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As internal
branding becomes an increasingly important driver of operational
principles, leading organizations are identifying and sharing best
practices for integrating new employees into the brand experience.
At a recent industry roundtable in Toronto, panelists agreed that
both formal and informal training have a role to
play.
Genworth
Financial Canada has a 2-week cross- functional orientation training
program, in which all new employees spend time with senior
executives from every area of the organization. New hires get to see
first-hand how each person’s job contributes to the delivery of the
brand promise.
At Starbucks,
an out-of-the-box concept, the Green Apron program, both acts as a
brand behaviour guide for new employees, and as a tool with which to
reward on-brand behaviours. The program is focused around a
passport-like guide, the Green Apron book, which lays out company
values and desired brand behaviours, centred around the brand
promise of impassioned employees. The book also contains peer
recognition cards, which are used by everyone from top management
down, enabling recognition of the smallest behaviours.. RBC uses a
different form of communication as befits its size with multi media
including video, electronic and printed materials from leaders to
clarify and reinforce the brand vision to its 50,000
employees.
Valuable
though communications can be, organizations need to be careful not
to use communications to paper over cracks. It is also critical to
make the brand promise come alive one-on- one. At Amex Canada,
managers take two mandatory courses on situational leadership and
inspiring employee engagement. These are specifically focused on
one-on-one communications and behaviours.
The panelists
agreed that along with formal or written demonstration to new and
long-standing employees alike, informal demonstrations are
essential. It is particularly important that middle- managers learn
to ‘walk the walk’, since for many employees, they are the most
visible demonstration of brand behaviour in action.
The roundtable
was moderated by Patricia McQuillan, President & Founder of
Brand Matters Inc.
Marketing
trends:
Do’s and don’ts of internal branding
Once an
organization has taken the first critical step and developed an
internal branding strategy, how can it best prepare to manage the
potential challenges and opportunities that emerge? Here are some
lessons learned from leading marketers.
Do
- Get cross-functional buy-in and ownership to the strategy. If
internal branding ownership resides solely in one department, you
are in deep water.
- Identify the on-brand behaviours that are key to delivery of
service excellence, along with undesirable behaviours; clearly
communicate these to employees. Help individuals to understand how
their appropriate actions and attitudes contribute to the
company’s brand.
- Be clear about the goals to be achieved, and communicate the
results. Reward and recognize successes.
Don’t
- Spend all your time in your office. Communicating only by
electronic means is too easy and a big mistake. Get out there and
engage employees one-on-one. Get the leader out there too,
bringing the vision to life.
- Expect change overnight – it is a continuum.
The
following practices should be encompassed in your internal brand
management program:
- Finding ways to personalize the brand for people. It is vital
to avoid ‘white noise’ that goes over people’s heads. The brand
promise has to be real and meaningful.
- Building a stronger case for internal branding as an
investment, not a cost.
- Using branding to help meet the challenges of next generation
staffing
- Finding ways to use technology to enhance ongoing
communications across geographically diverse employees. For
example, webcasts/pod technology
Finally,
implement a schedule to review and measure the internal brand
strategy, as there is always room for improvement. Each level of the
company will benefit from this acknowledgement of valuable
feedback.
Upcoming
industry brand events
American
Marketing Association AMA panel discussion, Global branding -
best practices for building brands, April 26, 2007. Developed
and moderated by Brand Matters Inc. Please contact the AMA at 647
393 9649 to pre- register by identifying this
event.
This
newsletter is published by Brand Matters, a management
consulting firm that specializes in brand assessment,
repositioning and implementation. With Patricia McQuillan at
the helm, the firm has delivered success-driven results for a
variety of renowned organizations. This newsletter was sent to
friends, clients and associates of Brand
Matters. |
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