Organizations with stronger employer brands attract top talent. Organizations with stronger employer brands tend to also retain top talent longer.

1. Employer Branding for Talent Retention
A David Group Webinar, March 22, 2016
HR’s ad agency.

2. Today’s Webinar
Employer Branding for
Talent Retention
Facilitated by
N. Robert Johnson
Practice Leader
Workforce Communications
2HR’s ad agency.

3. HR’s ad agency.
We apply advertising and marketing
practices to help organizations attract
and retain talent.
The focus of The David Group’s
Workforce Communications Practice is
to strengthen employer brands,
engage people and cut the cost of
talent.
3HR’s ad agency.

4. Agenda
1. Connect the dots between
employer brand and mission,
culture and values
2. Talk about the emotional
connection to work
3. Look at the drivers of retention
4HR’s ad agency.

5. Lifecycle
5HR’s ad agency.
Our Talent Communications Model
Employer brand for attraction Employer brand and employee communications for retention
• Social Media
• PR/Publicity
• Employees
• Customers
• Careers site
• Talent
community
• Special
events
• Corp. site
• Mobile site
• EE Stories
• ATS
• Mobile site
• Recruiters
• Hiring Mgr
• Process and
updates
• Offer
• Alignment
experience
• Collateral
• Initial
engagement
• EE comm
• Leadership
comm
• Rewards
• Engagement
drivers
• Exit interview
• Social media
• Special events

6. Connecting the Dots

7. Why Retention?
Voluntary turnover erodes culture and is
extraordinarily expensive. In addition to
pressures of job knowledge transfer,
turnover …
• Increases recruitment spending and
• Decreases productivity and
engagement (both within individual
role and throughout the unit/group).
7HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots

8. Why Retention?
The average cost of turnover is between 90% and
200% of exiting employee’s base salary and
represents 12% of a company’s operating budget.
8HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®

9. Why Retention?
The number of Americans who voluntarily quit their
jobs, per month.
9HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
2013 2015
2 million
3 million
An unfriendly trend
2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®

10. Why Retention?
But, here’s the good news: On average, the Fortune
100 Best Companies see ½ of the voluntary turnover
of their industry peers.
(Now, that’s a true competitive advantage.)
10HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®

11. Enter Trust and
Purpose There is a direct connection between trust,
purpose and retention. Research shows
that employees feel a great workplace is
one where …
• There is trust between employees and
employer,
• Employees take pride in their work, and
• Employees enjoy the people they work
with.
11HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®

12. Enter Trust and
Purpose Employees who want to stay for a long
time report:
• My work has special meaning, it’s not
just a job,
• When I look at what we accomplish, I
have a sense of pride, and
• I feel I make a difference here.
12HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®

13. Enter Trust and
Purpose Why executives love their jobs:
47% Workplace Relationships
21% Company Culture/Values
18% Growth Opportunities
4% Pay/Compensation
13HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
Korn Ferry Hay Group, 2016
Nearly 70% say that
working for a company that
is aligned to my values
would dramatically improve
their feelings about their
job.

14. Section Take Aways
1. People are looking to connect in a
deeper, more meaningful way with their
employers.
2. They will connect when there is alignment
between mission, culture and values.
3. This puts pressure to define and
articulate culture, mission and values.
4. Reducing turnover and improving retention
pays off.
14HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots

15. The Imperative
High-performers will use validated employer branding messages and
practices at the “front-end” to better align culture and values to identify
better fitting candidates and then …
15HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
continue to use and reinforce those messages throughout an
employee’s employment lifecycle to keep alignment and
engagement strong.

16. Section Action Steps
1. Use employer branding to define and
communicate your mission, culture and
values throughout the employee lifecycle.
2. Focus on the stories of employees/peers as
that builds stronger institutional trust.
3. Pay particular attention to on-boarding
messages and reinforcements.
4. Become active listeners and accept the
principles of “all-way” communication.
16HR’s ad agency.
Connecting the Dots
Levels of Trust
A technical expert 67%
A person like me 63%
Another employee 52%
CEO 49%
Eldeman Trust Barometer, 2016

17. The Emotional Connection to Work

18. Facts vs Emotions
As HR communicators, we have to
disseminate a lot of information.
• Total rewards
• Retirement
• Health care
• Safety
• Talent management compliance
18HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work
Transactional
Outcome Focused
Communication

19. Facts vs Emotions
But, we’ve just discussed how people
are looking for alignment to words, and
thoughts, like …
• Mission
• “Special meaning”
• Pride and purpose
• Trust
19HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work

20. The Thought
Appeal to customers’ reason and they’re yours
for a day.
20HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work
Appeal to customers’ emotions and they’re
yours for a lifetime.
Lippincott, The Happiness Halo, 2015

21. Attraction = Retention
Retention communications – having them
for life – can be found in the promise and
attributes of employer branding.
• Mission, culture and values
• “A day in the life” storytelling
• Employee value proposition
• A vision of a new adventure and new
lifelong career path
21HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work

22. Emotion-based
Communications Where do we place emotion-based
communications after recruitment?
• On-boarding communications
• Mentoring and team-building
programs
• Leadership communications
• Learning and development initiatives
22HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work

23. Section Take Aways
1. Transaction-focused HR
communications play a critical role
but …
2. People are connected, engaged and
will stay longer through the
emotional themes and imagery often
found in recruitment communications.
23HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work

24. The Imperative
Don’t “silo” the emotional elements of your recruitment
communications to just the candidate attraction phase of the
employee lifecycle. Use these elements in every lifecycle
phase or talent communications touchpoint.
24HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work

25. Section Action Steps
1. Review “emotions” communications to infuse
keep-them-for-life messaging found in your
attraction/recruitment communications.
2. Think like a brand manager: use advertising
principles and practice – including employer
branded copy writing and creative imagery –
to create an engaging narrative, but …
3. Remember that themes and messages need
to be validated with everyday employee
experiences as authenticity counts.
25HR’s ad agency.
The Emotional Connection to Work

26. Drivers of Retention

27. Top Retention
Drivers – Why? Understanding the drivers of retention is an
important step in internal and in employer
brand communications.
• Internal Communications: allows for
segmentation/tailoring of messages to
what’s important to each audience.
• Employer Brand Communications: helps
the alignment to employment promises and
unique selling points.
27HR’s ad agency.
Drivers of Retention

28. Top Retention
Drivers – How? Ways to get drivers of retention might include
such actions as:
• Annual employee engagement surveys
• Regular pulse/stay surveys
• Focus groups and employee representatives
feedback
• Active listening programs
• Exit interviews (what competitors are
offering)
28HR’s ad agency.
Drivers of Retention

29. Top Drivers
29HR’s ad agency.
Drivers of Retention
Employee View
1. Base pay/salary
2. Career advancement
3. Trust and confidence in leadership
4. Job security
5. Length of commute
6. Relationship with supervisor/manager
7. Work-related stress
Employer View
1. Base pay/salary
2. Career advancement
3. Relationship with supervisor/manager
4. Work-related stress
5. Learning and development
6. Short-term incentives
7. Challenging work
Towers Watson, 2014

30. Top Drivers
30HR’s ad agency.
Drivers of Retention
Towers Watson, 2014
Rank <30 30-39 40-49 50+
1 Base pay/salary Base pay/salary Base pay/salary Base pay/salary
2 Career advancement Career advancement Career advancement Trust/confidence in
leadership
3 Length of commute Trust/confidence in
leadership
Trust/confidence in
leadership
Career advancement
4 Work-related stress Relationship w/supervisor Job security Job security
5 Trust/confidence in
leadership
Length of commute Relationship
w/supervisor
Relationship w/supervisor

31. Section Take Aways
1. Every organization is different and unique
but there are universal drivers of retention
that can be used to customize segmented
communications.
2. There are a variety of tools available to
determine the drivers of retention in your
organization.
31HR’s ad agency.
Drivers of Retention

32. Resources Employer Brand Dimensions, Talent Solutions, The
David Group
Employer Brand Readiness Checklist, Talent
Solutions, The David Group
Our Approach to Employer Branding, 2015 White
Paper, The David Group
All of these items can be found at:
www.davidgroup.com/what-we-think/downloads/
32HR’s ad agency.
Contact
N. Robert Johnson
The David Group
216.685.4486
216.410.5258 (cell)
nrjohnson@davidgroup.com

33. Employer Branding for Talent Attraction
April 19, 2016 - 2:00 pm to 2:30 pm ET
HR’s ad agency.
Part 2 of this series