like that.
John Baldino:
I'm gonna come out of two different ways. One way is, in my opinion, the more authentic that you are, the more engagement that you'll have, and the more likely that it will be seen as a a standout so that conference organizers and I will say things like there are people who so Transform, since we're here, is a great example. So Transform has launched about 10 communities across The United States right now. There's more in other countries. They're gonna launch another 10 in the next few months.
John Baldino:
That could be a great spot to start to sort of practice some things with a smaller community. Right? Yeah. And so test some things out. Don't be afraid to be authentic in those moments of, I'm gonna take fifteen minutes with my small community and test this thing out and get feedback from those folks because you're being authentic.
John Baldino:
That then becomes attractive, and your own community is then gonna talk to the next community to say, oh my gosh. John spoke, and he did this twenty minute thing. You ought to see if he would drive over and do that at your community. Right? It's authentic.
John Baldino:
It stands out to people because it feels genuine because it is. So that's one side I would say for me, I find that I'm drawn the most to people that operate in that kind of authenticity. Honestly, if you come across as fake to me, I'm not gonna be mean to you, but I may not connect to what it is that you're delivering. It doesn't feel genuine. On a sort of practical side, though, as well, be willing to be on video.
John Baldino:
Yeah. Be willing to be on video because those moments, at this point, if you're gonna proactively submit on a call for speakers for some conferences, they wanna see something. They want to see something. They don't wanna just hear that you spoke at x whatever it was because that doesn't mean you were great, and video is too accessible. So if you don't have video to share, I'm telling you, they're less likely to believe and take the risk.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. I mean, it's like, if you want someone to pay you or or just invite you to be somewhere in person talking, you can't submit blogs and like, yeah, it's fine that you write, but they don't know how that translates into you. But a video, they can see like, oh, this is an engaging person. Yeah. This is someone that I can bring to my stage.
John Baldino:
And there are people that get upset about that. I've written this blog for twenty years, and I I will say, I know. I it's a wonderful blog. They don't know what your presence is like. Exactly.
John Baldino:
How you'll deliver that information in person. A video gives them insight into that. My wife is a writer. Okay. She's awesome.
John Baldino:
She would never wanna get on stage with what she's written to deliver it. It's not her top 10. She has done it, but it's not her top 10. Okay. So just because somebody wrote it doesn't mean that a conference organizer thinks you want to deliver it.
Speaker 3:
Exactly. Amazing. So this has been a great conversation. I I really love how you've been open and, like, honest, but not that I would ever think that you wouldn't be with us. And I'm sure people are gonna wanna, like, follow along and learn more about you.
Speaker 3:
So where can listeners connect with you?
John Baldino:
First of all, thank you. It's a very kind obviously, LinkedIn that you mentioned. Yeah. Kind of on there a little bit. So please go to LinkedIn, John Baldino HR.
John Baldino:
I'm gonna come up first thing. Please connect with me there. I'm happy to engage.
Speaker 3:
Amazing. Thank you so much, John.
Rhona Pierce:
Thanks again to John for joining me live at Transform and keeping it real in the best possible way. If this episode gave you something to think about or reminded you that it's okay to show up as you are, I'd love it if you share it with someone else who needs to hear it. And make sure you're following the show because next week, I'm sitting down with Trent Cotton, and we're going deep into the world of AI, how it's reshaping recruiting, how to use it for content creation, and why your authentic voice still matters more than ever before. Workfluencer is produced by Perceptible Studios. Learn more about how we can help you attract, engage, and retain qualified talent at perceptiblestudios.com.
Rhona Pierce:
If you're enjoying the Workfluencer pod, share it with someone who's changing how we talk about work or who should be. And, hey, if this episode gave you ideas or inspiration, leave us a five star review. Reviews help other listeners find us, and, honestly, they make my day. Thanks for listening, and I'll chat with you next week.
