it's ALL about the experience

The DNA of engagement

I spend a lot of my waking hours thinking about engagement -- what it is, how you get it, and how it can be measured and improved.  It sounds strange, I know -- but I'm not alone (and hey, you're reading along).  The more I research the topic, the more I discover the variety of definitions and expectations: some folks think it's what you do to others, others think it's what you're responsible for yourself.

So what is the DNA of engagement?  What are it's most basic, combustible elements that, when combined, create passion, commitment, and competitive advantage?  Over at RecruitingBlogs.com today I'm exploring the topic from a slightly different perspective...here's a peek:

...it took a nanosecond to sum up the chaos: while mommy was speaking to a clerk a short distance away, the 4 year old was methodically loading up the basket with jars of jam. In the spirit of cooperation, his younger brother (about 2 and a half I think, seated in the basket and clearly enjoying the game) was liberating the jars by dropping them back out of the cart and onto the floor below. The baby watched in glee as the jars bounced, crashed, and generally made a really delicious mess...

Drop by for a read, and leave me your comments.  Who knows?  I may even reach out to you for a little more of that product research.

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I'm Claudia Faust, and in my day job I’m the head of Products at Improved Experience, where we help employers use feedback to measure and manage engagement for competitive advantage in hiring and retention. Learn more about us here.

Technorati tags: engagement, recruiting, recruitingblogs.com, improved_experience

Employee engagement, or something even bigger?

Eddie LeMoine is talking this week about the role of employee engagement in the attraction and retention of great talent.  Here's a snippet of my thoughts on the subject:

...By looking at engagement as increased and continuing commitment in the whole talent supply chain, the business is encouraged to synchronize its efforts of talent management. This touches employer brand (which helps well matched talent identify and self-select to the business), recruitment (which funnels that talent to the right place at the right time in the business), AND retention (which increases business ROI). In this manner the business totally wins: more engagement, higher productivity, and less turnover from day one.

To read the whole exchange, check out his blog here.

tags: employee_engagement, recruiting, retention, employer_brand, candidate_experience

A Perfect Hiring Storm: Scarce talent and Bad Press

If the lack of skilled workers is creating a hiring void in your neck of the woods, brace yourself as poor employer brand begins to create the Perfect Storm. 

I read a great article today by career and business coach Debbie Benami-Rahm, who has lots to say about employee engagement -- and the earlier, the better.  Check this out:

The way your organization handles the interview and hiring process either brings you the talent you want or scares your talent away.

Bingo. And when it comes to onboarding new employees, Debbie adds:

Research shows it takes nearly 90 days of employment for new employees to really evaluate the information they receive during the recruiting and onboarding process. After 90 days, they step back and look at their experiences with the culture of the company, their peers and managers, and their training. Those experiences tell them whether they and their jobs are a good fit and whether they see themselves building a career within the organization. Those experiences dictate whether they stay with the company. This is one of the first solution keys to your employee retention challenge.

Debbie, I couldn't agree with you more that workforce engagement begins from the moment of initial contact with potential employees. Ten years ago recruiting leaders thought in terms of an "employer driven" or "candidate driven" marketplace, but no longer; in today's increasingly global and competitive landscape for talent, the rules change while we sleep.  Employers that are slow to incorporate critical elements of early candidate engagement are already beginning to discover that retention is only the tip of the iceberg: the challenge of competing for a scarce, electronically connected talent pool has the potential to devastate a bottom line with longterm vacancies.

Something to think about while global internet usage grows annually in triple digits, US jobs continue to move overseas by the millions, baby boomers slip off into the sunset wearing Hawaiian shirts and flip flops, and slumbering economies in other parts of the world wake up with a vengeance.

War for talent, anyone?

Technorati tags: Recruiting, Hiring, Employer Brand, Employee Engagement