At last some good news on the employee engagement front (after a long period of cost-cutting and doing more with less): 2014 has been named the“Year of the Employee,” according to Forbes. In other words, employers are finally recognizing that their people are overstretched, overworked, and most important, vital to supporting the economic recovery finally underway. It’s about time, right?

Unfortunately, we’re not emerging from this prolonged recession unscathed. According to Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace Report, 70 percent of U.S. employees are either “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” at work – at a cost of $450 billion to $550 billion per year. Righting the ship of employee engagement won’t be easy, especially at a time when employees are transitioning through jobs, careers and companies faster than ever. In fact, the very nature of employee engagement is shifting, as an increased number of employees, particularly younger ones, are seeking greater balance and more meaning from their jobs. As Josh Bersin notes in a recent Forbes blog post, employees are no longer looking for a career, they’re looking for an experience.

So how do we move the needle on engagement? It starts with first understanding the employee experience companies are creating – then hacking it at just the right places to generate meaningful change.

On Friday, February 28, our agency, Brilliant Ink, will be co-hosting the first of its kind hackathon specifically designed for communications, HR, OD and CSR professionals to collaborate on building better employee experiences and higher levels of employee engagement. We’re proud to be collaborating on this unique event with a cadre of progressive organizations, including the San Francisco chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the Golden Gate chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the South Bay Organizational Development Network (SBODN), and Net Impact, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting change from within organizations. 

In its truest form, a hackathon is an event drawing together a large number of people to engage in collaborative computer programming. Hackathons aren’t a new concept for developers and the tech-set, but those of us working in the field of employee engagement haven’t been as lucky. Until now.

Drawing on our own award-winning research, hackers will have an opportunity to zero in on key moments that can make or break the employee experience, then work together to generate their biggest and best ideas for improvements.

The end goal is simple. By bringing together a creative, talented group with a shared passion for employee engagement and responsible business practices, we hope to generate new ideas and approaches that corporate professionals, independent creatives, and students can take back to their own companies and networks. We want to spark new connections between like-minded professionals who can continue to collaborate after this event is over. And ultimately, we want start an employee experience revolution – one that recognizes and honors the collective talent and power inherent in the workforce of today.  

Will you join us?

Hack the Experience

Friday, February 28
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Autodesk Gallery
One Market, Floor 2
San Francisco, CA 94105

Learn more and register