Commentary

Integrated: Building From the Inside Out

Integrated: Building From the Inside Out-Jean BrandoliniTwo years ago, MEDIA published one of my early columns, which focused on employee brand engagement. After that column, one executive at an iconic American company sent a note saying, "This just makes sense." Sharing your brand with employees so that they believe in and commit to a common purpose does make sense.

While interest has grown over the past few years, progress has also been made on further establishing the benefits of employee brand engagement, especially in its links to delivering improved customer experiences. From the work we've done and what we've learned from others, here are our lessons on Employee Brand Engagement.

Employee engagement is richer and more focused when it becomes employee brand engagement. Employee engagement is generally seen as the extent to which an employee understands and commits to an organization. Levels of engagement impact how long employees stay and how hard they work. Employee engagement programs have historically been internally focused and are typically oriented around organizational change or process-improvement initiatives. Employee brand engagement is an employee's emotional commitment and intellectual connection to his or her company and its brand. These programs naturally incorporate the perspective and importance of the customer.

Employee engagement and brand engagement both lead to increased retention and productivity. Brand engagement, however, adds the benefit of an increased level of awareness of customer needs. This builds a company full of brand advocates - who are proud of their organization and understand its customers.

Employees crave information. They want to know the company goals, what their company stands for, how it's different and better than competitors - key elements of good brand positioning. We're all looking for a reason to feel good about our days at work, and brand engagement gives us a way to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

We have found that the early phases of successful employee brand engagement programs begin with the introduction of the brand. What we've heard in meetings coast-to-coast after clearly explaining the company's brand is, "Now, I finally get it." Some even immediately make the connection between the brand and their jobs. In Southern California, we met with key customer-facing employees for a large bio-pharm company. At that meeting, several participants were able to identify some of their interactions with customers that were already supportive of the brand. They showed their peers how these activities had been helping them in their work. From that day, the brand's influence on their work was seen and valued.

Find the right employees from the start. Some of the employees at our meeting in California got it right away. One company seems to have found a way to ensure that all of its employees "get it" from their first few weeks. Online retailer Zappos has been very public this year about its $2,000 quitting bonus. According to articles in BusinessWeek and the Chicago Tribune, the e-tailer offers its trainees a check to resign if the company isn't living up to their expectations during the first four weeks of "customer loyalty training." It's been reported that between 2 and 3 percent take the offer. This is a definite benefit to a company that wants its employees to believe that they work for "a preeminent service company" that solves its customer problems off-script. That's right: Call-center workers are trained and expected to deliver on the company's core values, which include the predictable - "Deliver a WOW through service" - and the unexpected: "Create fun and a little weirdness." In the end, it seems Zappos thinks $2,000 is a small price to pay to find employees who embrace the brand and are committed to delivering it to customers.

Companies with employee brand engagement programs win on two fronts: They tend to have satisfied employees and satisfied customers. According to Forrester Research and International Survey Research, building brand advocates results in increased profitability, a brand distinguished in its market, and improved customer service. As the new year approaches, building a program that delivers satisfied employees and customers may just make sense.
Next story loading loading..