The Client
Primary Engineering and Construction provides complete engineering and construction solutions across Canada, including electric utility, land development, telecommunications, and renewables.
Major Deliverables
Employee Engagement & Culture Platform
The Challenge
Primary has always been an organization driven by strong values, always striving to empower their team, clients, and communities. Over the last 20 years, they have fostered a culture of support, guidance, and creativity, where individuals from all backgrounds and identities can shape their career paths and fulfill their ambitions.
As an organization currently experiencing rapid expansion - both in team members and geography, it was crucial for the leadership team to ensure their culture and values remained front and center. This was especially needed in an environment where competitors were attempting to poach talent from our team. Additionally, the geographic distance between offices made it challenging to establish a sense of community and belonging.
On the business front, Primary Engineering saw the increasing significance of community involvement and social contribution in requests for proposals (RFPs). While the company had always valued community and social causes, they weren’t sharing it as a part of their external messaging.
Could there be a singular platform that addresses all of these challenges?
The Strategy
The idea for Pulse: Life At Primary was born as a eureka moment during our annual LIFT marketing strategy discussion with the Primary team. Why not create a singular platform that allowed them to build and nurture their culture, develop a sense of belonging in the team, strengthen the sense of community, and showcase their commitment to social causes - all in one place?
We started with two clear objectives:
1) To create a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive employee engagement program that also serves as a platform for Primary’s recruitment efforts and employment brand.
2) To enable Primary’s employees, internal stakeholders, and clients to engage with the community through the Primary brand.
We also realized that, before we started, we needed to map out what this meant for all stakeholders who engage with the Primary brand. To be successful, the platform needed to be a very human experience, one that led with empathy and compassion for everyone involved.
We set out to create engagement statements for all stakeholders:
1) For Employees: The opportunity to participate in the Primary Brand, gain clarity on what we stand for, and understand the range of services and capabilities we provide.
2) Diversity & Inclusion: "Life At Primary" gives our Diversity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives the space to meaningfully educate our internal stakeholders and team on what diversity and inclusion mean and how we can best put them in action on a day-to-day basis.
3) Community Engagement: "Life At Primary" acts as a space to showcase our existing community initiatives while also extending the opportunity for community engagement to the entire Primary team and our clients.
4) For Clients: "Life At Primary" is an opportunity to engage in positive social initiatives through the Primary brand.
5) For Prospective Talent: "Life At Primary" is a vibrant showcase of the exciting, inclusive, and diverse culture at Primary. It allows us to convince prospective team members why they should build their careers with us.
The Results
People
People were always at the heart of this project. We knew that for Pulse to be truly successful, we would need buy-in and ownership from the majority of the Primary team.
We started by understanding how the team interacts with the organization, both digitally and in-person to map out engagement and access opportunities.
Working alongside the Primary team, we nominated Pulse ambassadors across all locations who would act as advocates for introducing the platform to their peers. These ambassadors would also help us ensure that all voices at Primary were being heard, and that everyone could share their stories with the rest of the team and the world.
Brand
We started by creating unique messaging and a strong visual identity for Pulse. While still an extension of the overall Primary brand, we wanted Pulse to feel fresh and a little more playful than their business side.
Platforms
For Pulse to feel like an organizational space and initiative, we needed to ensure that it was adequately represented on all internal and external platforms.
We created internal newsfeeds, conversation spaces, and file-shares to ensure that regardless of how the Primary team accessed their digital space, Pulse would always be accessible to them.
Externally, we created an exclusive Instagram handle dedicated that gave us the necessary space for this initiative to thrive. Additionally, the platform would also be showcased alongside all current career postings.
The Pulse landing page we created on the website became a central connection point with the integration of the Instagram feed, current career postings, and profiles and stories from the amazing Primary team.
Pulse: Life At Primary embodies the magic that happens when organizations genuinely care about bringing their people together in a space where everyone can belong.
Want to be a part of the magic? Come join us at life-at-primary!