21 October 2008
The job cuts just keep on getting deeper. Pessimism is the order of the day in Australia with predictions that the ailing economy will see 200,000 jobs disappear in the next 12 months.
Optus is ready to shed 200 jobs, Westpac 450 and Optus 115, on top of recent cuts from Ford, Fairfax Media, Starbucks and Boeing. Even education is not immune, with Victoria University slashing 270 staff and La Trobe University 230. Predictions from National Australia Bank are that unemployment could jump from 4.3% to 6% by the end of 2009, economic growth will fall to 1.25% by the middle of 2009 and interest rates will dip to around 4.5%. Not a pretty picture. Seems like quite a few Australians won’t be enjoying a happy Christmas this year.
Recruiters will have a hard job placing retrenched workers in new jobs. Only the very best are likely to get back into employment before the New Year – a situation aggravated by the many ex-pats, particularly those from the financial services industries, returning to Oz as a result of the even worse downturn in overseas countries such as the US and UK.
This is an alarm bell for all companies who value their most talented people to ensure that they have in place a strong and active employer brand, are reinforcing their commitment to employees and have great faith in the company’s strengths and opportunities for the future. In times of economic distress your top employees are the essential fabric holding the company together that must be protected at all costs in order for it to weather the storm and be in a position to make a quick recovery once conditions improve.
Although every company has an employer brand, whether they like it or not, many are ill conceived and fail to leverage accepted principles that can provide resilience in bad times and a competitive edge in good times. Challenging times like these will separate those companies with well maintained employer brands from those who are suffering with low employee morale, disengaged employees walking out the door to a more certain future, diminishing reputations, low productivity, negative perceptions of the employment proposition and loss of competitive spirit. Once conditions start to improve, a company in this position will experience extended recovery time to regain lost ground – which will prove time consuming, difficult and expensive, with high recruitment and training costs.
It makes sense for companies to review the competency of their employer brand now – is it really engaging with employees, do they recognise the company’s values and vision, is the employment promise being communicated effectively both internally and externally, are they truly inspired by the company leader, can they see a long term, secure and productive future ahead of them?
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Engaging your brand internally
When the time comes to reinvigorate or reinvent your company brand ensure that you align the experience employees have of the brand with the promise made to them.
How can you ensure that your brand gains traction with all of your employees – from the boardroom to the production lines – and that it becomes part and parcel of the company’s culture?
Remember that every company is unique and requires a tailored branding solution. Every workforce is different and requires tailored communications to help them grasp the importnace and relevance of the brand to the job they do and future business success.
You need help – don’t do it alone
The task of creating and managing a company brand involves a lot more than collaborating with those good people in marketing. It must be driven from the top. Make sure you include the people from HR and those satellite businesses that no-one ever seems to talk to.
Don’t be afraid of change
Dust off your vision and mission statements and check them for relevance – did they die a death some time ago while no-one was looking? Are internal beliefs consistent with the brand promise or is there a disconnect that needs fixing?
Will they get the message?
Your internal audiences need to be segmented in the same way you would segment external ones. Tailor communications to the specific needs of each segment. The messages you direct to employees in the factory will not be the same as those that go to senior managers or your sales team.
Don’t blow the budget
If you are creating a new brand or breathing new life into an old one, it is very easy to blow all the budget on external-facing applications and marketing. Plan well ahead to allocate sufficient funds for internal applications and communications. Remember the ‘inside out rule’– if it doesn’t work on the inside first, there isn’t much chance of it working on the outside.
Don’t get carried away with the creative
Ensure that the brand ‘essence’ is worked out well in advance of the creative team warming up their Macintoshes. Work out the essential aspects that underpin your brand – values, mission, vision, benefits etc and how they differentiate it. Work out a strategy for its success. Identify the gaps between the present brand and the aspired brand and how to fix them. Be very, very confident that what you offer is grounded in truth. Employees have the knack of recognising brands that are all ‘front’ where experience of the brand is a far cry from the ‘promise’.
Hit them at all touchpoints
The days of introducing new brand initiatives through the quarterly staff newsletter and hoping for the best are far gone (or are they?). Employees demand and deserve much more. They need to experience the brand dynamically and emotionally in a way that will excite them, inspire them and persuade them that they are part of a great team and a great company that has vision for the future and faith in itself, its products and its employees. The brand and its values need to permeate their environment and the day-to-day workings of the organisation, so they understand it and become part of it.
Their involvement will move you forward
Employee uptake of a new brand requires a considered approach. When planning a new brand or changes to an existing one, involve your employees and inform them what it is, what it means to the company and the important role they play in its success. Gain their input at an early stage so they start to take ownership. Once this happens real and relevant behaviours will emerge consistent with your objectives for the brand.
Measure performance
Changes to a brand or the creation of a new one can be time consuming and expensive exercises. You need to measure their performance before and after, to determine whether you are getting a return on your investment and whether your strategy for the brand moving forward is sound. Because no two brands or cultures are the same, determine the best means of measurement for your particular situation. Are employees engaged by the brand? Do they believe in it? Do they understand its purpose? Can they communicate its value and benefits to customers?
If you’ve successfully followed a comprehensive plan such as our EmployerBrandGuidanceSystem, within six to 12 months you should witness higher scores from employee satisfaction surveys, experience reduced attrition and attract ‘better fit’ job candidates. Your employees will love you for it.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
How can you ensure that your brand gains traction with all of your employees – from the boardroom to the production lines – and that it becomes part and parcel of the company’s culture?
Remember that every company is unique and requires a tailored branding solution. Every workforce is different and requires tailored communications to help them grasp the importnace and relevance of the brand to the job they do and future business success.
You need help – don’t do it alone
The task of creating and managing a company brand involves a lot more than collaborating with those good people in marketing. It must be driven from the top. Make sure you include the people from HR and those satellite businesses that no-one ever seems to talk to.
Don’t be afraid of change
Dust off your vision and mission statements and check them for relevance – did they die a death some time ago while no-one was looking? Are internal beliefs consistent with the brand promise or is there a disconnect that needs fixing?
Will they get the message?
Your internal audiences need to be segmented in the same way you would segment external ones. Tailor communications to the specific needs of each segment. The messages you direct to employees in the factory will not be the same as those that go to senior managers or your sales team.
Don’t blow the budget
If you are creating a new brand or breathing new life into an old one, it is very easy to blow all the budget on external-facing applications and marketing. Plan well ahead to allocate sufficient funds for internal applications and communications. Remember the ‘inside out rule’– if it doesn’t work on the inside first, there isn’t much chance of it working on the outside.
Don’t get carried away with the creative
Ensure that the brand ‘essence’ is worked out well in advance of the creative team warming up their Macintoshes. Work out the essential aspects that underpin your brand – values, mission, vision, benefits etc and how they differentiate it. Work out a strategy for its success. Identify the gaps between the present brand and the aspired brand and how to fix them. Be very, very confident that what you offer is grounded in truth. Employees have the knack of recognising brands that are all ‘front’ where experience of the brand is a far cry from the ‘promise’.
Hit them at all touchpoints
The days of introducing new brand initiatives through the quarterly staff newsletter and hoping for the best are far gone (or are they?). Employees demand and deserve much more. They need to experience the brand dynamically and emotionally in a way that will excite them, inspire them and persuade them that they are part of a great team and a great company that has vision for the future and faith in itself, its products and its employees. The brand and its values need to permeate their environment and the day-to-day workings of the organisation, so they understand it and become part of it.
Their involvement will move you forward
Employee uptake of a new brand requires a considered approach. When planning a new brand or changes to an existing one, involve your employees and inform them what it is, what it means to the company and the important role they play in its success. Gain their input at an early stage so they start to take ownership. Once this happens real and relevant behaviours will emerge consistent with your objectives for the brand.
Measure performance
Changes to a brand or the creation of a new one can be time consuming and expensive exercises. You need to measure their performance before and after, to determine whether you are getting a return on your investment and whether your strategy for the brand moving forward is sound. Because no two brands or cultures are the same, determine the best means of measurement for your particular situation. Are employees engaged by the brand? Do they believe in it? Do they understand its purpose? Can they communicate its value and benefits to customers?
If you’ve successfully followed a comprehensive plan such as our EmployerBrandGuidanceSystem, within six to 12 months you should witness higher scores from employee satisfaction surveys, experience reduced attrition and attract ‘better fit’ job candidates. Your employees will love you for it.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
Friday, October 3, 2008
Bankers run for cover
30 September 2008 – Asian and European stock markets tumbled in early trading today after the US House of Representatives failed to adopt a US$700 billion Wall Street bailout measure. Australian shares closed down 4.3 per cent, their lowest close in nearly three years. Financial services companies in particular are destined to experience the worst job and bonus conditions in nearly a decade.
The employment situation is being heralded as the worst since the internet stocks collapse in 2000. The doom merchants are predicting that we are in for a ‘Black October’ and that the situation is likely to get worse in the run up to Christmas. Oh goody.
What can we expect to see happen?
> senior executives will be ‘outplaced’
> performance bonuses from the leading investment banks will diminish, as they fail to reach targets
> performance bonuses will no longer be guaranteed
> more and more layoffs will be necessary, as witnessed by hundreds leaving financial services operations at ANZ, Austock, Wilson HTM and Tolhurst and investment banking operations at B&B, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Lehman Brothers who are all looking like shadows of their former selves
> the long awaited merger between Westpac and St George may result in closer scrutiny of duplications and costs and see more bankers forced onto the market
> trimming of traditional back office cost centres such as IT and human resources has extended to bankers and ‘deal makers’
> the first employees to be laid off will be the most expendable – those with perceived inadequacies, in the least essential positions, the misfits and low performers
> recruitment firms will have to try very hard to place these people in new positions
> pressure will be placed thoughout organisations to cut costs and hold off on new projects
> some companies will slash marketing budgets but some will get nervous and increase spending to protect market position
> employees will work harder to prove their worth and stay employed
> companies will stop recruiting new staff until the dust settles
How does all this affect employer branding? When the dust does finally settle and the machine cranks up again and job candidates smell fresh hope in the air, more so than in nearly a decade will a bulletproof employer brand be necessary to convince these people that yours is a strong, stable and worthwhile organisation with excellent job security.
More so than ever before will you need to reinforce to staff the fundamental employer qualities that have seen the company through these bad times and brought it through intact with renewed ambition to help employees and itself grow and flourish.
Employer branding consultants have a lot to look forward to. But how long will they have to wait? That is the $700 billion question on many people’s minds.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
The employment situation is being heralded as the worst since the internet stocks collapse in 2000. The doom merchants are predicting that we are in for a ‘Black October’ and that the situation is likely to get worse in the run up to Christmas. Oh goody.
What can we expect to see happen?
> senior executives will be ‘outplaced’
> performance bonuses from the leading investment banks will diminish, as they fail to reach targets
> performance bonuses will no longer be guaranteed
> more and more layoffs will be necessary, as witnessed by hundreds leaving financial services operations at ANZ, Austock, Wilson HTM and Tolhurst and investment banking operations at B&B, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Lehman Brothers who are all looking like shadows of their former selves
> the long awaited merger between Westpac and St George may result in closer scrutiny of duplications and costs and see more bankers forced onto the market
> trimming of traditional back office cost centres such as IT and human resources has extended to bankers and ‘deal makers’
> the first employees to be laid off will be the most expendable – those with perceived inadequacies, in the least essential positions, the misfits and low performers
> recruitment firms will have to try very hard to place these people in new positions
> pressure will be placed thoughout organisations to cut costs and hold off on new projects
> some companies will slash marketing budgets but some will get nervous and increase spending to protect market position
> employees will work harder to prove their worth and stay employed
> companies will stop recruiting new staff until the dust settles
How does all this affect employer branding? When the dust does finally settle and the machine cranks up again and job candidates smell fresh hope in the air, more so than in nearly a decade will a bulletproof employer brand be necessary to convince these people that yours is a strong, stable and worthwhile organisation with excellent job security.
More so than ever before will you need to reinforce to staff the fundamental employer qualities that have seen the company through these bad times and brought it through intact with renewed ambition to help employees and itself grow and flourish.
Employer branding consultants have a lot to look forward to. But how long will they have to wait? That is the $700 billion question on many people’s minds.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
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