The XGuide
Rethinking the career move.
Framing the Problem
Have you ever felt stuck in your job? If so, then you’re not alone. Almost half (45%) of high performers say they would need to leave their organizations to advance their careers. Attrition at big organizations is a serious business challenge. Costs can spiral into the tens of thousands just to replace a single employee—factoring in recruiting costs, training costs, and lost productivity from the revolving door.
So, we partnered with our client to do something about it.
A Customized Journey
In years past, advancing through a big organization could feel like trudging a narrow, linear, seemingly pre-determined route. Today, however, people don’t want a prescriptive career. They want their employer to empower them with resources so they can build the career they want, the way they want.
Think about it: wouldn’t you be more likely to stay at your current organization (and be more engaged while you’re there) if you believed you were in charge of your destiny, that you could learn new skills to access the career experiences you choose? We Buglers certainly would.
And yet, barely a third (37%) of big companies provide lateral career paths for their employees to expand their skills the way they want. Fortunately, our client is one of them. They’re building a new customizable employee journey model aimed at creating relevant opportunities and empowering employees to advance their careers. Our challenge was to transform this business strategy into an exciting, practical guide that you could hold in your hands.
Our reputation has stood the test of time, in part because of our willingness to reinvent ourselves.
― SVP, Global Talent Officer
Bugle conceived and designed the Talent XGuide in web and print versions to solidify this strategy into a physical experience; a tool for navigating the client’s vibrant perks, benefits, programs, tools, and expectations.
Our choice of bespoke photography and original illustrations and headlines reflects the client’s customizable employee journey model through the intimacy of a journal doodle or a personal sketch on the back of a napkin. And the collection of 28 stories define what the client asks from its employees and what the company promises in return. A refreshed social contract between employer and employee, the Talent XGuide shares a bold vision for an inspiring employee value proposition, and a new type of customizable career experience built on choice, on skill development, and a transformative appreciation model.
How to Roam and Stay Put at the Same Time
The growing trend of the modern workforce is the constant search for the next meaningful career experience. But when nomadic exploration evolves into a mass exodus, a growing trend becomes a multi-million-dollar problem for big companies.
The XGuide is a content strategy for rethinking the concept of career roaming. High performers needn’t leave their organizations to advance their careers when an XGuide can show them how to move on to something new without ever having to leave.
With the initial print run of more than 5,000 copies and development of an AR companion app underway, the XGuide proves that an honest, inspirational, and navigational guidebook can both facilitate the traveling tendencies of the modern workforce while stemming the tide of attrition.
2018 AIGA50 award winner.
