Top 10 Takeaways from Ragan’s 2024 Employee Experience Conference

Hundreds of communications professionals gathered at Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference in Nashville this week to learn and share about how they are engaging employees and improving the overall work experience.

Clear communication, connection and giving employees a sense of ownership isn’t just about boosting job satisfaction, it’s about improving business performance and ultimately, the bottom line. Among the top takeaways:    

Leadership and Communication Strategies

• Caleb Campbell, West Point graduate and former NFL player turned business and leadership coach, kicked off the main program with a keynote addressing how leaders and their employees can manage pressure through Purposeful Presence, which encourages people to Recognize, Reframe and Respond to what they’re feeling. “Name it to tame it,” said Campbell. “If we name it, we can communicate it.”  
• According to Brian Brockman, vice president of communications for U.S. and Canada at Nissan Motor Corp, the language of leadership boils down to four key elements. That includes understanding who you are talking to; breaking down the complexity of the message into three key points through the lens of the employee; mapping the most effective channels for reaching different types of employees; and working with internal messengers to crystalize their authentic voices and ensure consistency. 
• Make your leaders comfortable as communicators. At REI, all leaders undergo two hours of executive communications training, according to Senior Manager of Internal Communications Nicole Bernard.
• According to Amanda Schoch, chief communications officer, Pacific, at Northwest National Laboratory, give internal brand ambassadors the information and tools they need to succeed. “Anytime we roll out something big, they get the same information as our top leaders,” she said.  

Enhancing Employee Experience

• Employee experience goes far beyond job satisfaction, according to Johari Matthews, vice president and executive director of ONE Community and the Tennessee Titans Foundation. “Brand visibility, reputation and ROI are all tied to employee experience, particularly when it comes to retention,” said Matthews. 
• Southwire positions its approach to the employee experience as the “4 C’s”: Communicate, Collaborate, Connection and Celebration, according to EVP, chief people and culture officer Fernando Esquivel. “We have two P&Ls,” said Esquivel. “Profit and loss, and people and their lives,” he said.
• Greg Hill, chief people officer at Exos, focuses on the key components to fostering the connection between employee experience and business results. “Look to the data first,” he said. “Too many organizations go with the heart first. Second, we encourage people to use the word ‘pilot’—that allows them to make mistakes. Third is transparency—clearly conveying why we do what we do.”  
• Remember that the hiring process is a rolling process – no new employee will be honest about their experience, advised a panel on onboarding featuring Sara Ng, vice president of communications and brand experience at ING Americas, Anita Myers, training manager, ecommerce sector North America at DHL Supply Chain and Kathryn Metcalfe, visiting professor at NYU. Mapping goals and end-of-year evaluations over 10 months, then feeding that information to the manager and letting them map that on a timeline that feels reasonable, will make the employee journey feel personal and real.  

Fresh takes on Communication and Employee Engagement

• Employee preference will be the future of communications, according to Alejandro Zequeira, manager of marketing and communications at Baptist Health South Florida. “You can get them information while using the feedback on what they prefer to target your channel and reach,” said Zequeira.
•  3M gives life to its intranet through an initiative called “Bright Ideas” that spotlights internal thought leaders via Ted Talk-style presentations. “Comms are the nervous system of an organization,” said Fanna Haile-Selassie, senior communications manager, corporate initiatives and employee experience. “We get the inside information on feelings, sentiment and understanding through what folks are engaging with.”