Cisco employees create content for multiple talent brand sites

Cisco Systems’ Talent Brand team focuses on helping prospects connect with existing employees, something they say they can’t achieve with just PR. Instead, the #WeAreCisco theme conveys the soul of the team’s efforts: real employees authentically telling the story of what it’s like to work at Cisco. Its success has taken first place in the “User-Generated Content” category of PR Daily’s 2018 Content Marketing Awards.

The program is summed up with the team’s four “E’s”: encourage (letting employees know they have permission to share their experiences on social media); engage (responding to employees, talking like a co-worker and using photos employees share); empower (providing opportunities for employees to share); and elevate (sharing employee stories across multiple social channels in support of the brand).

The programs include the Life at Cisco blog, along with multiple social media accounts (with a focus on Snapchat), the Careers website and a host of contests designed to inspire new employee-generated content. Special programs have included a redo of the #WeAreCisco #LoveWhereYouWork campaign focused on Star Wars Day, adding the #MayThe4th hashtag.

The numbers the team analyzes prove the effort works, not only at attracting candidates but also at retaining employees. The May the 4^th campaign alone delivered stellar (pun absolutely intended) results. As for the WeAreCisco Instagram account, its engagement rate is five times the average for all industries (not just technology).

Congratulations to the Cisco Systems Talent Brand team of Macy Andrews, Carmen Collins, Casie Shimansky, Ray Leung and Tamar Glasner.