A new addition to this year’s Cause Marketing Forum Conference were interactive networking sessions. These two-hour sessions grouped like-minded professionals around a particular theme and asked participants to share knowledge and challenges.
The session on employee engagement was one of the highest attended and was facilitated by Cause Consulting’s Mark Feldman. During the session small groups of 6-8 people were tasked with coming up with best practice tips related to select employee engagement topics. Here is a summary of some of what the participants came up with…
Employee Communication: Tips for how to effectively inform and reach employees
• Create a completing theme and call-to-action to unify and rally employees
• Identify internal employee champions throughout the company to cascade messages and stories
• Ensure c-level support and utilize their voices, authority, and participation
• Share the passion, enthusiasm and stories of employees at all levels
• Maximize technology, Facebook, microsites, and blogs
• Consider creating a movement, rather than just a program
• Share results as quickly as possible
Pothole to avoid:
• Be proud, but modest in claiming your impact
Senior Executives: Tips for how to engage and gain support of senior executives
• Position engagement within the context of a company’s culture and bottom-line
• Speak business language
• Share engagement surveys and employee testimonials
• Place executives on boards that are relevant to the company’s issue focus and strategies
• Bring executives into the field on site-visits to experience social issues first hand
• Expect that executives volunteer; get them out there
Pothole to avoid:
• Be prepared. Sometimes executives get so inspired and engaged that they jump to create immediate solutions to social problems that aren’t really needed
Partners: Tips for how to select and engage non-profit and other partners
• Work with local non-profits to identify and assess true needs employees can address
• Make sure the organizations share common a vision and goals
• Select partners that have the capacity to help lead and execute activities
• Enable social issue experts and universities to share knowledge with employees
• Identify teams that are detail and action oriented
Pothole to avoid:
• Activation always takes more time than you think it will
Click here for a copy of the more detailed Employee Engagement Factsheet that was handed out during the session.
What examples of effective employee engagement have you seen? Share your examples in the comments below!
Leave a Reply