Employee Voice and Employer Brand

HR’s ad agency.

Employee Voice and Employer Brand

March 14, 2017 │ Webinar Discussion Workforce Communications Practice

Employer Brand ● Employee Voice

HR’s ad agency.

Today’s Agenda

2

1) What we mean by employee voice and why it’s

critical today

2) Are they buying? (Inside Gallup’s State of the

American Workforce)

3) Action steps

N. Robert Johnson

Practice Leader, Workforce Communications Practice

Workforce Communications PracticeEmployer Brand ● Employee Voice

HR’s ad agency.

Key takeaways …

• The best resource to compete for talent is all around

you: it’s your people (their voices and stories)

• Employee voice is really the level and strength of their

empowerment

• You need a sales strategy to attract and keep the talent

you need

3


HR’s ad agency. 4

HR’s ad agency.

Our clients apply advertising and marketing practices to

attract and retain talent in competitive talent markets.

We help them to do so.

The focus of The David Group’s Workforce

Communications Practice is to strengthen employer

brands, engage people and cut the cost of talent.


HR’s ad agency. 5

Employee Voice (and why it’s critical today)


HR’s ad agency. 6

Competition for talent is tough. (And, it’s not getting any easier.)


HR’s ad agency. 7

What’s the answer?

Your employees.


HR’s ad agency. 8

Employees who are empowered, thus those who

have a “voice” in the organization, tend to …

• Be highly engaged and have stronger ties to mission and

purpose

• Build stronger customer/client relationships

• Stay longer

• Be strong advocates internally and externally


HR’s ad agency. 9

Employee voice, in the context of

employer branding, is the authentic story

of your organization, as told through the

experiences of your employees.


HR’s ad agency. 10


Employees

are not

empowered

(no voice)

Employees are

empowered

(voice)

weaker• low employee engagement

• high voluntary turnover

• hard to attract new talent

Empowered employees as a

competitive advantage

stronger• high employee engagement

• low voluntary turnover

• easy to attract new talent


51% of U.S. employees say they are

actively looking for a new job or

watching for openings.

Gallup, State of the American Workplace, 2017



“It’s a good time to find a quality job!”

2012

19%

2016

42%And, keep in mind …

In the U.S., only 33% of employees

are engaged in their jobs.

Percentage of Americans saying:

it’s a good time to find a quality job




Most common explanation for leaving …

• Career growth opportunities

• Pay and benefits

• Manager or management

• Company culture

• Job fit




Action item: Find your employee voice

1) Define your organization’s purpose, mission and

employer brand attributes

2) Listen to your employees

3) “Mind the gap” between 1 and 2 to create your

authentic, employee voice

4) Infuse into employer brand and internal

communications through employee storytelling vehicles



Are They Buying?



Gallup asks:

Do your employees want what

your workplace is selling?





Gallup’s premise

Organizations need a sales strategy for

talent attraction and retention in the same

way they have a customer sales strategy.

(We agree.)




Sales strategy for those of us in HR …

• Understand what workers want

• Define how to fulfill those expectations (while adhering to

your authentic work experience)

• Use marketing and advertising practices through

employer branding and internal communications

platforms to reach and influence various talent

audiences



What employees want “to buy” in their next job:

1) The ability to do what they do best

2) A greater work-life balance and better personal well-

being

3) An environment of greater stability and job security

4) A significant increase in income

5) The opportunity to work for a company with a great brand

or reputationGallup, State of the American Workplace, 2017



The ability to do what they do best

• 60% of employees rate this as “very important”

• True for male, females and all generations

• Defined as the ability for an employee to integrate

his/her talent, skills and knowledge into the job

• Comes down to job-fit




A greater work-life balance


• Females are stronger on this than males; Millennials and

Gen Xers are stronger than Baby Boomers

• People don’t want to compromise (on either side)

• 51% of employees say they would switch to a job that

has better flextime and 37% would switch for a job that

allows them to work off-site at least part of the timeGallup, State of the American Workplace, 2017



An environment of greater stability


• This number is generally the same across demographics

with exception to lower numbers for Baby Boomers

• People want solid footing and a positive growth outlook

in their organization

• They want to believe in the organization’s future and

their contributions to organizational successGallup, State of the American Workplace, 2017



A significant increase in income


• Higher numbers for males and Millennials and Gen Xers

• Organizations should not overlook the importance of

income

• The issue is just as much emotional as it is based on

reason




The opportunity to work for a great brand


• This carries the most weight with females and Baby

Boomers

• Brand recognition is reflective of a sense of pride

that is threaded through employer and external

brands

• It’s deeper than a paragraph found in “about us” on

careers siteGallup, State of the American Workplace, 2017


Action Steps (to win and keep talent)




The ability to do what they do best

1) Make it clear to candidates, and current employees,

that you value individual strengths

2) Hire and develop talent based on what they do well

3) Hold them accountable through your performance

management strategies and processes




A greater work-life balance

1) “Walk the talk” of work-life balance and well-being

2) Your approach to work-life balance and well-being needs

to be ingrained into your culture

3) You want employees to feel empowered by your work-life

balance offerings (structured and communicated as a

way to help them to do their best)




An environment of greater stability

1) Show employees where you are going and inspire them

to see a “better tomorrow”

2) Create career and development paths that link to a

successful future




A significant increase in income

1) Talk about pay but put into the proper context

2) Don’t forget about other rewards, particularly as the

conversation becomes more personal

3) Remember that emotions are just as much in play as

empirical reasoning




The opportunity to work for a great brand

1) Give candidates and employees a clear presentation of

what your organization stands for and how this

connects to your authentic employment experience

2) Use your employee voice to tell stories through all your

communications channels

3) Draw particular connections to your local communities,

using PR and external marketing practices


HR’s ad agency.

In Summary

• The best resource to compete for talent is all around

you: it’s your people (their voices and stories)

• Employee voice is really the level and strength of their

empowerment

• You need a sales strategy to attract and keep the talent

you need

31




Additional resources

Gallup’s State of the American Workplace, 2017http://www.gallup.com/services/178514/state-american-workplace.aspx

David Groupwww.davidgroup.com

N. Robert [email protected]

216.685.4486 (direct) 216.410.5258 (cell)

http://www.gallup.com/services/178514/state-american-workplace.aspx

http://www.davidgroup.com/

mailto:[email protected]


N. Robert Johnson

Practice Leader, Workforce Communications

216.685.4486 │[email protected]

davidgroup.com

The David Group Inc. All rights reserved.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.davidgroup.com/

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Employee Voice and Employer Brand