In this Cause Marketing Forum (CMF) webinar, A Tactical Roadmap to Avoid Employee Engagement Potholes, Cause Consulting’s Mark Feldman walked through the strategies and processes the team uses to develop best-in class employee engagement platforms. Mark is joined by Risa Sherman from Samuel Adams and Bev Dribin from Aramark who have both successfully created these platforms. Together, they shared tactical advice, innovative strategies and tips on avoiding potholes that may occur along the road while taking your employee engagement efforts to the next level.
The following are some of our favorite quotes and recommendations. To listen to the full webinar click here!
Favorite Quotes:
On employee engagement today…
“We’re at a moment where ‘activity for activity’s sake’ and band-aid care must be looked at in completely different ways.” -Mark Feldman, Managing Director, Cause Consulting
On aligning with brand…
“This whole idea of starting a small business and the barriers that small business people face every day is what inspired us in 2008 to create Samual Adams Brewing the American Dream. It is very linked to the mission of our business and is really the way that our business is run every day.” -Risa Sherman, Manager, Philanthropy and Cause Marketing, The Boston Beer Company
On leveraging employee skills…
“We used to say in our strategy sessions that it didn’t really make sense to us if we had a dietitian sitting at a hole at a golf tournament. A dietitian has so many other skills, assets and things to offers as we really look at making an impact.” -Bev Dribin, VP Community Relations & CSR Communications, Aramark
Employee Engagement Potholes to Avoid & Best Practices:
Pothole 1: Not aligning with business strategy
Best Practice: Integrate employee engagement into master CSR, philanthropy and business strategy
Pothole 2: Focusing on generating activity versus impact
Best Practice: Harness the specialized skills and passions of your employees
Pothole 3: Not providing an inspiring call-to-action
Best Practice: Focus engagement activities around a theme and call-to-action
Pothole 4: Being afraid to include clients, partners and influentials
Best Practice: Engage clients, partners and nonprofit experts
Pothole 5: Being too complicated for the field to execute
Best Practice: Have tools to support a model that can be replicated
Pothole 6: Getting stuck in a rut, aka “we’ve always done it that way”
Best Practice: Continuously innovate and try new approaches
Pothole 7: Not having a strong communications plan
Best Practice: Harness numerous channels to brand and communicate