How to Recruit and Retain the Best Digital Marketing Team

All the Digital Marketing Job Titles, Employee Survey Tools, Quirky Perks, DEI Tips and HR Software Solutions You’ll Ever Need

Any industry-leading entrepreneur and/or startup founder will tell you that the early years are the hardest. Especially that period between launch and takeoff, when suddenly stock is flying off the shelves, investors won’t stop calling, and the brand can no longer keep pace without a full-stack digital marketing team.?

This report should serve as your guide to attracting, hiring, onboarding, training, overseeing and retaining top digital marketing talent, whether you’re here because:?

• You too learned the hard way and now need to know which digital marketing roles and responsibilities to prioritize
• You have high expectations for your young business and want to know the answers before supply chain issues impact customer experience
• You’ve been hearing all about ChatGPT, Bard, Gemini, and how artificial intelligence can make high-paid content creators, influencers and even developers obsolete, and you want to know if you should hire an AI specialist or — as is increasingly advertised across LinkedIn, Ladders, Indeed and the rest — an "AI prompt creator " or "generative AI author :" two mere examples I found within seconds of searching here, meant to effectively replace humans in the development of written and visual strategy, content and campaigns
• You’re dissatisfied with your current internal team or agency and want to create and recruit for digital marketing jobs strategically selected to meet your business’s unique needs and goals

Why Digital Marketing Job Titles Matter

As reported by Ad Age, the competition for top digital marketing talent is heating up once again and, while we know digital marketing is here to stay, not even I can predict what it’ll look like a year from now . This is why you need to:

• Remain alert and adaptable, shifting business-wide and departmental priorities, altering digital marketing roles and responsibilities, and expanding your recruitment efforts as necessary
• Identify — and empathize with — who you want to recruit, before you pick your digital marketing job titles
• Match your digital marketing job titles to the career goals of your ideal hires and the titles most commonly used and searched on LinkedIn, Indeed, Mediabistro , Idealist.org and The Ladders (think of your job titles like SEO keywords — to attract top talent or future brand leaders, instead of top sales prospects or future high-value customers)

But that’s not all: No matter how thoroughly you’ve optimized your onboarding and training processes , you may not be able to overcome a first impression — and your job candidates’ first impressions are based on the job titles and descriptions you produce and publish for your respective roles. So, approach your job listings with the same sensitivity and diligence you demonstrate when developing your user personas and mapping out your customer journeys .

Value-Add HR: The Top 5 Tips for Optimizing Your Digital Marketing Job Titles, Descriptions and Listings

To attract top talent, you need to stand out (there are more than a million employers on Glassdoor) — and stand out for the right reasons. So, in addition to offering a comprehensive benefits package, new or unique perks and training and advancement opportunities, you need to ensure consistent communication and collaboration between your human resources and digital marketing teams.?

To separate yourself from your competitors, as well as organizations looking to hire for similar digital marketing jobs, follow these five instructions:

1. Shed the corporate veneer and get personal. Speak to potential hires and, whenever possible, let your employees do the talking.?
2. Get creative in telling your brand story — whether you’re detailing a new digital marketing job, defining an ideal candidate or soliciting applications. Use videos, gifs and graphics, share anecdotes and testimonials, ask unique questions, and encourage atypical responses.?
3. Highlight your company culture and employee experience. Show potential hires what would be expected of them — and what they could expect from you and their coworkers. This will demonstrate your commitment to your workers as well as help you filter out potential candidates who would not excel in your work environment.?
4. Promote the perks. Display them prominently, and provide as much detail as possible.
5. Think like an applicant. I’ve been a hiring manager, and I’ve applied (successfully, and unsuccessfully ) for jobs. One approach I’ve always taken in a hiring role — which, as a job candidate I’ve rarely experienced — is to base recruitment efforts not on HR policy, historical practice or industry standards but on what will actually entice top talent to truly engage with your application; the best and easiest ways are to (a) never require applicants to submit a resume or curriculum vitae and complete an online form with the very same information; (b) allow applicants to submit their LinkedIn or Indeed profile, or a video resume, instead of the standard resume or CV; (c) never require a cover letter, since they typically regurgitate what’s in the resume or CV and can now be completely fabricated using AI ; and, in lieu of a cover letter, (d) require answers to a short series of unique, thought-provoking questions that can determine not only the applicant’s qualifications but their potential fit with your company culture ( Danielle Peyton and Terra did a great job of this in their Lever -based application for a recent Marketing Strategist role (that I did not get)).

The 35+ Most Important Digital Marketing Jobs

As Eero Vaara , Anni Harju , Mia Lepp?l? and Micka?l Buffart state in a recent Harvard Business Review article:

In recent years, we’ve seen a proliferation of companies whose operations are based on flat organizational structures, minimal hierarchy, self-management, and empowerment. Such “self-direction” has been shown to bring benefits such as agility, speed of learning, and resilience, and it tends to make companies more democratic and inclusive.

And though I believe in flat organizations, and highly recommend you read their research-driven report , the truth is that they're still significantly outnumbered; for that reason, I have aimed to order these roles based on level of responsibility and traditional structure.

In developing this comprehensive list of must-hire digital marketing roles, I thought back to my past experiences working for global corporations (e.g., 摩根士丹利 ), small businesses (e.g., Jillicious Foods & Events ), startups (e.g., CMP Exchange Series ), nonprofit organizations (e.g., The Associated Press ), entrepreneurs/sole proprietors (e.g., Michael Lee ), traditional PR, IR and ad agencies (e.g., The Dave and Eddy Show ), digital marketing agencies (e.g., Dragon360 ), and myself; cross-checked industries and brands against each other; and investigated whether there are:

• Certain sets of digital marketing roles and responsibilities in every industry
• Certain digital marketing jobs that appear across industries but with different responsibilities
• Certain digital marketing jobs only applicable to niche industries or businesses
• Current or past trends in digital marketing (e.g., the sudden rise and commensurate fall of “growth hacking”) influencing candidates’ decision making
• New digital marketing jobs, necessitated by changes in the industry (such as the sudden obsession with AI , the launch of Netflix’s programmatic ad platform , or the end to third-party cookies )
• Traditional digital marketing roles and responsibilities that are no longer necessary

Upon completion, I compiled the following.

(If your organization is not yet ready to invest in a marketing initiative with dozens of team members, that's OK — you are certainly not alone; instead, use this as a blueprint for future growth.)

Chief Marketing Officer

The Chief Marketing Officer, or CMO, is a member of the C-suite leadership team and your primary marketing contact. This individual should have 15 or more years of marketing management and strategy experience. Their responsibilities include leading the development of the brand’s 360-degree omnichannel digital marketing strategy ; presenting firmwide on the team’s strategy and performance; planning and managing the marketing budget; coordinating with the leaders of other departments, including customer experience, sales and human resources; overseeing the work of the entire marketing team; and meeting regularly with the marketing management team, including the VP of Marketing and all Director-level marketing employees.

VP of Marketing

Except at the largest enterprises, you shouldn’t need a VP of Marketing and a CMO; if you do, your VP of Marketing should have 10 to 15 years of marketing management and strategy experience — and focus on delegation and implementation, while your CMO oversees strategy and performance.

Digital Marketing Director

The Digital Marketing Director, or Director of Digital Marketing, serves as an experienced, trusted advisor to the CMO (or VP of Marketing), aiding in customer journey mapping and the development of the digital marketing strategy; coordinating with the department’s (and organization’s) other directors; overseeing the work of the Digital Marketing Manager, Marketing Project Manager, Marketing Technologist, Email Marketing Manager, and Events Marketing Manager; and assisting the CMO with performance analysis and reporting. This individual should have at least 10 years of experience.

Creative Director

The Creative Director is responsible for producing non-written content, including graphics, images, videos, gifs, and AR/VR, based on the needs expressed by the Digital Advertising Director (e.g., banner ads), Product Marketing Director (e.g., product packaging), Brand Marketing Director (e.g., style guide), Communications Director (e.g., media kit), Content Director (e.g., whitepaper) and Social Media Director (e.g., thumbnails or gifs). This individual also manages the Creative Assistant, Graphic Designer, Web Designer and Video Producer. They should have at least 10 years of creative management experience.

Creative Assistant

The Creative Assistant is a junior member of the marketing team with a creative generalist’s responsibilities, including creating internal communications content, developing marketing templates , writing copy, assisting with design and color theory, sourcing images/graphics, conducting research and analysis, and maintaining records. The Creative Assistant enjoys a direct line to the Creative Director.

Brand Marketing Director

The Brand Marketing Director, or Director of Brand Marketing, is responsible for all branding strategy and implementation , including messaging and design. This individual works closely with the Communications Director, co-managing the Community Manager, Partnership Manager and Affiliate Program Manager, and directly supervising the Brand Marketing Manager. They should have approximately 10 years of experience.

Product Marketing Director

The Product Marketing Director, or Director of Product Marketing, works hand in hand with your Director of Product and Director of R&D to strategize new product and product marketing innovations. This individual should have approximately 10 years of experience.

Content Director

The Content Director, or Director of Content, Content Marketing Director or Director of Content Marketing, is responsible for creating the content marketing strategy, editorial plan and content calendar , as well as signing off on every single piece of content proposed , created and distributed by your organization. This individual works closely with all the other marketing directors on content strategy; manages the Content Marketing Manager; and delivers content marketing performance analysis to the Digital Marketing Director. They should have at least 10 years of content strategy experience. (Of course, I have 15+ and haven't landed a gig in four months — and counting.)

Social Media Director

The Social Media Director, Director of Social or Head of Social is responsible for creating the social media strategy , in alignment with the larger digital marketing strategy. This individual works closely with all the marketing directors to ensure a seamless transition from initial awareness on social to optimal on-site UX; they also manage the Social Media Manager and deliver social media marketing performance analysis to the Digital Marketing Director. They should have at least 10 years of social media strategy experience, across organic and paid.

Communications Director

The Communications Director, or Director of Communications, coordinates with the Creative Director and Brand Marketing Director on your brand style guide and editorial guidelines; develops all public relations policies and processes; represents the organization, alongside the CMO and VP of Marketing, proactively and in response to media inquiries; oversees the work of the Communications Manager and Digital PR Manager; co-manages the Community Manager, Partnership Manager and Affiliate Program Manager; and reports to the C-suite on communications and public relations performance, trends in customer reviews and online conversations, and new and concluding partnerships and affiliates. This individual should have at least 10 years of public-facing experience.

Digital Advertising Director

The Digital Advertising Director, or Director of Digital Advertising, develops the digital advertising strategy, in coordination with the Digital Marketing Director and Content Director; oversees the work of the Digital Advertising Manager and Digital Advertising Coordinator; and delivers digital advertising performance analysis to the Digital Marketing Director. This individual should have approximately 10 years of experience, ideally working in search, display, native, mobile, video, CTV, OTT, audio, retargeting, social media, influencer/sponsorship/placement, metaverse/in-game and even chatbot advertising.

Marketing Technologist

The Marketing Technologist dual-reports to the Digital Marketing Director — as well as outside the marketing team to the Technology Director or CTO — and is responsible for coordinating on firmwide AI and other tech initiatives , as well as managing the technology leveraged by the digital marketing team, including developing operational strategies with supporting technologies, implementing new software, and managing updates, employee training and tech issues. Backed by analytics provided by your Marketing Analyst, your Marketing Technologist is the staff member to propose, for instance, investing in a customer data platform (like Segment , ActionIQ or Adobe Real-Time CDP). They are also the team's primary source for digital marketing-specific, AI-powered enhancements that can be implemented to improve processes, content and campaign quality, and performance. With a new, intensified focus on AI, this individual should have at least five years of tech experience, including at least two years working directly with generative AI.

Marketing Project Manager (or Marketing Operations Manager)

Reporting to the Digital Marketing Director, the Marketing Project Manager is an admittedly unflashy but absolutely essential digital marketing job; this is the team member who leverages your project management software (like monday.com , Asana or Wrike ) to oversee all project assignments, timelines and deadlines; hold contributors accountable; resolve process issues; and ensure each and every project runs smoothly and is completed on time with output that meets or exceeds brand standards. The Marketing Project Manager must be comfortable communicating digital marketing roles and responsibilities to senior personnel, and therefore should, in most cases, have at least five years of experience.?

Digital Marketing Manager

The Digital Marketing Manager assists the Digital Marketing Director in developing the digital marketing strategy, as well as the sub-strategies for brand, social media, email and SMS, and events (even for non-event companies, which should also at the very least be hosting events online). They also oversee and assist other marketing managers, as necessary. This individual should have no more than five years of experience.

Brand Marketing Manager

The Brand Marketing Manager assists the Brand Marketing Director with all branding strategy and implementation, including messaging and design, and works closely with the Community Manager, Partnership Manager and Affiliate Program Manager. They should have three to five years of branding or brand marketing experience.

Product Marketing Manager

The Product Marketing Manager assists the Product Marketing Director in strategizing new product and product marketing innovations. This individual should have a direct line to the Community Manager, who can provide key insights on product malfunctions, weaknesses, risks, and enhancement opportunities. The Product Marketing Manager should have no more than five years of experience.

Content Marketing Manager?

The Content Marketing Manager reports directly to the Director of Content and is responsible for all the day-to-day activities of the content marketing team, including managing timelines, deadlines and coordination with design and distribution teams; monitoring and reporting on performance; working with the Director of Content on ongoing content strategy; and overseeing the work of the Content Strategist, Content Creator / Senior Copywriter, SEO Specialist and UX Specialist. The Content Marketing Manager should have at least five years of content marketing experience, and at least three years of content marketing management experience. (Hint: If you get a director-level applicant like me for one of these more junior roles, give them a chance. This should be obvious, but it appears not to be.)

Social Media Marketing Manager

The Social Media Marketing Manager reports to the Social Media Director; develops the social media marketing strategy, with input from the Content Strategist and other marketing managers; and oversees the implementation of that strategy by the Social Media Coordinator. The Social Media Marketing Manager should have five to seven years of experience, with at least three years of influencer marketing experience and familiarity with at least one of the various influencer marketing platforms, such as Creator.co , Traackr , or Upfluence .

Community Manager

The Community Manager is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the organization by facilitating and tracking online conversation, soliciting user-generated content and, most importantly, performing ongoing social listening. Typically a beginner to intermediate role, the Community Manager creates and manages online communities, including social media groups and private forums. This position allows for great on-the-job learning, with the individual progressing to take on additional responsibilities — such as monitoring for and passing along potential creator, influencer, and even partnership opportunities — under the guidance of the Brand Marketing Manager and Social Media Manager.

Communications Manager

The Communications Manager reports to the Communications Director and works with the Brand Marketing Manager and Creative Assistant to create the brand style guide and editorial guidelines, based on the strategy developed by the Brand Marketing Director, Creative Director and Communications Director. They coordinate with the Content Marketing Manager and Creative Assistant — as well as HR — to strategize, produce and disseminate internal communications, such as emails, intranet content, HR materials like the employee handbook and training modules, brand swag and office signage. And they assist the Communications Director in monitoring, analyzing and reporting on internal communications performance, based on employee engagement and other employee experience KPIs. This individual should have at least five years of communications experience, preferably with a focus on internal communications and content management.

Digital PR Manager

The Digital PR Manager reports to the Communications Director and handles the day-to-day operations and activations for the public relations segment of the communications group within the digital marketing department. This includes managing the PR calendar; crafting press releases and media packages; and aiding the Communications Director in developing public relations policies and processes, as well as preparing for media appearances and interviews. They should have at least five years of public relations experience across new and traditional media.

Digital Advertising Manager

The Digital Advertising Manager reports to the Digital Advertising Director; supports the Digital Advertising Director in the development of the digital advertising strategy; manages all the ad networks and platforms (such as AdRoll, a division of NextRoll , or MediaMath ); and oversees the implementation of the digital advertising strategy by the Digital Advertising Coordinator. Due to the greater complexity of digital advertising, the Digital Advertising Manager should have five to seven years of experience.

Email Marketing Manager

The Email Marketing Manager reports to the Digital Marketing Director (or Manager); develops the email marketing strategy, with input from the Content Strategist and other marketing managers; manages the CRM (try Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Keap , or even Intuit Mailchimp , for instance); and oversees the implementation of their email strategy by the Email Marketing Coordinator. Due to the greater complexity of email marketing, the Email Marketing Manager should have five to seven years of experience in email strategy and the email drip campaign .

Partnership Manager

The Partnership Manager should dual-report to the Communications Director and Brand Marketing Director, with the mission of leveraging the organization’s digital marketing strategy to identify the most appropriate potential partners, nurture relationships, and close partnership deals. This individual may coordinate with a Sales Specialist on pitch strategies, the Content Marketing Manager and Creative Assistant on partnership program promotions, or the Digital PR Manager to create press releases on new partnerships. They should have three to five years of partnerships and relationship management experience, ideally with large enterprises.

Affiliate Program Manager

The Affiliate Program Manager has a similar role and reporting structure to the Partnership Manager and works closely with the same counterparts, though their target audiences are high-net-worth individuals and families, smaller companies and influencers. They should have at least three years of partnerships, relationship management and/or influencer marketing experience.

Events Marketing Manager

The Events Marketing Manager reports to the Digital Marketing Director and is necessary if you plan or host events — and, in case you missed it, you should be (source: Beacon Digital Marketing ). The Events Marketing Manager oversees every aspect of event promotion, coordinating with various other marketing managers to deliver event landing pages, on-site lead generation optimization elements, digital ads, social media posts, press releases, email and text sequences, brand swag and, for in-person events, on-site signage. They’re also responsible for event tracking, analysis and reporting. This individual should have three to five years of events marketing experience.

SEO Specialist

The SEO Specialist is typically necessary because your Content Strategist and Content Creator are either too busy to do SEO keyword and competitive research or not equipped to conduct and act on the deeper, forensic, technical analytical side of search-engine optimization. Depending on your needs and budget, as well as the potential hire’s capabilities (i.e., ‘soft’ vs. technical search engine optimization skills), this individual should most likely have between three and five years of experience. They report to the Content Marketing Manager and should be familiar with SEO Spider from Screaming Frog as well as Semrush , Ahrefs , Moz or another leading SEO tool.

UX Specialist

Ideally, your web designer is more than familiar with the importance of on-site user experience, as well as the intricacies of user-centered design ; however, it is often necessary to also employ a mid-level user-experience specialist who better understands the complete customer journey and can guide everyone involved in the creation and maintenance of your website and other owned digital properties (e.g., your user portal, online forum, or mobile app) — to meet your unique, pre-established goals, like lead generation and conversion optimization. The UX specialist should have extensive knowledge of interactivity, experiential design and UX copywriting, with at least three years of direct experience with eye-tracking, split-testing, surveys, and user-feedback tools — and, as a bonus, digital experience platforms (DXPs). They should report to your Content Marketing Manager.

Content Strategist

The Content Strategist is focused on one thing, and one thing only: content marketing strategy , or the plan for your content creation, consisting of what content to create, how to create that content (the content creation process), who will be creating (and approving) it, for whom the content will be created, the cadence at which it will be posted, and where and how it will be distributed. Reporting to the Content Marketing Manager but often working directly with the Director of Content, the Content Strategist should have at least five years of content strategy experience.

Marketing Analyst (or Marketing Data Analyst)

The Marketing Analyst is the oft-unheralded key to all digital marketing success; without data on your customers and how they prefer to interact with you, your efforts will fail. The Marketing Analyst is responsible for monitoring, recording and reporting on performance against all KPIs . The Marketing Analyst coordinates with analysts from Sales and CX, and delivers reporting via data visualizations — and, sometimes, depending on seniority, data-based recommendations — to all the marketing directors. This individual should have at least five years of related experience, ideally including reporting to the C-suite.

Social Media Coordinator

The Social Media Coordinator is responsible for managing the social media platform (try Zoho Social, Sprout Social, Inc. , or Hootsuite ), as well as social media distribution, monitoring, real-time engagement, high-level reporting, and coordination with the CX team for customer support requests. This is a junior role requiring two to three years of experience.

Digital Advertising Coordinator

The Digital Advertising Coordinator reports to the Digital Advertising Manager and is responsible for running, monitoring, iterating and, with help from their manager, optimizing and reporting on the performance of all digital ads. This is a junior role requiring two to three years of experience.

Email Marketing Coordinator

The Email Marketing Coordinator is responsible for implementation of email sequences and automations, distribution of one-off emails, email replies, high-level reporting, and coordination with the CX team for customer support requests. Due to the complexities of email marketing, this individual should have two to five years of experience.

Content Creator / Senior Copywriter

The Content Creator is responsible for creating all written content, based on the pre-established content marketing strategy, as well as coordinating with the visual content creators (e.g., video producers or web designers) and content distributors (e.g., social media or email marketers) to optimize the final product. The Content Creator or Sr. Copywriter reports to the Content Marketing Manager and should have at least three and up to 10 years of copywriting and/or content creation experience (depending on how many other copywriters are on staff, and the extent to which the content manager and strategist will be involved in content creation).

Graphic Designer

The Graphic Designer reports directly to the Creative Director, responsible for ensuring consistency in brand style while creating the visual elements used in all digital marketing output — from graphs, infographics and photos for white papers and blog posts to banner ads and social media graphics, and from website interactive elements to email and SMS marketing templates. This individual should have anywhere from five to 10 years of experience and be fluent in all or most of Adobe Creative Cloud, depending on team size and budget.

Web Designer

The Web Designer is responsible for all website development, design and maintenance, including external landing pages. Reporting to the Creative Director, the Web Designer coordinates regularly with the SEO and UX Specialists, as well as the Graphic Designer and Video Producer and all the marketing managers, to ensure web design meets strategic goals and is consistent with brand voice and style. This individual should have anywhere from five to 10 years of experience, depending on team size and budget. They should also be 100% fluent in WordPress (or your other third-party CMS), or demonstrate the ability to quickly master your proprietary system.

Video Producer

The Video Producer reports to the Creative Director and is responsible for all video marketing deliverables, whether it’s a video montage from a holiday party, a social media post using clips from influencers or the mission-critical company intro video. This individual can have anywhere from three to 10 years of experience in video production and video editing, ideally using Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro; specialty in production team management and/or animation or motion design is a significant plus.

The 4 Stages of Drafting Your Digital Marketing Team

Now that you know which digital marketing roles and responsibilities make the most sense for your organization, it’s time to start recruiting.

1. Start with Your HR Strategy

Want to retain and recruit top talent? Follow these seven steps in developing your strategic HRM strategy:

1. Conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of your organization
2. Analyze competitors’ recruitment and retention practices
3. Envision and articulate a desired future, and create a vision statement that is inspirational, aspirational, compelling and concise
4. Provide clear objectives that recognize your organization’s strengths and weaknesses; can be achieved and measured; reflect the organization’s overall strategy; and can be effectively communicated and supported firmwide
5. Identify the steps required to achieve your objectives, and set milestones, plan contingencies and determine necessary resources
6. Establish a process for evaluating progress and identifying opportunities to adapt, streamline and/or optimize
7. Survey your employees

2. Survey Your Employees (and Past Employees)

Even the best HR strategy cannot overcome a lack of quality data. And employee data is about much more than numbers — hours worked, sick days used, words typed per minute. The most critical employee data isn’t even quantitative. To run a successful organization, you need to know how your employees — and prospects — feel, during recruitment, hiring and onboarding, and throughout their career. What’s most important isn’t which benefits or perks you provide, but that you listen to, respect and value your employees and reward hard work.

How’s this done? By listening, first, repeatedly, and methodically. So, instruct your HR director to lead their team in:

• Conducting research on industry standards and competitors’ benefits offerings
• Developing an employee survey using AskNicely , Qualaroo , Qualtrics , SurveyMonkey or Zoho Survey
• Gamifying the exercise and offering incentives for completion
• Promoting through your HR or internal comms team the importance of the survey to ‘their’ employee experience and future benefits
• Disseminating and tracking the survey through your HR portal
• Leveraging the survey data to ascertain what your employees most appreciate — and would most appreciate
• Identifying creative incentives and other workplace solutions you could offer beyond the traditional benefits
• Proposing your updated benefits package to senior management, including legal and finance
• Researching and partnering with the best providers
• Continually monitoring employee wellness, morale, engagement, efficiency and productivity, iterating and optimizing benefits and perks as necessary

3. Provide a Diverse, Safe, Healthy, Equitable and Inclusive Work Environment

While DEI in corporate speak typically refers to an organization’s HR policy or program to increase productivity and ROI by standardizing processes and procedures related to diversity, equity and inclusion, what DEI really means?is an entire organization actively not only hiring but welcoming, valuing, respecting, supporting and promoting all workers — and especially those from underrepresented populations. (Equality is providing all employees with the same resources and opportunities, whereas equity is allocating resources and opportunities to achieve actual equality.)

As Harvard Business School professor Robin J. Ely and Morehouse College president David A. Thomas explain :

Being genuinely valued and respected involves more than just feeling included. It involves having the power to help set the agenda, influence what — and how — work is done, have one’s needs and interests taken into account, and have one’s contributions recognized and rewarded with further opportunities to contribute and advance.

Fortunately, this works for businesses too: Organizations that authentically follow a DEI framework benefit not only from better branding but:

• Amplified engagement
• Quicker, smarter decision making
• Enhanced imagination and innovation
• Boosted productivity
• Increased profitability

Indeed, though this shouldn't be your only impetus, companies?devoted to DEI earn 140% more revenue, have 230% more cash per employee, and are 70% more likely to capture a new market and 35% more likely to outperform their competitors.

To learn how to develop a DEI program that works — and is led by those most directly impacted — follow the steps outlined here:

?? 5 Steps to Implementing a Successful DEI Program ??

4. Offer the Benefits and Perks Your Employees and Recruits Truly Want

“The reasons for staying [with an employer] are complex, and?the answer is no longer just offering increased salary or flexibility ,” says Jeanne C M. , founder of Future Workplace and executive VP of Executive Networks . Instead, “employers must regularly survey employees to understand the levers which can deliver the most value to various segments of workers.”

Based on scores of surveys and third-party research, I have compiled a list of the most important benefits right now. They include:

1. Work flexibility
2. Covered abortion services
3. Mental and behavioral healthcare
4. Digital health, telehealth and virtual care
5. Financial wellness and generational wealth
6. Family wellness
7. Learning & Development, and upward mobility
8. Personalized wellness and tailored benefits (e.g., student loan repayment programs, college tuition reimbursement, 529 plans, travel stipends and car services, or household management and caretaker resources)
9. Kindness and appreciation (81% of workers say they'd work harder for an appreciative boss )

To learn about the nine benefits — in addition to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging — that will help you recruit and retain top talent, read this:

?? 9 Must-Offer Employee Benefits and Perks ??

The Top 10 HR Software Solutions

While you could outsource to a benefits consulting company, I recommend empowering your talent management professionals already on salary; any of the top 10 human resources software solutions would allow them to streamline and/or automate their more mundane tasks, freeing them up to focus on enhancing HR strategy, advising leadership and supporting organizational initiatives.

To better organize all HR functions, consolidate employee data, measure and boost employee engagement, enhance DEI, manage benefits and compensation, and recruit top talent for each of your digital marketing roles, invest in one of the following:

1. ADP Workforce Now
2. BambooHR
3. Namely
4. Paychex
5. Paycor
6. Rippling
7. Sap SuccessFactors
8. UKG
9. Workday
10. Zenefits

When demoing your HR software, look out for:

• Streamlined user interface with simple navigation
• Resource library with educational resources
• Personalized messaging and prompts to alert HR professionals, managers and employees of new requirements — and to facilitate employee engagement
• Adaptive learning (or at least customizable training) capabilities or integrations
• Virtual assistant to help employees make benefits decisions without pulling HR leaders from strategic responsibilities

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