HR Technology® Conference
UPDATE
How can social technologies be implemented in a way to encourage employee engagement and strengthen corporate values? HR
Technology® Conference Co-Chair Steve Boese
sought to find this out recently by speaking with
Laurie Zaucha, vice president of human resources
and organizational development, and Joe Schaeffer,
social-media-program manager of Rochester, N. Y.-based Paychex, a 13,000-plus-employee provider of
workplace-technology solutions for payroll, benefits
administration and more.
His Q&A with them offers insights into the
ways HR leaders can help their organizations adapt,
embrace and leverage these technologies and
platforms, while encouraging employee ambassadors
to maintain morale, increase employer brand
awareness, and continue to build and strengthen the
organization’s unique culture.
Zaucha and Schaeffer will be sharing their
Paychex story—namely the company’s social
strategies, programs and results—at the upcoming
HR Technology® Conference, scheduled for Oct.
18 through 21 in Las Vegas. Their insights about
Paychex’s social and engagement initiatives shed
important light on the ways HR leaders can bring
together cross-functional teams with representatives
from PR, marketing, legal and operations, and more
for the purpose of strengthening organizational
culture, improving engagement and building
employer-brand equity.
The Paychex story serves as a telling reminder
that these kinds of employee-driven, open, transparent
and fundamentally social programs can be executed at
even traditionally conservative organizations. Building
internal champions, creating an environment that is
“safe” for employees to engage in and demonstrating
successes are all important lessons to be gleaned from
Paychex’s experience—all applicable and capable of
being replicated at just about every type and size of
organization.
The conference, itself, will showcase HR and
business executives from some of the world’s leading
organizations sharing how they are driving superior
results, improving engagement, and finding and
retaining the best talent supported by modern and
innovative technologies. Additionally, the latest and
most exciting breakthroughs in HR technology will be
on display, both on the conference’s main stage and in
its Expo Hall, which will feature 300-plus HR solution
providers.
Below are highlights from Boese’s Q&A.
Laurie, at the upcoming conference, you and
Joe will share insights from Paychex’s ongoing
employee-engagement campaign, which you
call “Paychex Proud.” Can you talk about how
Paychex Proud got started and what the impetus
was for launching this campaign? What were the
desired outcomes from your perspective?
Zaucha: The original
“Paychex Proud” phrase was
coined to promote a business
meeting in 2010, but the
concept has been around for
years. Engagement and culture
surveys of our employees
indicate a very strong sense of
pride in working for Paychex.
Looking at our culture and
values from the employee
perspective, Paychex Proud is a way to make the
intangible tangible—to put a name to the best parts of
Experts discuss ways large organizations can use social technologies and an engaged workforce to
support their cultures as well as their employer branding and recruiting efforts.
Making Social Work
what it’s like to work at Paychex. When it came time
to find a way to apply the concept to social media,
“#PaychexProud” was a natural fit.
Schaef fer: The
#PaychexProud campaign is
really an outlet for employees
to share what they love about
working at Paychex. We wanted
it to feel organic—something
we could weave into more
formal campaigns such as
company-sponsored events or
employee-facing meetings—
but the best #PaychexProud
content is conversational, casual. For us, success
really means employees sharing their #PaychexProud
Zaucha Schaeffer