If you’re charged with building, cultivating and growing a brand, it’s all about earning the loyalty of new and current customers, and keeping them engaged, satisfied and coming back again and again. But what about your employees who deliver those exceptional experiences, products or services?
More companies are rightfully putting employees first, knowing their own team’s loyalty, trust and advocacy are the keys to customer satisfaction. As Virgin Group founder and entrepreneur Richard Branson says: “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
From our experience helping companies build and nurture their brand from the inside-out, here are seven insights and opportunities to consider:
- Seek and apply feedback. Use surveys, focus groups and/or discussions to gain insights from employees at various levels and locations in order to develop or refine your communication action plan. You can gauge areas such as their understanding of the business direction and goals, along with what they see as their own role in supporting the company and customers; what type of information and communications vehicles are most valuable to them and why; what they believe the company and their team do well and what both could do better; and what motivates them to stay and do great work. In a timely manner, it’s also important to share overall findings and actions you’re taking from the feedback, along with anything employees should do. They’ll know they were heard and their input mattered, instead of thinking their feedback got lost in a sea of data or other business priorities. In addition, create ongoing opportunities and channels for two-way communication with employees.
- Define the bigger purpose. Employees may be most motivated and inspired when they’re working toward a larger purpose. You may gain specific insights about this from your qualitative or quantitative research with employees. In a nutshell: How does your brand make a difference or improve lives? The higher purpose should be related to the strategic direction or positioning of your company, and it goes beyond making money and getting ahead of the competition. This purpose may be the foundation for core internal messages and action steps, as it connects the interests and motivations of your employees with the needs of your brand.
- Create relatable internal messages and actions. Set aside the corporate jargon and provide meaningful messages and actions that are conversational and relatable. These should ladder up to the bigger purpose. Some companies create vision, mission and values statements. Others add an internal brand promise or “rallying cry.” No matter the materials or messages: Consider what you want employees to think, feel and do. It’s all about addressing our rational, emotional and behavioral sides. For example, a manufacturing company gave employees advance information about a first-of-its-kind product it was launching. They wanted employees – both plant and office workers – to feel really proud about the product and their role in bringing it to market. They created actionable ways employees could get involved in the product launch – contests; discount coupons to share with friends and family; on-site events celebrating the product and people behind it; and an ambassador program with added perks.
- Empower and equip supervisors. Employees most trust and turn to their managers for information and guidance. This means supervisors need to have the tools, support and any advance information to be able to reinforce the company’s direction and their team’s important role. They are in the best position to “translate” the company’s messages for their team. As a complement to their functional expertise, managers may also benefit from training, tips or best practice sharing to help them be effective communicators.
- Align HR and related benefits/incentives. To motivate employees and create a shared sense of responsibility and accountability in meeting business goals, HR-related programs must be consistent with the organization’s values and direction. For example, a global company defined its employer brand around being a place where talented, passionate people thrive. It developed and communicated formal training and development, knowledge-sharing and education assistance programs to complement that overarching commitment. Individual performance goals included learning opportunities.
- Consistent reinforcement. Leaders must walk the talk. They need to consistently and regularly communicate where the company is going, why and how employees contribute. They can use the appropriate channels for the right audiences (e.g., videos, Town Halls, brief emails or intranet/mobile app updates). Specific employee actions also should be highlighted and recognized, especially those that reinforce brand values or goals.
- Measure and adjust. Establish clear outcomes and ways to measure the progress of any employee branding or communications program. Initial surveys or research might offer benchmarks to consider re-measuring at a future point. Other metrics may involve employee actions (e.g., intranet site visits, article clicks, email/e-newsletter open rates, comments); post-Town Hall/meeting surveys to assess understanding of key topics and any communication gaps; employee retention or referrals; and benefits-related participation or usage.
