Retention, engagement, and branding—as the battle to find and keep top talent intensifies, this trio of topics continues to gain in importance for all HR managers. BLR recently completed a survey on these topics, which was sponsored by SilkRoad. To help us gain additional perspective we asked SilkRoad's Mimi Jerkan to join us.

Jerkan explains that while having employees who are satisfied and engaged at work is a great thing, it's employee ACTIVATION that determines the success of organizations. Activation involves each employee understanding the impact of his or her work, knowing how their individual contributions are moving the needle, and having a transparent view of the organization as a whole.

Jerkan also discusses the role of employer branding in the context of creating engagement and activation—and why it's crucial for employers not to limit branding to the recruiting process, but to approach it as something they must provide throughout the employee life cycle.