Uncubed Approved: BlackRock’s Instagram Account
Employees want to know that the work they do matters. In some fields, the results are obvious. Those in healthcare, education, and law often get to see the positive impact of their work, but for most of us, making the connection between our day-to-day and the greater good is harder.
COVID has prompted half of US workers to think more deeply about their jobs and made just as many want to contribute more to society.
The investment firm BlackRock is taking seriously the desire of workers to contribute to societal betterment, and it appears to be supporting that with a positive employee experience inside the organization. Let’s take a look at the company’s Instagram feed as a case study of how they’re using employer branding to demonstrate both.
Creating a socially responsible company
Investment banks don’t exactly have glowing reputations, usually associated with the wealthy and ballooning wealth inequality. BlackRock is trying to redeem that reputation with their employer brand.
The company’s Instagram feed is full of CSR (corporate social responsibility) and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives, projects that tie the work of the business to the world and how it could be.
The company posts about educating communities on financial literacy, inspiring female high school students to pursue careers in finance and fintech, and ERGs that volunteer in their local communities.
Employee presence is necessary for any strong employer brand, and the power of BlackRock’s Instagram feed comes from the fact that every single post includes employee faces, and, in most of them, we hear directly from employees.
Seeing faces personalizes a massive global company and helps potential hires see people who look like them in the organization. And when used correctly, images of actual employees give credit where credit is due and recognize the individuals who make your business possible.
When you include their voices, it demonstrates employees’ personal investment, that these programs aren’t just company-mandated, but employee-fueled.
Listing environmental responsibility goals or the number of hours volunteered by employees doesn’t do much to create an employer brand. That’s the telling, not the showing, and it looks like the corporation is taking credit for the work of individuals. Onlookers, and employees, have to feel that the work is real and meaningful.
Investing in the employee experience
If employees don’t feel safe and valued in their workplace, then that workplace cannot serve as a jumping-off point for bettering the world. The finance industry gets its fair share of bad press about employee experience, but BlackRock appears to take this seriously.
Instagram scrollers can also learn about the company’s recruiting and employee experience programs, like their Veterans Transition Program, returnship programs for people who have been out of the workforce, and recruitment programs that seek out communities of color.
To back up the argument that employees are empowered to do good work through BlackRock, they have to show that their experience inside the company is a good one. Employer brands always begin within.
Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza writes about workplace culture, DEI, and hiring. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, From Day One, and InHerSight, among others.
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Launched in 2016, Uncubed Studios is a full-service creative agency with a client list representing the most influential employers on earth along with the high growth tech companies.
The team that brings the work of Uncubed Studios to life is made up of award-winning experts in cinematography, journalism, production, recruitment, employee engagement, employer branding and more.
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