Most organizations spend a lot of time and money marketing themselves externally. We believe that the same effort should be applied internally as well! Just consider The Great Resignation, labor shortages, and the new era of remote working. The current climate punctuates the importance of reinforcing why your company is a great place to work.
Recruitment and retention are the most challenging they’ve been in decades, so it’s vital to dedicate time and resources to ensure you’re creating a reputation that will attract new employees and keep your current ones.
And as you might suspect, employee benefits are at the heart of any internal brand. Your benefits are one of the most tangible ways that your organization can show it cares about employees. A strong HR/Benefits brand can help attract the best candidates and provide a larger pool of potential employees from which to choose. Plus, employees who feel appreciated and valued are more likely to be engaged with their day jobs—and stay with your company.
After all, it’s your employees who live out your mission and values every day, so any efforts internally also can impact external efforts. Conversely, a lack of effort internally will certainly spill out negatively to external stakeholders.
We helped two large employers fine-tune or establish their benefits brand to attract and keep the best talent.
Purdue University
Purdue University, a major employer in Indiana, had a robust benefits package impacting practically every part of an employee’s life. The university wanted to ensure employees understood the full spectrum of benefits and how they fit together to address the whole person.
By leveraging their existing Healthy Boiler wellness program, we helped Purdue create a holistic benefits brand to help employees identify the broad spectrum of benefits, which includes physical health, behavioral health, financial wellness, social wellness, and work-life integration. It ties together every benefit and program offered to help employees manage their lives.
Building a strong brand and offering continuous education helps employees connect the dots. Additionally, companies elevate the value of benefits and build a deeper level of goodwill as employees experience the brand in their everyday lives.
Ochsner Health System
Healthcare is one of the most competitive markets for talent. As the largest hospital network in Louisiana, Ochsner Health System finds itself right in the middle of the battle to attract and retain employees.
While Ochsner has a competitive benefits package, the materials didn’t have a uniform look. And because the hospital system leveraged a lot of material from its carriers, information was inconsistent and included insurance jargon, which can be difficult for laypeople to understand. The hospital system also knew it needed to make information more accessible for its busy workforce that spends little time in front of the computer.
We built a benefits brand that gave them a visual and written language that was friendly, easy to understand, and, perhaps most importantly, reflective of their extensive efforts to care for employees. The branding gave them colorful visuals and accessible content to carry throughout all their communications. Employees now easily recognize when benefit information is being shared with them and can better understand how to use programs and the value of what they’re being offered.
Creating a strong benefits brand will significantly improve your company’s ability to attract, recruit, and retain top employees. It gives you a unique personality internally while also creating recognition in the minds of job candidates and current employees.
If you’re interested in talking about enhancing your benefits brand, contact us below. We’d love to help you! Simply reach out at helloindy@westcomm.com or follow us on LinkedIn for more insights.
