Strategic Partnership to Focus on Employer Branding

Indianapolis-based marketing agency Element Three has announced a strategic partnership aimed at boosting employer branding among tech companies. President Tiffany Sauder says the partnership with Powderkeg will help companies focus on using their brand to attract and retain top talent and build employee engagement. Powderkeg is an Indy-based startup connector whose annual tech census showed talent remains a challenge among tech companies in the Midwest. 

In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Sauder said the partnership will allow both Element Three and Powderkeg to reach more businesses.

"I think that part of it is we felt like we could both reach a broader audience just from an education perspective," said Sauder. "The other is the more we can partner with the tech census and the research that Powderkeg is doing to understand what is going on. Us being able to partner with the data and the information that Powderkeg is bringing from this really unique marketplace and really unique talent market too will make us better at our jobs as brand builders and message makers."

Powderkeg Chief Executive Officer Matt Hunckler says working with Element Three will help talent understand what makes companies unique.

"Every tech company is fighting for talent," said Hunckler. "These tech companies have some of the highest job satisfaction of every other industry but at the same time, they have some of the highest turnover. It’s actually the highest turnover than any other industry. So how do you actually find that right talent and retain the right talent? You have to find the right people for your company. Not every culture is right for every employee and so by really figuring out what their employer brand is, what that company stands for, these companies are able to connect with the right people at the right time."

Sauder says the fight for talent is making company leaders look hard at how much they really believe in their talent. She says its easy for companies to talk about their employee culture, but it’s another thing for those companies to spend money to show it.

"As leaders, we can leave things like values and mission and vision to intuition just like you would a communication campaign in the marketplace or we can be incredibly intentional about what are those words and why do those words matter and how do we teach and reiterate and train and create symbols and norms and ways of operating that allow our employees to understand that this is not lip service; this is true," said Sauder. "In the day of Glassdoor reviews and a very transparent world that we live in, there’s not space for those who just give lip service to it."

Element Three and Powderkeg plan to kick off the partnership at Powderkeg’s MarTech Madness pitch night February 28 in Indy.