In 2019, roughly 30% of people made New Year’s resolutions. Of those who do, 30% were very confident that they’d be able to stick to them—and 7% did. Those are pretty dismal success rates, especially since theoretically people should be more likely to achieve goals that they set for themselves.
Now imagine we aren’t talking about personal goals; instead, we’re talking about organizational goals. Buy-in and success rates like we see with resolutions obviously won’t cut it, so what can you do to ensure your people believe in and fully support the goals you set for your company?
Traditionally, companies have focused on the
goal-setting process itself to engage employees. And while involving them in goal selection, linking goals to business objectives and adapting goals as needed are sound best practices, they don’t inherently inspire and enthuse employees. That’s where7% employer branding comes in to play.
Your Employer Brand Does More Than Attract—It Aligns and Inspires All Employees
Employer branding, or the way you continuously promote your company as a great place to work, is considered by some to be just a talent acquisition strategy. But it’s also a valuable way to engage employees at every stage of the employee journey.
It’s this alignment to your vision and clarity surrounding expected behaviors that are key to creating that enthusiasm and excitement that ultimately connects your people to—and accomplishes—your organizational goals.
Tips for Using Employer Branding to Motivate Employees
If I’ve piqued your curiosity and you’re interested in using your employer branding strategy to drive toward your company goals, here are a few tips that will help you make the most of your efforts.
Anchor Messaging to Shared Purpose, Not Just Metric Performance
While most company goals tend to be quantitative in nature,
nothing evokes emotion more effectively than storytelling. Helping your people to see why your goals matter—to the organization and for the stakeholders you serve with your products and services—builds a deeper level of understanding and shared sense of commitment.
Create Consistency in What you Say & Where You Say It
Employee inboxes are as cluttered as our own, so
be sure you’re using your employer brand strategy communication channels for your most critical messages. This helps employees cut through the clutter and nearly guarantees that your thoughts are actually absorbed by your employees. Don’t just rely on email, either—company meetings, intranets, screensavers, print (including home-based mailings for those who are decentralized), recognition platforms, podcasts—there’s a virtually limitless list of outreach methods you can explore to add variety and impact to your internal communications.
Provide Ongoing Updates & Personalized Guidance for Future Success
Whether your organization has annual goals, quarterly goals or even daily goals, be sure to communicate meaningful progress updates to your people. Sometimes those closest to monitoring goals assume that everybody has the same degree of familiarity with performance, so be sure you’re identifying the appropriate frequency to provide updates along with actionable guidance your people can lean in to for the future. Middle management can be especially helpful with this step because they are well-positioned to personalize that guidance based on their team’s area of responsibility, increasing relevancy.
Listen to Our Podcast to Hear More About Employer Branding
If you’re new to employer branding (or just looking for some additional inspiration), check out our podcast,
Connections That Matter.
It’s a three-episode series that walks through practical examples of what works—and what doesn’t—to inspire, inform and elevate your employer branding efforts.