Listen to HI POD - Are your employees leaving before you find out their name?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.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
HI POD - Are your employees leaving before you find out their name?
Listen to HI POD - Are your employees leaving before you find out their name?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.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Are your employees leaving before you find out their name?
Hey guess what, the latest statistics out there in employer branding land suggest that 25 percent of new recruits decide how long they will stay by the end of the first week in their new job. It goes further to suggest that over 50 percent make that decision by the end of the first month. I guess first impressions count after all.
HR managers had better be very afraid.
Early leavers bolting for the door cite the following reasons…
1. Lack off cultural fit with the existing team
Did they not get to meet with the team before saying ‘yes’?
2. Misunderstandings as to what their role involved
Was it in writing, was it discussed at length and did they get the chance to discuss the role with fellow workers?
3. Being left unsupervised and unsupported too early
Did they have a supervisor and a buddy system?
4. They were not inducted properly nor given the support at the start
I’ll say that again… Did they have a supervisor and a buddy system?
5. They really were not interested in the first place
The interviewer should be trained to spot this in the application submission and detect any hesitation at the interview
6. They fear not being successful in the role
Perhaps they need more encouragement to get them through the first few weeks and to address any questions and concerns they may have
Employers need to know their own limitations and those of job candidates. A recruitment agency must take on the huge responsibility of identifying both and plan accordingly.
Post placement surveys of each new employee are essential to identify mismatches and misunderstandings so that appropriate action can be taken to rectify the situation. This can be tricky as some candidates have the ability to mask their true feelings down to a fine art, particularly if they have not as yet developed a sufficiently high level of trust in their new employer.
It is generally accepted that there are five key questions to be asked when selecting new employees:
1. Do they understand the organisation’s brand?
Can they identify positive aspects of the organisation’s brand? Can they identify how the organisation is differentiated from others? Do they understand what are the organisation’s values, vision and positioning in the market?
2. Are their behaviours appropriate?
Is the employee stable? Do their recognised habits fit with this role? Do they understand the company culture and know how to fit in?
3. How motivated are they?
Do they want to go the extra mile? Do they have business acumen? Do they want to get involved? Do they have the organisation’s success at heart?
4. How innovative are they?
Can they identify challenges and issues, think through them and find a solution?
5. Knowledge
Can they actually do the job? Do they understand what it entails? Do they have the education and training that enables them to perform the tasks required of them?
6. Comfortable in teams
Do they want to help people? Do they have the people skills to work together as a team and leverage other people’s ideas and involvement?
Tick these boxes and you’re likely to land a long term employee. If they leave early I guess you’d better engage a review of your employer brand. Or perhaps it’s the office wallpaper?
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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HR managers had better be very afraid.
Early leavers bolting for the door cite the following reasons…
1. Lack off cultural fit with the existing team
Did they not get to meet with the team before saying ‘yes’?
2. Misunderstandings as to what their role involved
Was it in writing, was it discussed at length and did they get the chance to discuss the role with fellow workers?
3. Being left unsupervised and unsupported too early
Did they have a supervisor and a buddy system?
4. They were not inducted properly nor given the support at the start
I’ll say that again… Did they have a supervisor and a buddy system?
5. They really were not interested in the first place
The interviewer should be trained to spot this in the application submission and detect any hesitation at the interview
6. They fear not being successful in the role
Perhaps they need more encouragement to get them through the first few weeks and to address any questions and concerns they may have
Employers need to know their own limitations and those of job candidates. A recruitment agency must take on the huge responsibility of identifying both and plan accordingly.
Post placement surveys of each new employee are essential to identify mismatches and misunderstandings so that appropriate action can be taken to rectify the situation. This can be tricky as some candidates have the ability to mask their true feelings down to a fine art, particularly if they have not as yet developed a sufficiently high level of trust in their new employer.
It is generally accepted that there are five key questions to be asked when selecting new employees:
1. Do they understand the organisation’s brand?
Can they identify positive aspects of the organisation’s brand? Can they identify how the organisation is differentiated from others? Do they understand what are the organisation’s values, vision and positioning in the market?
2. Are their behaviours appropriate?
Is the employee stable? Do their recognised habits fit with this role? Do they understand the company culture and know how to fit in?
3. How motivated are they?
Do they want to go the extra mile? Do they have business acumen? Do they want to get involved? Do they have the organisation’s success at heart?
4. How innovative are they?
Can they identify challenges and issues, think through them and find a solution?
5. Knowledge
Can they actually do the job? Do they understand what it entails? Do they have the education and training that enables them to perform the tasks required of them?
6. Comfortable in teams
Do they want to help people? Do they have the people skills to work together as a team and leverage other people’s ideas and involvement?
Tick these boxes and you’re likely to land a long term employee. If they leave early I guess you’d better engage a review of your employer brand. Or perhaps it’s the office wallpaper?
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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Thursday, May 1, 2008
The Importance of People and Brand
People often assume that ‘branding’ is the sole domain of the marketing department in their organisation. In my experience it takes organisations a long time to recognise that brand promises must be delivered by all the people in the organisation, at all levels, all of the time. Customers are quick to spot the inconsistencies in brand delivery when they happen and can be very unforgiving.
Business articles on branding inevitably discuss the broader aspects of organisational, corporate, or employer branding. Organisations are waking up to the concept that having strong brands requires ongoing focus on the roles played by people, service delivery, process efficiencies, environments and consistency of experience delivered to customers by each one. Each relies on the other, with people being the overriding factor that determines overall success.
The employer brand must build positive perceptions externally as well as internally, particularly in the way an organisation promotes itself in the recruitment market place. Job applicants need to experience the company brand from everyone they meet, everything they read and everything they see – from viewing the first recruitment ad, through the interview process and at the point of induction.
It is important for an organisation to test how successful their employer brand is with new recruits, at each touch point that influences the candidate’s perception of the employer brand. This should be extended to identify employee, customer and stakeholder perceptions of the brand and the degree of consistency between them.
The customer experience of the brand should be paramount. Your people need to deliver on the brand promise and consistently develop better experiences for the customer that engage with them and win their hearts. At all customer touch points employees must display appropriate behaviours built on self-esteem, confidence and pride in the organisation.
Employees fully engaged by the brand are a key factor in differentiating businesses from competitors.
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.
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Business articles on branding inevitably discuss the broader aspects of organisational, corporate, or employer branding. Organisations are waking up to the concept that having strong brands requires ongoing focus on the roles played by people, service delivery, process efficiencies, environments and consistency of experience delivered to customers by each one. Each relies on the other, with people being the overriding factor that determines overall success.
The employer brand must build positive perceptions externally as well as internally, particularly in the way an organisation promotes itself in the recruitment market place. Job applicants need to experience the company brand from everyone they meet, everything they read and everything they see – from viewing the first recruitment ad, through the interview process and at the point of induction.
It is important for an organisation to test how successful their employer brand is with new recruits, at each touch point that influences the candidate’s perception of the employer brand. This should be extended to identify employee, customer and stakeholder perceptions of the brand and the degree of consistency between them.
The customer experience of the brand should be paramount. Your people need to deliver on the brand promise and consistently develop better experiences for the customer that engage with them and win their hearts. At all customer touch points employees must display appropriate behaviours built on self-esteem, confidence and pride in the organisation.
Employees fully engaged by the brand are a key factor in differentiating businesses from competitors.
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.
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
Employer of Choice
Almost 20% of the hits on my branding & communication company's website are from organisations seeking information on employer branding!
Is this 1/.symptomatic of there being no suitable job candidates out there or 2/.are companies afraid that they are just not perceived as great employment opportunities?
Is 1/. or 2/. correct? They both are.
No.1 is definitely the case in an Australian market which presently favours employees as a result of increasing skill shortages. It's a highly competitive market out there, there just aren't the same numbers of candidates looking for those vacancies. The economy has been strong for a long time, unemployment rates are low, we've had it pretty good. Whether or not 2008 is going to be the year of the big recession and big change is still being debated and perhaps may never happen. So what can you do about it?
You focus on No.2
The priority task for HR managers is to attract and retain talent by gaining a better understanding of employment branding and the benefits it provides.
"If the people on the inside don°t understand and respect your brand it's highly likely those on the outside don't.
To become an employer of choice employers need to define, nurture and manage the image and reputation their organisation wishes to grow in the minds of employees. Employer (a.k.a. employment) brands must engage with employees, inspire positive perceptions and communicate all the great things about the employment experience.
All too frequently new employees' job experiences fail to live up to recruitment promises, prompting disappointment and diminishing respect for the organisation's brand. In order to retain and motivate staff, organisations need to regularly reinforce and consistently deliver the offer that was made at the point of recruitment.
It is heartbreaking and increasingly expensive to have a valued employee, one who you considered crucial to your future success, leave and accept a position with a competitor. No employment experience is perfect. There will always be reasons why employees become dissatisfied and look elsewhere for new job opportunities. Most can be overcome and tend to be the result of little or no assistance in helping employees understand the organisation's brand and what it should mean to them, not coping with organisational change and confusion resulting from poor or non-existent communication.
In our experience key requirements of employment branding that have arisen in recent years are:
1/. satisfying employees' work experiences
2/. positioning the brand in the minds of employees and nurturing a positive perception
3/. regular communication to inform and motivate them and inspire respect for company culture, vision, procedures, policies, fellow employees and the executive team
4/. continuing education to help them work better and achieve more
5/. recognising and celebrating achievements and milestones
Listed below are situations that are likely to prompt organisations to consider their employment brand and related communications. Do you recognise any of them?
> launch of a new corporate brand
> merger or acquisition of new organisation
> change in organisation's culture or vision, perhaps inspired by new CEO
> company restructuring
> launch of new workplace initiatives
> changes in internal procedures or processes
> employee awards scheme
> employee social and environmental initiatives
> launch of new products
> brand repositioning to fend off competitors or tackle new markets
> brand extensions add new complexity
> appointment of new CEO or management team
> workforce retrenchments and reallocation of resources
> brand needs realigning with core values
> brand perception gap between managers and workforce
> business units have differing perceptions and motivations
> new employee induction materials
> training materials
> graduate recruitment
> documentation of organisation's procedures and policies
> regular communications to inform and motivate employees
> intranet not available or not working
> launch of new products or interest in new area of business
> HR is overstretched and needs external help
As you can see from the above, your employer brand can be challenged on many fronts.
To overcome these challenges, stakeholders need to be able to:
> identify and focus on key issues affecting the success of the organisation's employment brand
> recognise the gap between current and desired perceptions of the employment brand and how it measures up to those of competitor brands
> seek professional help to generate ideas and solutions.
To provide clarity on what is working and what is not, I recommend you make the following a priority. Audit your branded applications and communications collateral. Determine whether they are building a positive perception of your organisation, its positioning, its products and its employees. Gather information from current and prospective employees and measure their perceptions and motivations. Determine where the gaps are and what needs realigning. With this insight you will be well on your way to understanding what needs fixing. How you fix it is the big challenge.
In my experience managers tasked with this employer brand review are 'too close to the coalface' to make an unbiased and objective appraisal of the situation. An experienced external consultant is often the answer.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singpore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
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Is this 1/.symptomatic of there being no suitable job candidates out there or 2/.are companies afraid that they are just not perceived as great employment opportunities?
Is 1/. or 2/. correct? They both are.
No.1 is definitely the case in an Australian market which presently favours employees as a result of increasing skill shortages. It's a highly competitive market out there, there just aren't the same numbers of candidates looking for those vacancies. The economy has been strong for a long time, unemployment rates are low, we've had it pretty good. Whether or not 2008 is going to be the year of the big recession and big change is still being debated and perhaps may never happen. So what can you do about it?
You focus on No.2
The priority task for HR managers is to attract and retain talent by gaining a better understanding of employment branding and the benefits it provides.
"If the people on the inside don°t understand and respect your brand it's highly likely those on the outside don't.
To become an employer of choice employers need to define, nurture and manage the image and reputation their organisation wishes to grow in the minds of employees. Employer (a.k.a. employment) brands must engage with employees, inspire positive perceptions and communicate all the great things about the employment experience.
All too frequently new employees' job experiences fail to live up to recruitment promises, prompting disappointment and diminishing respect for the organisation's brand. In order to retain and motivate staff, organisations need to regularly reinforce and consistently deliver the offer that was made at the point of recruitment.
It is heartbreaking and increasingly expensive to have a valued employee, one who you considered crucial to your future success, leave and accept a position with a competitor. No employment experience is perfect. There will always be reasons why employees become dissatisfied and look elsewhere for new job opportunities. Most can be overcome and tend to be the result of little or no assistance in helping employees understand the organisation's brand and what it should mean to them, not coping with organisational change and confusion resulting from poor or non-existent communication.
In our experience key requirements of employment branding that have arisen in recent years are:
1/. satisfying employees' work experiences
2/. positioning the brand in the minds of employees and nurturing a positive perception
3/. regular communication to inform and motivate them and inspire respect for company culture, vision, procedures, policies, fellow employees and the executive team
4/. continuing education to help them work better and achieve more
5/. recognising and celebrating achievements and milestones
Listed below are situations that are likely to prompt organisations to consider their employment brand and related communications. Do you recognise any of them?
> launch of a new corporate brand
> merger or acquisition of new organisation
> change in organisation's culture or vision, perhaps inspired by new CEO
> company restructuring
> launch of new workplace initiatives
> changes in internal procedures or processes
> employee awards scheme
> employee social and environmental initiatives
> launch of new products
> brand repositioning to fend off competitors or tackle new markets
> brand extensions add new complexity
> appointment of new CEO or management team
> workforce retrenchments and reallocation of resources
> brand needs realigning with core values
> brand perception gap between managers and workforce
> business units have differing perceptions and motivations
> new employee induction materials
> training materials
> graduate recruitment
> documentation of organisation's procedures and policies
> regular communications to inform and motivate employees
> intranet not available or not working
> launch of new products or interest in new area of business
> HR is overstretched and needs external help
As you can see from the above, your employer brand can be challenged on many fronts.
To overcome these challenges, stakeholders need to be able to:
> identify and focus on key issues affecting the success of the organisation's employment brand
> recognise the gap between current and desired perceptions of the employment brand and how it measures up to those of competitor brands
> seek professional help to generate ideas and solutions.
To provide clarity on what is working and what is not, I recommend you make the following a priority. Audit your branded applications and communications collateral. Determine whether they are building a positive perception of your organisation, its positioning, its products and its employees. Gather information from current and prospective employees and measure their perceptions and motivations. Determine where the gaps are and what needs realigning. With this insight you will be well on your way to understanding what needs fixing. How you fix it is the big challenge.
In my experience managers tasked with this employer brand review are 'too close to the coalface' to make an unbiased and objective appraisal of the situation. An experienced external consultant is often the answer.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singpore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
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Monday, March 3, 2008
What is Worse for Your Business – An Empty Chair or a Chair with the Wrong Person Sitting in it?
The employment marketplace today favours the workers. In other words there are more positions than candidates, with the result that employers are struggling to create and retain the teams they crave for. Often out of desperation it is all too easy to install the wrong person with catastrophic results.
Candidates, especially professionals, increasingly pose a new question of their potential employers … WIFM?
So what do candidates want? – increasingly, financial return is not the leading priority. You need to offer much more than this.
“I want advancement, mentoring and inspirational leadership”.
“I want interesting work, flexibility and a respectful and relaxed atmosphere”.
“I prefer to work in a results-driven environment”.
“I need to work in an organisation whose morals and ethics match mine”.
“I want variety and challenges”.
“I need to know that my efforts are valued and stand for something”.
“Where will I be in 1, 3, 5 years … will I stay that long?”
Candidates insist on the truth. An employer’s eloquent and persuasive description of their company and employment opportunity must match the experience of the candidate when they start work. An employment experience is viewed as a transaction – productivity and knowledge traded for a promise.
If the position does not live up to their expectations from day one, if promises are not kept, should anticipated objectives not be achieved, then the deal is off. There is little remorse or loyalty, because there are presently many options available. In short, employers are in danger of wasting a lot of time and money in the process of recruiting, hiring and training good people, only to see them walk out the door.
If the keystone to any successful business or enterprise is its people and their combined input, productivity and knowledge, then few things can be more destructive than ‘poor fit’ employees – individuals whose core values, visions, standards and objectives (either personal or professional) do not match those of the business and its leaders.
What has this to do with branding?
What is worse for your business – an empty chair or a chair with the wrong person sitting in it? Creating an effective employer brand, marketing it and believing in it can help minimise or remove both from your list of worries.
A canny employer has to think beyond the traditional job advertisement which details a salary, hours and job description or even relying on a recruitment consultant to solve your problems.
A well considered and executed employment brand will attract the right type of candidate rather than a volume response. It will help market and promote your organisation and add value to your marketing and promotional spend and activity.
Tell the truth. Work out what is truly positive and unique about your employment offer. What do you offer other than a wage and a desk? When they get home, how do you think your employees feel and talk about their day at work? How do they express your brand to family, colleagues, friends and peers?
For many organisations employment branding is a brave step. It requires of them to look within, analyse the truth of who and what they are, listen to the positives and negatives and build a promise around the deliverables. Don’t however promise the earth if you can only deliver the sky. People will leave – it will cost you time and money and your business will suffer.
Does it work? Yes it does! I am creative director here at Heywood Innovation. I contacted Heywood Innovation after viewing its website. From the simple, clear and concise way the organisation portrayed its objectives, methodologies and aspirations relating to Brand Design I knew that a strong synergy existed. While no position existed at the time, the strength of alignment between the organisation and the individual dictated that one be created… and here I am.
Employment branding works – it is effective, efficient and productive.
Find out more by contacting Heywood Innovation. Alternatively you could spend barrels more money running yet more ads or giving your recruiter yet another brief.
Neil Cookson is Creative Director at Heywood Innovation in Sydney.
neil@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
Share on Facebook
Candidates, especially professionals, increasingly pose a new question of their potential employers … WIFM?
So what do candidates want? – increasingly, financial return is not the leading priority. You need to offer much more than this.
“I want advancement, mentoring and inspirational leadership”.
“I want interesting work, flexibility and a respectful and relaxed atmosphere”.
“I prefer to work in a results-driven environment”.
“I need to work in an organisation whose morals and ethics match mine”.
“I want variety and challenges”.
“I need to know that my efforts are valued and stand for something”.
“Where will I be in 1, 3, 5 years … will I stay that long?”
Candidates insist on the truth. An employer’s eloquent and persuasive description of their company and employment opportunity must match the experience of the candidate when they start work. An employment experience is viewed as a transaction – productivity and knowledge traded for a promise.
If the position does not live up to their expectations from day one, if promises are not kept, should anticipated objectives not be achieved, then the deal is off. There is little remorse or loyalty, because there are presently many options available. In short, employers are in danger of wasting a lot of time and money in the process of recruiting, hiring and training good people, only to see them walk out the door.
If the keystone to any successful business or enterprise is its people and their combined input, productivity and knowledge, then few things can be more destructive than ‘poor fit’ employees – individuals whose core values, visions, standards and objectives (either personal or professional) do not match those of the business and its leaders.
What has this to do with branding?
What is worse for your business – an empty chair or a chair with the wrong person sitting in it? Creating an effective employer brand, marketing it and believing in it can help minimise or remove both from your list of worries.
A canny employer has to think beyond the traditional job advertisement which details a salary, hours and job description or even relying on a recruitment consultant to solve your problems.
A well considered and executed employment brand will attract the right type of candidate rather than a volume response. It will help market and promote your organisation and add value to your marketing and promotional spend and activity.
Tell the truth. Work out what is truly positive and unique about your employment offer. What do you offer other than a wage and a desk? When they get home, how do you think your employees feel and talk about their day at work? How do they express your brand to family, colleagues, friends and peers?
For many organisations employment branding is a brave step. It requires of them to look within, analyse the truth of who and what they are, listen to the positives and negatives and build a promise around the deliverables. Don’t however promise the earth if you can only deliver the sky. People will leave – it will cost you time and money and your business will suffer.
Does it work? Yes it does! I am creative director here at Heywood Innovation. I contacted Heywood Innovation after viewing its website. From the simple, clear and concise way the organisation portrayed its objectives, methodologies and aspirations relating to Brand Design I knew that a strong synergy existed. While no position existed at the time, the strength of alignment between the organisation and the individual dictated that one be created… and here I am.
Employment branding works – it is effective, efficient and productive.
Find out more by contacting Heywood Innovation. Alternatively you could spend barrels more money running yet more ads or giving your recruiter yet another brief.
Neil Cookson is Creative Director at Heywood Innovation in Sydney.
neil@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
Share on Facebook
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Plant the Branding Seed in Your Employees’ Minds and Watch Your Company Grow
Employees are probably the most important factor when building a company brand. Why? I’ll explain. They influence the way customers perceive your brand and their desire to invest in it and be satisfied by it. They are at the front line of customer interaction with your brand and directly influence its performance. They must understand the brand and be motivated by it.
Fulfillment
A company’s inability to identify and fulfil customer expectations can destroy the potential of its brand. Every interaction between customer and employee determines the future relationship between that customer and your company. Failure to deliver the promise that your brand makes to the world can undermine customer loyalty and point them in the direction of your competitors. Put simply, it’s all about the ‘feel good factor’. Their ability to relate to the brand – what it has to offer and how value is delivered.
Many companies find it hard to realise that all the customer is interested in is getting a result. This requires constant focus on the customer experience through the entire sales process. This is often referred to as ‘end-to-end customer management’.
This focus on customer needs demands fast and efficient service, convenience, access to sales-related information, cross-fertilisation of purchasing opportunities and having solutions to all their problems.
Delivery of your ‘brand promise’ requires its manifestation at every point of customer contact from stationery, advertising, packaging, physical environments and your website, to such things as how your phones are answered and the clothes your salesforce wear.
Employees are critical in creating and reinforcing a successful customer experience and thereby building respect and loyalty to your brand. The outcome is positive ‘word of mouth’ communication about your brand.
How do your employees stack up?
Ask these questions... Are your employees motivated to embrace the ‘brand promise’? Do they have an understanding of how to enhance the customer experience? Are they committed achievers who can articulate the brand with passion and conviction?
How often are employees challenged internally to express their understanding of the brand?
Apart from their understanding of the sales process and transactions, have you asked them recently to describe what your brand is all about to ascertain whether they are ready to interface with your customers? What incentives do you have in place to excite them and motivate them? Do they understand the consequences of not living the brand?
Here are 10 tips on 'planting the brand' in the minds of your customers
1. Training
Empower employees with a deep understanding of the brand and also product and service knowledge and ensure they can deliver it. Make them understand the key role they play in building a positive perception of the brand in the minds of customers.
2. Systems
Have systems in place whereby employees can process customer requests in a timely and efficient manner.
3. Empowerment
Encourage employees to exercise their own judgment when interacting with customers.
4. Information
Most interactions with customers are very short, requiring customer and/or product information to be at employees’ fingertips.
5. Dealing with complaints
Where a genuine mistake occurs, have a system in place whereby the employee can quickly repair any damage to the customer’s perception of the product/service and ensure the mistake does not repeat itself.
6. Rewarding sales and service
Set performance goals not only for sales but also for solving problems and delighting a customer. Applaud great service and 'going the extra mile'.
7. Communications
Maintain regular communications between customer and company, and also within the company to keep everyone focused and ‘on the boil’. Internal marketing of the brand is as important as that which is directed to customers. It must be equally persuasive.
8. Responding to change
Employees can react adversely to change - ensure they are informed of what change is happening, why it has happened, what role they play, and what are its benefits.
9. First impressions
New employees must not only be instructed in workplace procedures but be inspired and motivated by the company brand, its values, culture, achievements and the dedication behind it that is securing its success.
10. Service first and last
Ensure your employees understand that service is a major success factor for every consumer-facing brand.
What value employees?
When it comes to employees, companies tend to view them:
- as expenses to be minimised
- as assets that can build brand value
For many companies it requires a fundamental shift in attitude to achieve the latter. These ‘brand ambassadors’ are a high value consideration in brand building. Those companies which fail to recognise this value run the risk of weakening the brand offer, alienating customers and missing out on an opportunity to grow their business.
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Fulfillment
A company’s inability to identify and fulfil customer expectations can destroy the potential of its brand. Every interaction between customer and employee determines the future relationship between that customer and your company. Failure to deliver the promise that your brand makes to the world can undermine customer loyalty and point them in the direction of your competitors. Put simply, it’s all about the ‘feel good factor’. Their ability to relate to the brand – what it has to offer and how value is delivered.
Many companies find it hard to realise that all the customer is interested in is getting a result. This requires constant focus on the customer experience through the entire sales process. This is often referred to as ‘end-to-end customer management’.
This focus on customer needs demands fast and efficient service, convenience, access to sales-related information, cross-fertilisation of purchasing opportunities and having solutions to all their problems.
Delivery of your ‘brand promise’ requires its manifestation at every point of customer contact from stationery, advertising, packaging, physical environments and your website, to such things as how your phones are answered and the clothes your salesforce wear.
Employees are critical in creating and reinforcing a successful customer experience and thereby building respect and loyalty to your brand. The outcome is positive ‘word of mouth’ communication about your brand.
How do your employees stack up?
Ask these questions... Are your employees motivated to embrace the ‘brand promise’? Do they have an understanding of how to enhance the customer experience? Are they committed achievers who can articulate the brand with passion and conviction?
How often are employees challenged internally to express their understanding of the brand?
Apart from their understanding of the sales process and transactions, have you asked them recently to describe what your brand is all about to ascertain whether they are ready to interface with your customers? What incentives do you have in place to excite them and motivate them? Do they understand the consequences of not living the brand?
Here are 10 tips on 'planting the brand' in the minds of your customers
1. Training
Empower employees with a deep understanding of the brand and also product and service knowledge and ensure they can deliver it. Make them understand the key role they play in building a positive perception of the brand in the minds of customers.
2. Systems
Have systems in place whereby employees can process customer requests in a timely and efficient manner.
3. Empowerment
Encourage employees to exercise their own judgment when interacting with customers.
4. Information
Most interactions with customers are very short, requiring customer and/or product information to be at employees’ fingertips.
5. Dealing with complaints
Where a genuine mistake occurs, have a system in place whereby the employee can quickly repair any damage to the customer’s perception of the product/service and ensure the mistake does not repeat itself.
6. Rewarding sales and service
Set performance goals not only for sales but also for solving problems and delighting a customer. Applaud great service and 'going the extra mile'.
7. Communications
Maintain regular communications between customer and company, and also within the company to keep everyone focused and ‘on the boil’. Internal marketing of the brand is as important as that which is directed to customers. It must be equally persuasive.
8. Responding to change
Employees can react adversely to change - ensure they are informed of what change is happening, why it has happened, what role they play, and what are its benefits.
9. First impressions
New employees must not only be instructed in workplace procedures but be inspired and motivated by the company brand, its values, culture, achievements and the dedication behind it that is securing its success.
10. Service first and last
Ensure your employees understand that service is a major success factor for every consumer-facing brand.
What value employees?
When it comes to employees, companies tend to view them:
- as expenses to be minimised
- as assets that can build brand value
For many companies it requires a fundamental shift in attitude to achieve the latter. These ‘brand ambassadors’ are a high value consideration in brand building. Those companies which fail to recognise this value run the risk of weakening the brand offer, alienating customers and missing out on an opportunity to grow their business.
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Thursday, February 21, 2008
Create an Effective Employment Brand
The importance of an effective employment brand cannot be underestimated. It helps attract, motivate and retain the lifeblood of a company – its employees. In a highly competitive recruitment market where standout talent is increasingly rare, it makes sense for a company to invest in a strong employment brand to get the best results from their recruitment efforts.
Although the concept of employment branding has been around for decades, many organisations have yet to realise the importance of having a strong employment brand. This can be a costly mistake, especially with the continuing strong demand for talent across many industries and professions.
The importance of employment branding stems as much from the continuing shortage of talent as it does from the realisation that value is created not so much by organisations themselves, but by the talented people within them. When it comes to recruiting, every organisation has the same goal – to hire the best talent available. To retain your top talent and attract others just like them, you must figure out exactly what your company stands for and what makes it an attractive employment proposition. You must then convince them why they should work there and not somewhere else.
This is where employment branding comes in.
The pending retirement of many baby-boomers, the shrinking pool of skilled workers aged 35 to 44 and an increased emphasis on knowledge workers, are forcing companies to the front line for new talent and are driving up the need for employment branding programmes. Companies that are not prepared to confront these challenges and fail to understand the need for increased investment in talent attraction and management will almost certainly see their business performance progressively suffer.
What is an Employment Brand?
The employment brand provides an expression of the attributes that characterise the employee experience. In essence it provides a window into what it is like to work both in and for an organisation.
Employment brands are increasingly recognised as the most important factor by which top talent select an employer. A strong employment brand can attract even the most passive prospects to an organisation and predispose them to consider employment opportunities, even when they wouldn’t consider openings anywhere else.
The ultimate goal is to build a strong employment brand that will succeed in attracting and retaining key talent. However, in order to be successful, companies need to realise employment branding is a process, not a project, and that only an ongoing commitment to it will deliver results.
The Benefits of a strong Employment Brand
An effective employment brand should urge people to find out more about the organisation. It must encourage them to visit your website, to ask others about the organisation and to apply for your job.
Employment branding isn’t just about getting more people to apply for your job vacancy – it is about attracting those who are aligned with your company and believe in it – its vision, values, commitment to its employees and customers and more, to ensure employees are a ‘good fit’ with your organisation.
An employment brand aims to attract and nurture employees who will ultimately delight the customer by living the brand and exuding commitment and confidence.
An employment brand should convey the image of the ‘ideal job at their dream company’
Besides appealing to external job candidates, a strong employment brand builds and reinforces the public’s image of the organisation’s vision, culture, work practices, management style and growth opportunities. It should build the perception that people are motivated, proud and happy to work there and are willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for the company.
Start internally
Any disconnect between what the employment brand claims and what it actually is can backfire on the company, resulting in an employment brand that is quickly labelled as ‘all front and no substance’ that will not stand up to the scrutiny of talented individuals. It will lead to disengagement and turnover of employees who feel the company hasn’t kept its employment promise.
Actions speak louder than words.
A strong employer brand can drive the right applicants to your company, and keep them there, as long as you ‘live your brand from the inside out’. In other words, you must make good on the promise that was made at the point of engagement.
Start your employment branding efforts by first looking internally and engaging in dialogue with present employees. By collecting and analysing employment experience information from employees, companies are able to identify employment attributes that are legitimate and resonate powerfully with existing employees. Employment branding messages are then crafted that are aligned with the mission, vision, values and culture of the organisation.
Employer Value Proposition (EVP)
An EVP comprises everything employees experience while being a part of an organisation. If your EVP inspires a positive experience there is a good chance your employees will choose to remain with your organisation rather than being lured away by competitors. It encourages your people to embrace shared goals – success, productivity, and satisfaction – on personal and professional levels.
As all employees are different, the task for the employer value proposition is to appeal to as many employee segments as possible, specifically to those candidates who will be a good fit with your organisation.
You need a unique employer value proposition to underpin your employment brand. Once organisations have a strong grasp of employment attributes that are realistic and achievable, they can begin to align them with the messages senior management wants to convey, as well as those the target audience wants to hear.
Communications plan
Once organisations have agreed on compelling employment messages, the next step is to select the appropriate communication channels for their target groups. An ideal approach is to use a variety of channels. The most popular communication channels include print advertisements, career expos, radio commercials, on-campus presentations and the company website. The key is to find the channel that resonates most with your target audience.
Evaluate your efforts
As organisations roll out their employment brand initiatives, careful thought should be given to how success will be evaluated and what metrics will be captured to measure success ie
> whether the number of job applicants has increased
> whether applicants are of higher quality than before the branding initiative
> the length of time it takes to fill key positions pre- and post-branding.
Organisations should also consider evaluating the ‘candidate experience’, as this can have an impact on a company’s brand. Conduct surveys of new employees who have applied through various recruitment channels and evaluate what their experiences have been. Did they have to speak with a dozen people to get to the right person? Was their interviewer well-prepared? How were they treated? Did anyone ever get back to them regarding the hiring decision?
Those candidates who have had a bad experience with a company will undoubtedly tell other people, thus undermining the company’s credibility. Remember, it is not just what you say about your employment brand – it is also about what others say about it.
Organisations must also remember to track internal metrics. This is because a strong employment brand also influences employee engagement and retention. If an organisation is ‘living’ the employment brand, employee turnover should reduce, as the organisation is delivering on the promise made to recent hires and present employees.
A long-term solution
The importance of employment branding cannot be overstated. In order to stand apart from every other career destination available to talented individuals, organisations need to understand, invest in and live by their employment brand. It is one of the few long-term solutions to the talent crunch.
The simple fact is that recruiters cannot achieve the best results if their client has not invested in building a strong employment brand, particularly if the company’s website and literature are poorly presented and not attuned to the needs of job seekers.
Whereas most employment strategies are short term and ‘reactive’ to job openings, building an employment brand is a longer-term solution designed to differentiate your offer and stimulate a steady flow in the talent pipeline
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singpore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
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Although the concept of employment branding has been around for decades, many organisations have yet to realise the importance of having a strong employment brand. This can be a costly mistake, especially with the continuing strong demand for talent across many industries and professions.
The importance of employment branding stems as much from the continuing shortage of talent as it does from the realisation that value is created not so much by organisations themselves, but by the talented people within them. When it comes to recruiting, every organisation has the same goal – to hire the best talent available. To retain your top talent and attract others just like them, you must figure out exactly what your company stands for and what makes it an attractive employment proposition. You must then convince them why they should work there and not somewhere else.
This is where employment branding comes in.
The pending retirement of many baby-boomers, the shrinking pool of skilled workers aged 35 to 44 and an increased emphasis on knowledge workers, are forcing companies to the front line for new talent and are driving up the need for employment branding programmes. Companies that are not prepared to confront these challenges and fail to understand the need for increased investment in talent attraction and management will almost certainly see their business performance progressively suffer.
What is an Employment Brand?
The employment brand provides an expression of the attributes that characterise the employee experience. In essence it provides a window into what it is like to work both in and for an organisation.
Employment brands are increasingly recognised as the most important factor by which top talent select an employer. A strong employment brand can attract even the most passive prospects to an organisation and predispose them to consider employment opportunities, even when they wouldn’t consider openings anywhere else.
The ultimate goal is to build a strong employment brand that will succeed in attracting and retaining key talent. However, in order to be successful, companies need to realise employment branding is a process, not a project, and that only an ongoing commitment to it will deliver results.
The Benefits of a strong Employment Brand
An effective employment brand should urge people to find out more about the organisation. It must encourage them to visit your website, to ask others about the organisation and to apply for your job.
Employment branding isn’t just about getting more people to apply for your job vacancy – it is about attracting those who are aligned with your company and believe in it – its vision, values, commitment to its employees and customers and more, to ensure employees are a ‘good fit’ with your organisation.
An employment brand aims to attract and nurture employees who will ultimately delight the customer by living the brand and exuding commitment and confidence.
An employment brand should convey the image of the ‘ideal job at their dream company’
Besides appealing to external job candidates, a strong employment brand builds and reinforces the public’s image of the organisation’s vision, culture, work practices, management style and growth opportunities. It should build the perception that people are motivated, proud and happy to work there and are willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for the company.
Start internally
Any disconnect between what the employment brand claims and what it actually is can backfire on the company, resulting in an employment brand that is quickly labelled as ‘all front and no substance’ that will not stand up to the scrutiny of talented individuals. It will lead to disengagement and turnover of employees who feel the company hasn’t kept its employment promise.
Actions speak louder than words.
A strong employer brand can drive the right applicants to your company, and keep them there, as long as you ‘live your brand from the inside out’. In other words, you must make good on the promise that was made at the point of engagement.
Start your employment branding efforts by first looking internally and engaging in dialogue with present employees. By collecting and analysing employment experience information from employees, companies are able to identify employment attributes that are legitimate and resonate powerfully with existing employees. Employment branding messages are then crafted that are aligned with the mission, vision, values and culture of the organisation.
Employer Value Proposition (EVP)
An EVP comprises everything employees experience while being a part of an organisation. If your EVP inspires a positive experience there is a good chance your employees will choose to remain with your organisation rather than being lured away by competitors. It encourages your people to embrace shared goals – success, productivity, and satisfaction – on personal and professional levels.
As all employees are different, the task for the employer value proposition is to appeal to as many employee segments as possible, specifically to those candidates who will be a good fit with your organisation.
You need a unique employer value proposition to underpin your employment brand. Once organisations have a strong grasp of employment attributes that are realistic and achievable, they can begin to align them with the messages senior management wants to convey, as well as those the target audience wants to hear.
Communications plan
Once organisations have agreed on compelling employment messages, the next step is to select the appropriate communication channels for their target groups. An ideal approach is to use a variety of channels. The most popular communication channels include print advertisements, career expos, radio commercials, on-campus presentations and the company website. The key is to find the channel that resonates most with your target audience.
Evaluate your efforts
As organisations roll out their employment brand initiatives, careful thought should be given to how success will be evaluated and what metrics will be captured to measure success ie
> whether the number of job applicants has increased
> whether applicants are of higher quality than before the branding initiative
> the length of time it takes to fill key positions pre- and post-branding.
Organisations should also consider evaluating the ‘candidate experience’, as this can have an impact on a company’s brand. Conduct surveys of new employees who have applied through various recruitment channels and evaluate what their experiences have been. Did they have to speak with a dozen people to get to the right person? Was their interviewer well-prepared? How were they treated? Did anyone ever get back to them regarding the hiring decision?
Those candidates who have had a bad experience with a company will undoubtedly tell other people, thus undermining the company’s credibility. Remember, it is not just what you say about your employment brand – it is also about what others say about it.
Organisations must also remember to track internal metrics. This is because a strong employment brand also influences employee engagement and retention. If an organisation is ‘living’ the employment brand, employee turnover should reduce, as the organisation is delivering on the promise made to recent hires and present employees.
A long-term solution
The importance of employment branding cannot be overstated. In order to stand apart from every other career destination available to talented individuals, organisations need to understand, invest in and live by their employment brand. It is one of the few long-term solutions to the talent crunch.
The simple fact is that recruiters cannot achieve the best results if their client has not invested in building a strong employment brand, particularly if the company’s website and literature are poorly presented and not attuned to the needs of job seekers.
Whereas most employment strategies are short term and ‘reactive’ to job openings, building an employment brand is a longer-term solution designed to differentiate your offer and stimulate a steady flow in the talent pipeline
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singpore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg
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