1196: 3 Ways to Improve Employer Branding Through Employee Engagement w/ Kerry Held

WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.070 There's a ton of noise out there. So how do you get decision makers 2 00:00:10.150 --> 00:00:15.269 to pay attention to your brand? Start a podcast and invite your ideal clients 3 00:00:15.509 --> 00:00:24.940 to be guests on your show. Learn more at sweet phish MEDIACOM. You're 4 00:00:25.019 --> 00:00:29.699 listening to be tob growth, a daily podcast for B TOB leaders. We've 5 00:00:29.739 --> 00:00:33.420 interviewed names you've probably heard before, like Gary Vander truck and Simon Senek, 6 00:00:33.740 --> 00:00:37.929 but you've probably never heard from the majority of our guests. That's because the 7 00:00:37.969 --> 00:00:42.609 bulk of our interviews aren't with professional speakers and authors. Most of our guests 8 00:00:42.649 --> 00:00:47.049 are in the trenches leading sales and marketing teams. They're implementing strategy, they're 9 00:00:47.090 --> 00:00:51.679 experimenting with tactics. They're building the fastest growing BEDB companies in the world. 10 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.240 My name is James Carberry. I'm the founder of sweet fish media, a 11 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.960 podcast agency for BB brands, and I'm also one of the CO hosts of 12 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:03.240 this show. When we're not interviewing sales and marketing leaders, you'll hear stories 13 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.870 from behind the scenes of our own business. Will share the ups and downs 14 00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:11.310 of our journey as we attempt to take over the world. Just getting well, 15 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:19.459 maybe let's get into the show. Welcome back to be tob growth. 16 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:23.739 I'm Logan lyles with sweet fish media. I'm joined today by Carrie held she 17 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:29.379 is the strata G Director of employee engagement at seagoing gale. Carrie, thanks 18 00:01:29.420 --> 00:01:32.060 so much for being on the show. How's it going today? It's going 19 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:34.290 really well. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. 20 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:40.489 Absolutely carry. We're going to be talking about some specific strategies around employer branding 21 00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:46.010 and employee engagement today. For a little bit of context and why you're joining 22 00:01:46.049 --> 00:01:49.239 us to speak on these topics that you're so passionate about, Carrie, can 23 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.200 you give us a little bit about your background and also what you in the 24 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:56.280 team at seagling gale or up to these days? Absolutely so, here it's 25 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.239 he going, Gal. We are a full service brand experience agency. We 26 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:05.269 work with clients sort of across many different industries and building net new brands as 27 00:02:05.310 --> 00:02:08.949 well as we creating brands, and the work that my team does is focused 28 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:15.580 around employee engagement and employee branding, so essentially making sure that the people and 29 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:21.939 culture piece of the brand is is aligning, and so thinking about everything from 30 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:24.900 if there is a if there's a rebrand, how are we making sure that 31 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:28.819 we're bringing people along for the ride? How are we making sure that we 32 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:31.650 are inclusive, you know, of everybody on the team, giving them in 33 00:02:31.729 --> 00:02:35.849 a both, you know, from a hiring perspective, from giving people the 34 00:02:35.930 --> 00:02:38.930 tools and training they need to get their jobs done well, and also, 35 00:02:38.129 --> 00:02:42.810 you know, around how are we actually driving driving brand into behavior so that 36 00:02:42.889 --> 00:02:46.319 it doesn't become something that's just, you know, any logo or a new 37 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.680 magnet or something that's sitting on the wall, but it's actually something that's being 38 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:53.960 embedded into into the organization. Yeah, absolutely, and I'm really excited to 39 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:57.400 have this conversation with you, carry because I've seen some of the content that 40 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:01.509 you put out and you seem to be very passionate about this connection between employee 41 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:07.030 engagement and employer brand, and one of the things I've been talking with a 42 00:03:07.110 --> 00:03:12.900 lot of folks about lately is that, you know, employee experience often heavily 43 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:19.099 influences, if not greatly dictates, customer experience and everyone that I talk to, 44 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:23.139 whether they're in customer success, marketing or sales, taking a holistic look 45 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:28.930 at customer experience is a very important topic. These days. So I'm excited 46 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:32.330 to unpack the correlation between these two. Can you speak to that a little 47 00:03:32.370 --> 00:03:37.409 bit? You know, I've heard you say that you know it's really important 48 00:03:37.409 --> 00:03:42.000 to drive on brand experiences from the inside out. Can you talk about that 49 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.719 connection and and what you mean about this inside out methodology? Sure, so, 50 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.599 you know, I think at the core of it is the is the 51 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:54.789 notion of, you know, happy employees leading to happy customers, right. 52 00:03:54.909 --> 00:03:59.990 And so, you know, we are certainly in the era of glass box 53 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:01.430 brands, if you will, or people can see, you know, there's 54 00:04:01.469 --> 00:04:05.110 there's no more hiding and saying, you know, we as a brand stand 55 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:09.909 for x, when actually, you know, there's a lot going on within 56 00:04:09.909 --> 00:04:13.300 the organization that are not setting people you know, setting your people up to 57 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:17.300 be able to actually deliver on that bright experience. And so thinking about how 58 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:20.779 to, you know, really define and you know, we are here to 59 00:04:20.899 --> 00:04:24.889 go and get the simplicity company, and so we're always coming back to finding 60 00:04:25.089 --> 00:04:30.329 simple, meaningful ways of connecting both customers and employees to the brand. And 61 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:32.649 so thinking about, you know, if this is, you know, being 62 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:36.209 really clear on the purpose of the organization and what you're set out to do 63 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:40.759 as a brand and what makes you different and special and then getting really clear 64 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:42.839 on, you know, what is our philosophy or and how we get that 65 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.759 done, how we interact as at you know, with each other and how 66 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.040 we interact with our customers. And then how do we hire for those characteristics? 67 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:54.470 Right if we're looking for people to deliver certain kind of experience, you 68 00:04:54.550 --> 00:04:56.670 know, how do we make sure that we're hiring the right kind of people 69 00:04:56.670 --> 00:05:00.069 who can do that, you know, across the organization and that's both the 70 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:03.310 right fit technically as well as the right fit sort of emotionally? Do they 71 00:05:03.310 --> 00:05:08.060 have the skills that they need to be able to deliver what what we're expecting 72 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:12.660 of them? Are we giving them the you know, the the right tools 73 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:15.379 and training and messaging to be able to deliver on that? And again, 74 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:18.100 are we actually as an organization? I think it just gets back to the 75 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:23.250 glass box piece. Are We walking the talk? Are we demonstrating, you 76 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:26.610 know, our leaders demonstrating the behaviors that were asking, you know, the 77 00:05:26.730 --> 00:05:30.889 team members to do throughout the organization? Are we are we standing for something 78 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:34.490 as as a brand and as a company in a way that that, you 79 00:05:34.529 --> 00:05:38.240 know, lines up with what we're putting out in the world. I love 80 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:43.399 your comment there about simplicity. Carry you know about this time last almost twelve 81 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:46.120 months ago, our team went through an exercise. We had, you know, 82 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.910 seven or eight core values and they were listed in a blog post somewhere. 83 00:05:50.269 --> 00:05:54.550 But even if you asked all the members of our team, which was 84 00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:58.870 even smaller at that point. We're not a massively large organization, it was 85 00:05:58.910 --> 00:06:02.069 a small percentage of folks that could probably list all of those. Often over 86 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:06.459 the last year we went through an exercise to boil down our core values to 87 00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:12.939 two three that were very succinct, very simple and the most important to us. 88 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:16.339 And and today I think if you took that same pull throughout our organization, 89 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:19.889 just about everyone would be able to repeat, you know, our three 90 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:24.490 core values, because not only did we simplify them, but we work them 91 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:29.250 into our daily conversation in a lot of ways. You know, we touched 92 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:33.439 there on employee engagement and, I think like customer experience, like sales and 93 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:36.319 marketing alignment. You know, it's a buzz word, it's a term that 94 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:40.439 we're talking about a lot these days, but if you ask ten different people 95 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:44.199 you might get nine or even ten different answers. Can You? Can we 96 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.149 camp out on that just for a second? As you're consulting with clients, 97 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:50.910 I imagine you're kind of drawing the line between what is employee engagement and what 98 00:06:51.149 --> 00:06:55.470 isn't it. Can you kind of unpack that loaded term for us a little 99 00:06:55.470 --> 00:06:58.029 bit with the work that you guys are doing? Absolutely, Yes. So 100 00:06:58.069 --> 00:07:01.459 I think a couple things. I think one the difference to to me, 101 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:05.620 to us, between, you know, actual engagement and say, employee experience 102 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:10.259 right is, I think a lot of time still hear companies or you'll, 103 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:12.939 you know, read blog post or seek ups talking about, Oh, well, 104 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:15.699 you know, we are employees, are highly engaged because, you know, 105 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:18.649 we have foodball tables in the office, we have, you know, 106 00:07:18.889 --> 00:07:21.649 take parties every week, we have all these events that we do, we 107 00:07:21.810 --> 00:07:26.410 have you know, and those are those could all be great things that create 108 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:30.319 a great employee experience. That would essentially create a great employee experience for almost 109 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:35.279 anyone. I think true engagement comes when there's alignment between the business goals and 110 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.120 spend brand right and the people who are working there when they feel like there's 111 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.600 a sense of purpose, a sense of meeting behind what they're doing. where 112 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:46.389 it's right fit talent, feeling engaged with your work, the work that you're 113 00:07:46.389 --> 00:07:48.670 doing every day, because it's the kind of work that you are where you're 114 00:07:48.670 --> 00:07:53.949 learning and growing, and it's you sort of in the right position and feel 115 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:56.709 aligned with where the brand is going overall and with the, you know, 116 00:07:56.750 --> 00:08:00.180 the people that you're sort of on that journey, if you will, with. 117 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.379 Then I think that gives the ability to feel truly engaged versus, you 118 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:07.459 know, I'm having a great experience. It's almost like you can almost liking 119 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:11.379 it to dating a person for the wrong reasons. Like you like where, 120 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:13.410 you know where they take you, you like, you might like some of 121 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:15.769 the parties you go to, but like, when it comes to the end 122 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:18.370 of the day, you need to like the person, and I think that's 123 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:22.370 that's true for companies to I think true engagement means that you really you feel 124 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:24.529 a sense of connection to the work that you're doing and to the people that 125 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:30.399 you're doing it with and that you know the simplicity of the brand and the 126 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.120 way that it's connecting people is a real opportunity to make that happen. Yeah, 127 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:37.000 I love that analogy. You know, we have dating analogies in sales 128 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:41.279 and marketing all the time. I love the way that you drove it home 129 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:43.990 there. When it comes to employee engagement, talking about it's not just a 130 00:08:45.389 --> 00:08:48.389 superficial relationship because, you know, we have happier on Fridays and we have 131 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:52.110 ping pong tables that, you know, contribute to an experience. But at 132 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:56.899 the at the heart of the matter that connection to purpose is more important to 133 00:08:56.019 --> 00:09:01.259 that engagement piece. You mentioned simplicity again. Are there some specific things that 134 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:07.580 that you recommend to folks carry or your team does when it comes to simplicity 135 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:11.370 and employee engagement? Are they making it too complicated? Are there's some common 136 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:16.169 pitfalls that you guys see as you're working with clients? Yeah, I think 137 00:09:16.210 --> 00:09:18.929 your example earlier logan around, you know, the the having, you know, 138 00:09:20.009 --> 00:09:22.490 eight values instead of three, was a great one. I think oftentimes, 139 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:26.519 what if we're going into work with a client, whether it is a 140 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:31.240 you know, around a black entire brand platform or, more specifically, around 141 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:35.639 a talent brand platform, you know, we're help oftentimes we're not creating something 142 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.190 or coming up with a brand new idea, we are helping them to find 143 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:45.070 their center of gravity right and so oftentimes there's just too many things, it's 144 00:09:45.149 --> 00:09:48.909 too complicated and, to your point, people can't remember what it is. 145 00:09:48.190 --> 00:09:52.070 You know what it is we stand for and if you stand it's like if 146 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:54.460 you stand for everything and you stand for nothing, or I think I'm getting 147 00:09:54.460 --> 00:09:58.659 that that quote not exactly right. But really finding what is it? What 148 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:01.100 is our North Star? What are a center of gravity? What is the 149 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:03.620 thing that, if all else goes away, we really stand for? And 150 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:09.529 I think helping, helping to define that in a way and clarify that in 151 00:10:09.610 --> 00:10:11.450 a really simple way for people so that you know, you know, if 152 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:16.009 they're out of the cocktail party and someone asks them about you know what is 153 00:10:16.009 --> 00:10:18.450 the company's purpose or what is it they do, that it's really simple and 154 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:20.519 easy for them to explain. I think it's sets both, you know, 155 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:24.879 that individual as well as the company up for success. The other thing I'll 156 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.840 say about that is that having you know when you've done that well and when 157 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:33.200 there is this sort of simple, clear way around what that value proposition is, 158 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:39.789 it allows its really act as a filter for decisionmaking. Right, so, 159 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:43.309 whether it's a large decision that the company needs to make at a strategic 160 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:46.230 level or smaller day to day decision, you know, with an a one 161 00:10:46.309 --> 00:10:50.700 on one customer interaction, when people are really clear about what the company stands 162 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:52.899 for, what the values are, what they're trying to achieve. It allows 163 00:10:54.059 --> 00:10:58.340 sort of everybody within the organization to be able to make decisions based on that, 164 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:03.340 which I think has a huge impact on the customer or client experience. 165 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:09.490 Well, hey, everybody logan with sweet fish year. You probably already know 166 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:13.210 that we think you should start a podcast if you haven't already. But what 167 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:16.049 if you have and you're asking these kinds of questions? How much has our 168 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:22.960 podcast impacted revenue this year? How's our sales team actually leveraging the PODCAST content? 169 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:26.360 If you can't answer these questions, you're actly not alone. This is 170 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:31.720 why I cast it created the very first content marketing platform made specifically for BEB 171 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:37.789 podcasting. Now you can more easily search and share your audio content while getting 172 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:43.549 greater visibility into the impact of your podcast. The marketing teams at drift terminus 173 00:11:43.789 --> 00:11:48.019 and here at sweet fish have started using casted to get more value out of 174 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:52.100 our podcasts, and you probably can to. You can check out the product 175 00:11:52.179 --> 00:12:01.850 in action and casted dot US growth. That's sea steed dot US growth. 176 00:12:01.289 --> 00:12:07.450 All right, let's get back to the show. Yeah, absolutely, I 177 00:12:07.889 --> 00:12:11.610 love that. You know, it kind of comes back to that simplicity, 178 00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:15.129 right. It gives you a filter, it gives you a framework for decisions, 179 00:12:15.289 --> 00:12:18.000 whether that's staffing, whether that's, you know, org chart decisions, 180 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:22.000 that's, you know, hiring decisions. We were just talking about this the 181 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.399 other day. You know, two of our core values. One is love 182 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:28.440 people well and another is own the result, which is all about, you 183 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:33.750 know, not just doing your job and owning, you know, your input, 184 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:37.070 but when you hit something, when you hit a wall and obstacle, 185 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:41.190 you need to think creatively to get to that end result and taking ownership of 186 00:12:41.309 --> 00:12:45.379 it. That those two. Oftentimes it can be a balancing act, right, 187 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:48.659 especially for those in management. How how do you encourage people to own 188 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:54.340 the result and put for that accountability, but also love them well and doing 189 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:56.940 it in a loving manner? And so it was funny how it came up 190 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.529 in conversation the other day of just like well, this seems like a scenario 191 00:13:01.570 --> 00:13:03.889 where you need to balance both of those and and just gave us that common 192 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:07.129 language. So I can speak to that. That simplicity, you know, 193 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:11.879 just being a benefit on a very day to day basis. You mentioned something 194 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:16.840 there. Carry we talked a little bit about recruiting, attracting talent based on 195 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.840 what your brand stands for. Can you give us some thoughts on making the 196 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:26.870 brand attractive and drawing in, as you mentioned earlier, folks that that align 197 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:31.429 with the the core values of the company and also, you know, attractive 198 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:37.110 to customers at the same time, because I think sometimes employer branding can can 199 00:13:37.190 --> 00:13:43.860 be used synonymously with recruiting, and if you could speak to maybe some of 200 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:48.299 the differentiation there how to go about both of those effectively, you know, 201 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:54.059 simultaneously? Yeah, so it's interesting, I think sometimes, you know, 202 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:58.210 we've had the experience recently with a few clients this year. We're actually their 203 00:13:58.450 --> 00:14:03.049 brand recognition was a bit of a double at stored for them. So we 204 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:07.330 do we were doing a lot of work with sort of a very, very 205 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:11.879 wellknown client and attacks industry, and so they're very, you know, everybody 206 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:13.360 thought of them in one way, yet they were trying to attract very different 207 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:18.639 kind of talent at the corporate level and so I think, you know, 208 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:20.879 it's so it's a challenge because in one sense it's great. Everybody's heard of 209 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:24.350 you and the other sense it's not great, because everybody's heard of you and 210 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:26.350 thinks of working that. You know, what it must mean to work there. 211 00:14:26.429 --> 00:14:28.549 Have to be an accountant or have to be somebody who's, you know, 212 00:14:28.629 --> 00:14:33.710 violent taxes. And so one of the things that we that we focus 213 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:35.309 on here at Siegel and gale is, first, you know, we are 214 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:39.220 we are a fact based, data driven companies. So we're always trying to 215 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:43.139 gather our facts first and understand who is it that we're trying to attract and 216 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:46.899 also what is the culture, what is the actual culture of this company, 217 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:48.100 and what are the things that they're doing that people may not know about, 218 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:52.779 and then aligning those two things together. And so one of the things that 219 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:56.690 we are we focus on what this client was getting a sense of. Okay, 220 00:14:56.730 --> 00:14:58.929 if you're if you're looking to attract a new kind of talent in really 221 00:15:00.049 --> 00:15:03.210 focusing on you know, engineers might not think of this place of being the 222 00:15:03.809 --> 00:15:07.360 right place to work for them, but when you start to unpack and uncover, 223 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:09.240 you know what all of the things that the company is doing and the 224 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.039 fact that to work, to work there's an engineer you'd actually get to get 225 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.600 your hands on, you know, the development of new products and that engineers 226 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:20.559 are actually, you know, look always looking to solve problems and be able 227 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.190 to be connected to the end product. You know, we were sort of 228 00:15:24.230 --> 00:15:28.750 uncovering all that and that allowed us to create an employee value proposition and messaging 229 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:31.309 that was actually was true to the organization, but also would attract a new 230 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:35.179 kind of talent. And so I think gathering those facts and understanding more about, 231 00:15:35.259 --> 00:15:37.899 you know, the actual culture of the company and, you know what 232 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:41.100 else, what else they do besides what you know, what people know them 233 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:45.779 out there in the world for at the brand level, was really critical. 234 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:50.090 I love it. So it seems like one of your strategies for your clients 235 00:15:50.250 --> 00:15:54.370 is to, as you mentioned, discover what people may not know about the 236 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:58.970 brand, and I kind of think about this concept of the curse of knowledge. 237 00:15:58.009 --> 00:16:03.730 Right, we kind of get blinded to what's right around us and and 238 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:07.159 we may not realize, hey, there's actually value here. We should kind 239 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.759 of we should tell this story, because this would be this would be engaging 240 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:15.519 to this you know, target candidate pool, just like the example that you 241 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:18.240 just shared carry, which I think was a great one. You know, 242 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.710 obviously bringing in someone from the outside with fresh perspective, like you guys, 243 00:16:22.750 --> 00:16:26.470 adds value because of that curse of knowledge. Are there some small ways or 244 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:30.950 some common areas that you guys look at? If folks listening to this are 245 00:16:32.429 --> 00:16:37.419 trying to uncover those little hint hidden gems that they don't necessarily realize could be 246 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:42.940 those differentiators or those right, you know, attractive things for their potential employee 247 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:48.649 candidate pool? Are there some specific areas or common things that that you guys 248 00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:52.649 suggest folks look at that maybe folks listening to this could start to think about 249 00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:57.250 within their own organization? Sir, I think to when it comes to looking, 250 00:16:57.610 --> 00:17:00.850 you know, inside, a sort of holding the mirror up, if 251 00:17:00.889 --> 00:17:03.799 you will, within your organization. You know, there's obviously, if we're 252 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.960 going in a working with clients, we know we're often doing focus groups and 253 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.640 interview you and so there's ways to really, you know, spend some time 254 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.519 talking to the people like you know it, identifying who are who are the 255 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:18.230 people you know? Who are your top talent? Who are you trying to 256 00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:22.269 replicate and understanding? What are those characteristics that make them great? What are 257 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:23.950 the kind of people that really work with you know well within this organization, 258 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:27.390 because that's you know, look, that's another piece to right. It's everybody 259 00:17:27.509 --> 00:17:30.420 is not right for every company. Know what, there you could be a 260 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:33.500 rock star in one place and then you move into a different culture and there's 261 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:36.380 and things. You know, there's red tape and there's things are getting in 262 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:38.380 your way and you're not able to deliver in the same kind of way. 263 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:42.099 And so really getting clear on, you know, getting clarity around what what 264 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:45.930 you know, what the culture is doing well and what opportunities might exist, 265 00:17:47.009 --> 00:17:49.089 I think is huge. Talking to, you know, talking to a lot 266 00:17:49.130 --> 00:17:52.130 of people, but especially to people who you think are the type of people 267 00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:56.410 you want to replicate and understanding what are some of those characteristics, both culturally 268 00:17:56.490 --> 00:18:00.079 and individually. Right, I love that idea of, you know, getting 269 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:03.480 internal feedback from from the folks that, as you say, you might want 270 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.599 to replicate. You just got to be careful, you know, you don't 271 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:10.480 want to do it in the office space sort of way. Right. Right, 272 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:14.950 let's kind of wrap the conversation here. Carry with is some best practices, 273 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:18.069 some tips, some advice out there for folks when it comes to their 274 00:18:18.309 --> 00:18:22.150 employer brand. You guys do a lot of consulting with clients. You've shared 275 00:18:22.190 --> 00:18:29.099 some some great insights into really thinking about employee engagement in a different way and, 276 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:33.140 as we started the conversation, that employee engagement can feed into, you 277 00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:37.579 know, what exists is your employer brand. So as folks think about the 278 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:41.650 importance of their employer brand and what to start working on there today, is 279 00:18:41.690 --> 00:18:45.250 there some some advice you want to leave with folks today before we wrap up? 280 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:48.650 Sure, so I think. I think one is it because it Harkens 281 00:18:48.690 --> 00:18:52.769 back to the idea of you know, if you've got that clarity where employees 282 00:18:52.809 --> 00:18:59.400 are able to have some freedom and make decisions because they're there's such simplicity and 283 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:03.279 in the purpose of the brand and the purpose of the company and sort of 284 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.400 synchronicity amongst the culture, I think you're able to give employees more opportunities to 285 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.910 actually, you know, utilize ideas both internally and externally. So, you 286 00:19:10.990 --> 00:19:14.789 know, one example that I think it's great is the company Bookingcom, where 287 00:19:14.789 --> 00:19:17.470 they actually gave all of their employees go pro. They keep, you know, 288 00:19:17.549 --> 00:19:21.069 go pros to go out vacation and capture experiences. So, you know, 289 00:19:21.269 --> 00:19:22.950 again in this class box brand world, you know, the more that 290 00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:26.579 you've got people as certainly from the town and recruiting perspective, nor the you've 291 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:30.380 got employees themselves out there in the world sharing their experiences, you know, 292 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:34.619 on Linkedin, on any other form of social media. The more it's believable, 293 00:19:34.740 --> 00:19:38.369 right, because people will believe what they're hearing from actual employees themselves more 294 00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:41.130 than they will from, you know, from senior leadership with the brand. 295 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:45.049 So finding you and creative ways, I think, to connect employees to the 296 00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:48.410 brand in that way and get them out there talking about it in an organic 297 00:19:48.450 --> 00:19:52.690 way. I think it is a great opportunity. I think you know, 298 00:19:52.849 --> 00:19:56.000 as we sort of started off talking about, we are, you know, 299 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:00.160 a brand experience firm, and just as custommers are looking for that full or 300 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:04.359 looking for and expecting that full brand experience, employees are as well. And 301 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:07.829 so I think one of the things that we work with our clients around is, 302 00:20:08.349 --> 00:20:11.950 you know, shifting, you know, even when it comes to how 303 00:20:11.950 --> 00:20:15.470 they talk about, you know, the benefits of working for the organization, 304 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:19.750 not just focusing on traditional benefits but really thinking about what doesn't mean to work 305 00:20:19.789 --> 00:20:22.579 here. What do you you know, what's the given, the get of 306 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:26.099 working here? Why is that? What makes us different and special and really 307 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:30.140 focusing their messaging around that on, you know, the things that you know, 308 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:32.980 we move fast. You know, we move got quickly here. You 309 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:34.380 won't have to deal with, you know, with red tape or hierarchy, 310 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:40.410 whatever it is that makes that organization special, focusing on those benefits as opposed 311 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:44.809 to just sort of the traditional monetary or, you know, at our benefit 312 00:20:44.890 --> 00:20:47.849 packages. And then lastly, I think, you know, there's so much 313 00:20:47.930 --> 00:20:52.720 talk around, obviously, you know, today's world, around corporate social responsibility 314 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:56.799 and see us are and I think there's a real opportunity for companies to, 315 00:20:56.200 --> 00:21:00.079 you know, make sure that they're not just sort of trying to check the 316 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.359 box there, but if it's something, if they're if they're going to own 317 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:07.630 that as part of who they are as the brand and who, you know, 318 00:21:07.029 --> 00:21:10.150 who they are, both as an overall, you know, overall brand 319 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:12.309 as well as an employer brand that they're that they're really making sure they're being 320 00:21:12.390 --> 00:21:17.349 thoughtful about, you know, are the efforts that were choosing to engage in 321 00:21:17.470 --> 00:21:21.579 on brand for us? Are we making decisions about, you know, where 322 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:23.940 we're going to put our efforts and how we're going to support our employees and 323 00:21:25.059 --> 00:21:27.579 where they with their efforts in a way that aligns with who we are as 324 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:32.779 a brand and and feel feel honest. Yeah, I love that. I 325 00:21:32.890 --> 00:21:34.769 love that you. You brought it back to a way that feels honest. 326 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:38.650 What you touched on earlier in in making it feel organic, I think was 327 00:21:38.809 --> 00:21:42.490 really important. In those last three pieces of advice that you shared carry you 328 00:21:42.569 --> 00:21:48.640 know, you talked about giving employees creative ways to share their experience with the 329 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.880 brand and not in a forced way, right, like here are your ten 330 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.319 approved tweets that you can push out on your social channels, that sort of 331 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:00.119 thing, which I think the Bookingcom with the go pros was a really great 332 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:04.150 example. So that was one. The other piece of advice I heard you 333 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:08.109 say is highlight the unique benefits that you have, and not just kind of 334 00:22:08.150 --> 00:22:12.470 your standard, quote unquote hr benefits, but what are the things that are 335 00:22:12.630 --> 00:22:17.380 unique about your organization, and then be thoughtful about, you know, what 336 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:22.619 stand and what contributions are you making from a corporate social responsibility piece and how 337 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:26.859 can that tie to your potential candidate pool? Because I'm no statistician, but 338 00:22:26.900 --> 00:22:32.289 I've heard on other podcasts and a lot of different places that a large part 339 00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:36.009 of the workforce right now, the millennial generation of which I am a part. 340 00:22:36.490 --> 00:22:41.609 Those social responsibility pieces are important. That the purpose piece is very important 341 00:22:41.250 --> 00:22:45.440 to this generation, which is making up a larger and larger part of the 342 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:51.039 workforce and the leadership part of every workplace. So I really appreciate those last 343 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.319 three pieces of advice that you shared with folks. Cary, if anybody listening 344 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.680 to this would like to go deeper on this topic, stay connected with you 345 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.309 or ask any follow up questions of you and the team over at Seagal and 346 00:23:00.349 --> 00:23:03.349 gale, what's the best way for them to reach out or stay connected with 347 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:07.910 you guys? Sure. So our website is seagle and gale, Seagle Gilcom. 348 00:23:07.990 --> 00:23:15.660 It's Siegel Gall ECOM. You can find us on Linkedin Seagle and gale. 349 00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:21.740 On twitter it's at Seagle gale. INSTAGRAM is at Seagle gale and also 350 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:26.890 feel free to email me directly. It's K held Kat LD at seagal gale, 351 00:23:27.170 --> 00:23:33.609 fie GLZ ALCOM carry. Thanks so much for sharing that. This was 352 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:37.250 a really fun conversation. We think a lot of like in driving brand experiences 353 00:23:37.369 --> 00:23:41.559 from the inside out, kind of where we started the conversation today. So 354 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:45.839 I really appreciate you sharing some practical advice with listeners today. Thank you so 355 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:49.839 much, so go and have a great afternoon. We totally get it. 356 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.880 We publish a ton of content on this podcast and it can be a lot 357 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.829 to keep up with. That's why we've started the DB growth big three, 358 00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:03.829 a no fluff email that boils down our three biggest takeaways from an entire week 359 00:24:03.869 --> 00:24:08.589 of episodes. Sign up today at Sweet Fish Mediacom big three. That sweet 360 00:24:08.589 --> 00:24:11.420 fish Mediacom Big Three