It is no surprise that Employee Engagement is a growing concern for business leaders. Especially when Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report informs that only 33% of employees are engaged in their job and a massive 51% are actively looking for new employment. Research from Bain and Company revealed some other pretty interesting statistics about companies and engagement:
- Lower level employees have lower levels of engagement.
Problem: High-level management may be out of touch with employee morale on the front lines.
- As tenure increases, engagement levels decrease.
Problem: Those with the most knowledge and experience to contribute are uninspired to do so.
- Engagement levels are lowest for sales and service people.
BIG Problem: These are the same individuals who are most likely to interact with your customers!
How Talent Branding Helps:
Talent branding usually involves conducting primary research with your employees – different from an engagement survey, the research uncovers the emotive qualities that prevail within your culture. At times, just giving employees an open forum to discuss issues, vent annoyances (even the most petty) and feel like they’ve been heard goes a long way towards building engagement.
At the completion of the discovery process, following the analysis of the information, you will have what we call the Talent Brand Architecture. It will include a statement about the collective work being done, the things that make the culture unique and appealing (yes, there are always things to say) and the Employer Value Proposition – the passionate and authentic expression of the experience you hope people will associate with your company as an employer.
Bringing employees together to introduce your talent brand architecture, rewarding them for their contributions in creating it and recognizing them for their allegiance to sharing it will also revive their passion for what they love about where they work.
The bottom line:
Employee Engagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s a strategic, thoughtful and continuous process intentionally designed to build bonds, repair trust, and shine a light on how everyone makes a difference through their efforts at work.
Similarly Talent Branding doesn’t happen in a creative department, in a recruitment video or on a career site. It is ever present as an opportunity to ask questions, and shape what is said, shared and thought.
3 ways you can join us our journey to build strong talent brands and drive greater internal employee engagement:
- Sign up to for news about how to receive your own first edition of The Talent Brand
- Sign up for news about soon-to-launch Employee Engagement community, achievEE.
- Book Jody for a talent brand consultation, or find out more about her speaking engagementsand availability.
Always be Branding
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
