2023 Recap: A Year of Growth, Collaboration & Success, Part One

Another year is coming to a close, and as we look back, there’s so much to be proud of! This year we grew our Membership, added to our team, and celebrated wins each and every month – but we also did so much more. We would like to thank our staff, Members, partners, and industry friends for their role in making the last twelve months a success. Let’s take a closer look at all we were able to accomplish in 2023, not just as a team, but as an association.

Launched DirectEmployers Employee Resource Group

With diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront of our priorities, we worked to organize a company-wide Employee Resource Group (ERG). This group, comprised of approximately 32% of our total staff, meets regularly, both virtually and in-person, to foster inclusion and belonging within the organization. Along with lively discussions on various DEI topics, the group has welcomed guest speakers, supported diverse local businesses, and even helped launch a page illustrating our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. See our 6 month ERG recap and our Q3 update to see what the group has been up to!

Continued DE Masterclass Employment Law Roundtable

2023 marked the second year of our DE Masterclass Employment Law Roundtable series, and this year we continued these insightful discussions with a twist: we let our Members decide the topics. Using our post-webinar survey data, frequently asked questions, and the DE Connect discussion forum, we formulated our sessions based on what our attendees truly wanted to learn, resulting in eight roundtables with a total of over 1,300 attendees. We can’t wait to continue the series in 2024! Miss some of the discussions? Watch them on-demand!

Announced Strategic Partnership with OutSolve

In January, we announced an exciting new partnership confirming OutSolve as our preferred affirmative action plan development service and DirectEmployers as their preferred job listing and recruitment marketing solution provider. Together through this partnership, we are able to provide the industry a one-stop solution that touches every stage of the OFCCP compliance lifecycle. We are thrilled to continue this partnership in 2024! Want more info? Get the full details from this press release.

Continued the DE Talk Podcast

There are more stories to tell, and the DE Talk Podcast is going to tell them! This year we finished season four and started season five, focusing on a variety of interesting topics ranging from skills-based hiring and ERGs to veteran hiring, the non-traditional workforce, apprenticeships, multigenerational workplaces, DEI, and so much more. We’ve got more great conversations coming up in the new year, so be sure to follow along, and subscribe to email notifications or SMS alerts to be notified when new episodes are available!

Mike Thibideau of Invest Hamilton County and DirectEmployers VP of Strategic Partnerships & Alliances Shannon Offord record an episode of DE Talk in the DirectEmployers recording studio.

Won our First Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year

Spring was a season of accolades and recognition! We were honored to win a Bronze Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year, thanks to the dedication and support of our Member Engagement Team. These individuals are responsible for keeping Members engaged, educated, and connected through the duration of their membership, helping us maintain our 95% Member retention rate. The team had the honor of accepting this award at a special ceremony in Las Vegas – what a fun night!

DirectEmployers representatives pose with the Stevie Award at the award reception in Las Vegas.

Won our Third JD Supra Readers’ Choice Award

We were also honored to win a 2023 JD Supra Readers’ Choice Award for the number one and number two spots as Top Author in the Government Contracting Category – for the third consecutive year! This is honor goes to our OFCCP Week in Review authors, Candee Chambers, John Fox, and Cynthia Hackerott for their hard work each and every week of the year, following and reporting on the latest news in government contracting as it relates to employment law. Congratulations to the team!

Hosted DEAMcon23 in Chicago

This year’s conference was hosted a few hours away from our Indy headquarters in Chicago! We were thrilled to welcome our Members, partners, and industry friends to the Midwest for our second in-person event since the pandemic. Taking place right on the sparkling riverfront, this year’s conference featured an outstanding program, excellent food, and a fun evening event which really brought out or attendees competitive side. Check out the highlights in the video below and be sure to check out the Day One, Day Two, and Day Three recaps on our blog. We hope to see everyone in New Orleans, April 3^rd – 5^th for DEAMcon24!

Won a Central Indiana Top Workplaces 2023 Award

Another third-consecutive-year-win for us was the Central Indiana Top Workplaces Award! Awarded based on employee feedback gathered via an anonymous online survey, we were honored to rank 15th among 66 companies in the Small Business category. Maintaining a safe and inclusive (and fun!) company culture is important to us and we are truly grateful to have received this recognition once more. Let’s do it again in 2024!

DirectEmployers representatives pose with the Top Workplaces award at the award reception in Indianapolis.

Our Family of Brands Continued to Flourish

In tech, product enhancements never end! This year, Recruit Rooster remained diligent, putting in the work to make their Talent Community bigger and better, thanks to the help of its dedicated tech team, RocketBuild. The two also collaborated to develop a brand new Talent Attract Video platform, putting even more creative power in the hands of the employer! Speaking of creativity, the Recruit Rooster Creative Services team was thrilled to win not one but FOUR MUSE Awards for videos created for clients including Bechtel, Jensen Precast, Bernhard, and IN Control. Learn more about these awards and view the winning videos in this blog post. In addition, Recruit Rooster was nominated for Tech Team of the Year in the 2023 TechPoint Mira Awards! What a great year these teams had!

Recruit Rooster and RocketBuild representatives pose for a photo at the 2023 TechPoint Mira Awards in Indianapolis.

All these accomplishments and we’re only halfway through! Stay tuned for part two of our annual recap next week – we’ve got much more to share!