How Podcasting Helps with Employee Retention

Tue, 16 Aug 2022

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Building a strong team is a valuable investment for every company, and in the current business landscape, how can organizations ensure employee retention?
Engage in a dialogue with Dave Delaney, a corporate trainer and consultant who has a track record of collaborating with leading companies to boost employee retention, enhance communication, and empower their workforce!
For insights on leveraging podcasts within your organization, visit: https://www.podbean.com/enterprise/enterprise-podcast-solution
To discover more about Dave and his expertise in podcasting and writing, check out Futureforth.com.

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Giving Your Ambassadors a Voice

What happens when the way your leaders connect with their teams is removed overnight? Many enterprises have faced this question as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns and remote work meant that management was disempowered and disconnected from their team at a time of great challenge.Podbean connected with Mark Mathia, Chief Experience Officer at Signature Performance, to hear about how they faced this challenge. Signature Performance works in the field of healthcare administration. Signature Performance recognized the fear and uncertainty that their people were experiencing and knew they needed a tool that brought people together in a deeper way. We joined Mark to find out more about how Signature Performance leverages its management team as ambassadors on its podcast.Why Podcasting?Corporate communications, branding, and marketing are all within Mark’s areas of responsibility. So when 80% of the Signature Performance’s workforce went remote in response to the threat of the pandemic, Mark’s team needed to pivot quickly.Isolation is not good for employee morale, especially in a time of widespread fear and economic uncertainty. Signature Performance felt that remote work left people feeling disconnected and lonely at times. Mark and his team decided that the benefits of actually hearing their colleagues’ voices would create a deeper human connection across the team. They also wanted to meet people where they were with something easy and convenient to digest, which is how they landed on podcasting and their target episode length.How Do You Use Podcasting?Signature Performance uses podcasting for internal communications. There are three strands to this implementation:Primarily, Mark uses podcasts as glue to connect his teams and people. Signature Performance uses podcasts to give their leaders an effective way to lead and inspire their remote teams. That is, to re-enable management to be ambassadors for the company.Signature Performance also uses podcasts as a way to connect with and better equip their management teams. By using Podbean’s secure podcasting platform to deliver their channel content privately, Signature Performance has shared “classified” information within their own management teams to communicate changes in strategy and vision.Finally, Signature Performance captures evergreen materials from podcasts and upcycles that material into training programs. The podcasts provide key information that can be more easily retained and reused.How Is the Podcast Created?Mark tells us that the process is extremely easy with Podbean (thanks Mark, we worked hard to make it so!). Mark works with his team to determine what materials are required. Part of that process involves surveying within their teams to identify what their content needs are across each quarter.The equipment used is basic, typically just a laptop and microphone. Signature Performance applies a hosted interview format to assist those content providers through the process. Also, one team member takes responsibility for the post-processing of the audio material before the podcast is released.Signature Performance’s approach is to channel content toward a particular target group. Their belief is that creating curated, targeted content is the most effective strategy for creating high levels of engagement. They also focus on curating content for the people who are their biggest center of influence, their management team.What Are the Benefits of Corporate Podcasting?The simple answer, connection.Signature Performance’s business model evolved rapidly during the pandemic – as the needs of the healthcare providers changed. This meant that new strategies had to be communicated effectively, at speed, across a scattered team. So, what did podcasts offer over MS Teams or Zoom? The element of storytelling; a deeper and richer experience than offered by the written word. There’s also the element of convenience for team members to listen and relisten as they wish.Signature Performance also used podcasts as a way to introduce new members of management. The changes to the business model brought new additions to their C-suite team. By creating podcasts, these managers were able to introduce themselves across the company in a personal way that communicated the essence of their personalities, not just their words.As Mark says, the impact of management sharing their vision for the future comes across much more strongly when presented in their own voice.Is There Any Take-Home Advice?Mark’s advice is to leverage podcasts to give your management team their voice back. He says: “get a microphone that’s clear and get a message that’s impactful”. He also reinforces that podcasting is an efficient way to communicate in terms of time, effort, and expense.Mark recommends patience. Mark says, “Early adoption doesn’t often happen in droves...but believe in what you’re doing and just get started.” Don’t expect immediate take-up, do expect to build the podcasts like a brand. Form the habit and let it grow.Perhaps the key take-away is not to underestimate the power of voice. Mark strongly believes that voice goes beyond the written word. Mark’s premise is that the essence of a person’s tone and inflection, sincerity, and confidence comes across in podcasts in a richer way that is possible through emails and newsletters.

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Why Employee Stories Matter with Lehigh University

With shake ups in the workplace such as “the great resignation” and new employees onboarding during a pandemic, it has never been so important to find ways to build your employee community and strengthen those human connections.We spoke to Hillary Kwiatek, Lehigh University’s employee communications specialist. Lehigh is a mid-size private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that ranks in the top 50 in the US. Hillary dropped by to share her experience of launching Lehigh University's career journey story podcast.What inspired you to start a podcast?Creating their podcast The Spotcast was part of the natural evolution of diversifying from traditional, printed communications to more digital media. With a very limited budget to speak of, podcasting offered an efficient and affordable medium to reach Lehigh’s staff and even the broader community.It also provided Hillary with a channel to showcase the staff in a way that is different from the normal press release and social media paths, offering opportunities to give voice to the diverse stories that make up their community.Who creates the podcast?Hillary and, when she has one, an intern, do all the work, from identifying interviewees to purchasing the music license to interviewing and recording. The University has its own audio recording studio, so Hillary has access to all the equipment she needs to record and edit the show.The strategy Hillary applies to each podcast is to have a fifteen minute conversation with the interviewee before the show. She tries to avoid giving them a specific list of the questions she intends to ask prior to the interview. She helps them feel comfortable in this pre-interview meeting so they go into the interview prepared and it can then follow a natural conversational flow.How is the podcast promoted?The marketing of the podcast is all on Hillary. She promotes each show in the e-newsletter and the university's social media channels: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.Hillary uses quotes and images of the interviewee and, of course, makes sure she shares the link with the interviewee. This cross promotion between Lehigh University’s official channels and the interviewee’s network often widens that reach.What is the value your podcast offers your audience?At one level, the podcast is about building the brand of Lehigh and augmenting employee relations.On another level, it performs a particular function, which is to open the audience to the incredible potential and possibilities they will have access to in their career path. 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Students and faculty members who otherwise may not know, were made aware of this person's commitment to being an important resource. Another episode featured the story of the university’s performing arts center director. This story served both to highlight the diverse careers and paths to them at Lehigh and also to show people beyond the campus the many functions the university serves in the community.What has the response been to the podcast?Interestingly, the response is often related to a more hidden value of the podcast. That is, the recognition that the interviewee receives as a result of the exposure.Time and again, Hillary sees the podcast travel beyond the normal brand reach of Lehigh University and travel outward on social media in the interviewee's own circle.In fact, it is often the interviewee who returns with feedback to Hillary regarding the overwhelming response they received. It is this personal feedback and the connections created, more than numbers, that have shown the success of the podcast.What value does a podcast bring that other mediums don't?Hillary loves conversation and listening to other people's stories and is a firm believer in the connection that the medium of speech gives both the interviewee and interviewer.Based on the response to the podcast that Hillary receives, she can see how it is building community by creating reach at a human level.What are your future goals for the podcast?Hillary is considering adding a format to allow employee communications to go beyond the focus on personnel profiling to discuss policies and practices that affect staff. Hillary considers this will require a shorter form podcast. Meanwhile, she remains committed to retaining the original, longer-form interviews as well. 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By providing high-value content to their existing customer base, Paychex helped cement the relationship with their customers, adding value and improving the chances of retaining those customers for life. This “captive” audience has come to expect a 360-degree support from Paychex, helping them to address those concerns they have that are common to any small business.The next factor is brand growth. To grow the brand, the Paychex philosophy is simple: all it takes is one recommendation. If just one existing customer recommends a branded podcast as a worthwhile listen to another small business, Paychex has, ideally, a potential new customer, and if not a customer, then one more potential new promoter.It is this organic growth that underpins Paychex’s branded podcast marketing strategy.How is the branded podcast produced?A high-value, well produced branded podcast usually has a team behind it. We asked Gene what is “under the hood” of the Paychex podcast. Being a small business owner himself, Gene’s own pain points and need-to-knows drive the content creation process. Gene has an excellent network of connections to tap into and he marries the need to the expert and places the proposal before his producer.The producer is a Paychex employee who handles the pitching and administration surrounding getting everyone together. The producer also manages the person responsible for post production.In terms of recording the show, Gene’s trick is to record a video call with the interviewee followed by adding the introduction and closure for the show to the same call – after the interview is done. This allows him to be responsive to the interview that actually happened, rather than the one he predicted would happen. Sounds like a great tip, Gene!And, finally the podcast is promoted on social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.Do you have any take home advice?Gene’s advice splits into two items, firstly a great piece of advice for the interview format itself and secondly great advice for anyone starting out.Interviews are conversations, not Q&A sessions.If you undertake an interview-format show then make sure your interviewer is actively listening. Gene warns that a set of pre-determined questions must be handled with caution! While they are essential to guiding a show, Q&A can quickly descend into a transactional experience which will lose your listener's interest.Gene reckons that part of his show’s success is built on the fact that he is genuinely interested in the subject matter and wants to know the answer to what he asked. It is this genuine intent that brings the interview alive and ensures that the listener’s experience is rich.Starting out?Finally, Gene explains that growth is gradual. “Build your base”, he says; “and recognize that it takes time to grow”. If you have only 100 dedicated listeners, then you have 100 potential customers and that base will grow.Remember, Gene advises, that your podcasts are like a library for your customer base. Maybe they discover you years after you started out. By focusing on content that matters, you have created a resource that can inform and engage your target audience long after you produced the branded podcast content itself.

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