How to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company (Episode #215)

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Guest: Erica Keswin

Erica Keswin is a globally renowned workplace strategist, consultant, speaker, best-selling author, and professional dot-connector. Her latest book is The Retention Revolution . Erica first joined Marcel in the very first episode of Love in Action. Now, she returns to share the “7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company,” as written in her latest book. Listen below!

Show Highlights

• “The world of work has changed; there is no going back.” [10:00] As Erica Keswin dives into the "why now" of her latest book, The Retention Revolution, she explains how these pretty standard ideas and predictions on how work would progress were accelerated due to the pandemic. One point is that the younger workers are no longer staying at companies for their lives; they look at work differently than previous generations, and they expect their treatment to reflect that.
• Erica compares the new ways of thinking to the old mindset when it comes to onboarding, autonomy, flexibility, professionalism, offboarding, and more.
• “If you have intentional onboarding, it’s drastically related to your ability to retain your employees.” [15:45] Erica explains 7 old ways of thinking and the new ideas that should replace them. Erica shares really impactful ideas on the new way to onboard from major companies like Hulu and Gusto.
• “There’s a need, AKA demand, for leaders to be more human.” [25:18] During the pandemic, Erica says, leaders were defaulting to a more loving and caring management style. But now, a year later, we’re all but forgetting that piece, no longer checking in or asking how the staff is truly doing. The problem is that employees still need this human professionalism from their leaders.
• “The people are your work now, as it should be, because expectations change when you’re elevated into a leader role.” [37:00] Marcel quotes Erica’s book with a story from OC Tanner, which explains the way culture must elevate and celebrate middle managers. Often, middle managers are on the front lines, in the mess of it all, but they have the power to influence the rest of the culture in an organization, and they need the support to do so.

• “Left to our own devices, we are not connecting. Take some time and make sure that you’re connecting, especially as we celebrate Thanksgiving… that you’re connecting with others in your personal life, your work life, and also taking time to connect with yourself.”? [44:40] Erica closes out this Thanksgiving (if you’re listening from America) holiday with a special and important sentiment about connection.

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About Marcel Schwantes

Marcel Schwantes is the host of the Love in Action podcast . He's a global speaker whose keynotes and workshops spotlight the human side of work and how cultures of care, connection, and belonging outperform the competition. Marcel has been recognized as one of the "Top 101 Global Employee Engagement & Experience Influencers" by Inspiring Workplaces.