Beyond Trends: ERC CEO Kelly Keefe Talks Crafting a Meaningful Employee Experience for 2025 

Around this time each year, we’re flooded with predictions about the “next big thing” in HR for the upcoming year. At ERC, we’ve certainly contributed to these conversations in the past, but for 2025, we’re taking a different approach. Rather than chasing the latest trends, we encourage you to step back and adopt a more … Read more

Workplace Culture: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Define It

The Highlights:

  • How do you define “workplace culture”? Workplace culture is an organization’s unique “character and personality,” shaped by shared values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes that define the environment and guide how employees interact.
  • Workplace culture is important because it shapes employees’ engagement, satisfaction, and performance, ultimately impacting employee retention, collaboration, and overall organizational success.

Workplace Culture: What It Is, Why It Matters, & How to Define It

Culture is the character and personality of your organization. It’s what makes your business unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes.

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Essential Interview Questions for Hiring Supervisors: A Guide for Employers and HR Leaders

Interview with Supervisor

The Highlights: Selecting the right supervisor for your team is about more than filling a vacancy; it’s about choosing a leader who will foster growth and positivity within your team. At the same time, understanding the true potential of candidates beyond their resumes can be challenging. This guide is meant to help you navigate this … Read more

ERC to Launch Redesigned Member HR Resources Hub

New myERC Portal

Cleveland, OH – September 25, 2024 – ERC, the trusted 104-year-old organization that provides HR services to help leaders build better workplaces, is excited to launch a redesigned member portal and exclusive HR Resources Hub in mid-October. As part of ERC’s commitment to delivering relevant and valuable resources, this new HR platform, powered by Zywave’s Human … Read more

ERC’s CEO Kelly Keefe Reflects on Top Workplace Trends & Data from 2024 NorthCoast 99 Winners

NC99 Top Workplace Trends

If the Northeast Ohio region were a stage, the NorthCoast 99 winning companies would be the A-list stars! These companies don’t just shine – they steal the show with their innovation and commitment to their employees. I feel so lucky each year to have front-row seats to see the best companies in action. They not … Read more

ERC Announces Leadership Team Expansion and New Executive Roles

Cleveland, OH – September 3, 2024 – ERC, the trusted 104-year-old organization that provides HR services to help leaders build better workplaces, is proud to announce the promotion and expansion of its leadership team. Effective immediately, six key members of ERC’s team will step into new executive roles that reflect the organization’s evolving needs and … Read more

From Leader to Leader: ERC President Kelly Keefe Talks Prioritizing Employee Mental Health

ERC Kelly Keefe Talks Prioritizing Employee Mental Health

One of the most rewarding aspects of overseeing the NorthCoast 99 program is observing the evolving trends among exceptional organizations in their efforts to attract, engage, and retain top talent. In the latest round of applications, one of the most prominent themes was the prioritization of employee mental health. While it may seem counterintuitive, award-winning … Read more

ERC President Kelly Keefe Talks Building a Talent Pipeline with Interns

Kelly Keefe Talks Building a Talent Pipeline

Cultivating a strong candidate pipeline is essential for any organization’s long-term success. In the Northeast Ohio region alone, 88% of companies surveyed by ERC plan to build their local talent pipeline through internships.   While internship programs generally require staff time and resources, they also host a wealth of benefits for the company, including increased brand … Read more

ERC President Kelly Keefe Talks Proactive Strategies to Retain Workers

Kelly Keefe Talks Proactive Strategies to Retain Workers

All too often, organizations are reactive in their efforts to retain their workforce. Especially during periods of talent scarcity, companies try to make quick fixes, such as increasing starting pay rates for new hires. While this may remedy the symptoms in the short term, it doesn’t solve the issue of voluntary turnover in the long … Read more

From Leader to Leader: ERC President Kelly Keefe Talks Strategic Leadership in 2024

Kelly Keefe Talks Strategic Leadership in 2024

While the field of HR had already been making great strides toward putting the “human” back in Human Resources, the last few years have thrust HR into the limelight in ways we could have never imagined. From a global pandemic to social unrest to a historic labor shortage, HR departments have been asked to shoulder … Read more

From Leader to Leader: ERC President Kelly Keefe Talks Employee Lifestyle Benefits to Offer in 2024

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, award-winning organizations have focused increasingly on offering innovative employee lifestyle benefits (also known as employee lifestyle perks) to improve the overall quality of employees’ lives. Lifestyle benefits are non-salary perks that enhance your employee value proposition – the unique value your employees can expect and gain while employed … Read more

From Leader to Leader: ERC President Kelly Keefe Talks 25 Years of Great Workplaces

Time sure flies by! It’s hard to believe that ERC founded the NorthCoast 99 annual awards program and event 25 years ago! As our team reflected on the past two decades of the NorthCoast 99 program, one reoccurring theme emerged – The Great Workplace Evolution. From technological advancements to cultural shifts, workplaces have experienced tremendous … Read more