Elevating Reputation With Employee Happiness

Adapting to the New World of Work

As companies push through the tightest job market in generations, ensuring a sense of connectedness and camaraderie among employees is top of mind for reputation leaders. 

RepTrak finds that the Factor "Rewards employees fairly" is an essential contributor to an employee's Willingness to Work For a company – and it has become significantly more important over the past two years. So much so that it was the 2nd most crucial Factor in shaping reputation at the start of the year.

Leveraging reputation for curtailing the effects of "The Great Resignation" was the impetus for peer-to-peer Rep-Connect discussions across the APAC, EMEA, and the Americas regions in late February 2022.

Overcoming Obstacles

Much of the conversation focused on the everyday struggles and limitations surfacing for companies, including:

• Technology – Participants largely agreed that the digital tools rolled out at the start of the pandemic worked well to communicate information in a crisis. But these tools have lost traction and have limitations in engaging employees long-term.

• Culture – Some participants reported that their workforce feels underappreciated and that company citizenship initiatives and leadership metrics have decreased. The fundamental employer-employee covenant is shifting and requires companies to evolve their message and rediscover their purpose.

• Engagement – Companies see a need to reinvent engagement through new and different channels, upping the ante on storytelling and driving workforce culture with a clear purpose.

• Recruitment and Retention – With employee turnover very high, companies find that it's not enough to have a great culture and that traditional engagement options are no longer effective. Companies seek new strategies to retain employees.

Innovative Tactics

Participants shared ways their companies recharged employee engagement. Some actions include:

• Finding common ground to form connections – There are new unspoken rules of engagement, so companies must activate new messages and channels.

1. Some engagement campaigns that lean into the community aspect of digital platforms can help eliminate jargon (and work siloes) to provide a sense of connection.

2. Other suggestions include encouraging WhatsApp groups for different employee interests – one called "memes and things" fosters "real talk," Slack for instant messaging, or Facebook groups to connect to colleagues.

• Rethinking how companies express their culture – Ask "why" the company is doing something to define culture differently. Ideally, you'll be able to pair initiatives with company purpose.

1. Many participants activate corporate citizenship in the workplace to attract new hires, for example, adopting a platform where employees can give and volunteer virtually.

• Storytelling to connect teams – Participants shared the following tactics: podcasts that provide a welcome relief from Zoom fatigue; Instagram from the CEO; A sourcing team with a weekly connect for potential new hires; Telling personal stories of employees that showcase the diversity of their employee population.

Final Thoughts

While Workplace hasn't traditionally carried the most weight, setting "Employee Happiness and Wellness" as a strategic goal can elevate your reputation.