BRANDING�HUMAN RESOURCES
Driving your brand throughout the entire organization … and beyond!
How do you define a brand?
A brand is a product, service or concept that is publicly distinguished from other products, services or concepts so that it can be easily communicated and marketed.
Branding is the process of creating and disseminating the brand name, its qualities and personality.
THE BASICS
An employer brand is an important part of the employee value proposition and is essentially what the organization communicates as its identity to both potential and current employees. It encompasses an organization's mission, values, culture and personality.
THE BASICS
Why?
Aligning you internal and external brand is the best way to help employees make a powerful emotional connection to the products and services you sell. When people care about and believe in the brand, they’re motivated to work harder and their loyalty to the company increases. Employees are unified and inspired by a common sense of purpose and identity.
THE BASICS
Establish your company's brand among your employees by weaving it through every element of the culture. This can include the physical setup of your office, the decor, company outings, memos, and perks, recognition, and rewards
Establishing your culture leads to improved morale and employees who are excited to be at work. It also allows for more transparent communication between staff and employers.
Successful internal branding leads to easier recruitment. If your business doesn't prioritize internal branding, you run the risk of creating a disconnect between how your business is perceived and how it operates internally and externally.
— Harvard Business Review
THE BASICS
Internal Branding Strategy Benefits
The most prominent benefits of a proper internal branding strategy are:
THE BASICS
It is vital to establish culture/purpose guidelines to ensure new recruits share the values and mission of the company during the interview and vetting process. When a company has these criteria, it is easy to determine if a candidate is a right fit for the culture. It will also help you understand who would fit best with your company.
Unfortunately, the people who are charged with internal communications—HR professionals, typically—don’t have the marketing skills to communicate successfully. Information is doled out to employees in the form of memos, newsletters, and so forth, but it’s not designed to convince them of the uniqueness of the company’s brand. (Tell, instead of sell)
THE BASICS
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
— Winston Churchill �(Stolen by Rahm Emanuel!)
PRINCIPLE 1
Choose Your Moment
At certain turning points, times when the company is experiencing some fundamental change, employees are seeking direction and are relatively receptive to these initiatives. Turning points are ideal opportunities for an internal branding campaign. Managers can direct people’s energy in a positive direction by clearly and vividly articulating what makes the company special. Internal branding efforts launched without the momentum such a moment can generate nearly always fail. Without a natural turning point, managers seeking to boost the brand internally may need to manufacture this kind of moment, perhaps by launching a new marketing strategy.
PRINCIPLE 2
Link Internal & External Marketing
Employees need to hear the same messages that you send out to the marketplace. At most companies, however, internal and external communications are often mismatched, and it threatens employees’ perceptions of the company’s integrity.
They are told one thing by management but observe that a different message is being sent to the public.
IF YOU DON’T DEFINE YOUR COMPANY BRAND
THE MARKET WILL!
Internal marketing becomes stronger because it can draw on the same “big idea” as advertising.
Advertising isn’t the only way to link internal and external marketing. At Nike, a number of senior executives now hold the additional title of “Corporate Storyteller.” They deliberately avoid stories of financial successes and concentrate on parables of “just doing it,” reflecting and reinforcing the company’s ad campaigns.
PRINCIPLE 2
PRINCIPLE 3
Bring the Brand Alive �for Your Employees
The goal of an internal branding �campaign is very similar to that of an �external campaign: to create an emotional �connection to your company that transcends �any one particular experience.
In the case of employees, you also want the connection to inform the way they approach their jobs, even if they don’t interact with customers. You want them to have the brand vision in their minds and to consider whether or not they are supporting the brand in every decision they make.
PRINCIPLE 3
How do you do that? Much the same way you cultivate the connection with external audiences. You need to plan and execute a professional branding campaign to introduce and explain the messages and then reinforce them by weaving the brand into the fabric of the company.
The messages should be directed at employee “touch-points,” the day-to-day interactions that influence the way people experience the workplace.
THE CAMPAIGN
Professional Branding Campaigns
A professional branding campaign is just what it sounds like. It takes the form of a consumer branding campaign, with a set of stages that starts with research and continues through the planning and execution of a communications strategy designed to convince your employees of the merits and credibility of your brand.
Designing and executing this campaign should be the marketing department’s responsibility. The marketing people have the necessary skills, they understand the context surrounding the external campaign, and, perhaps most important, they are uniquely positioned to match the internal campaign to the external campaign.
Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak
Materials must be free of jargon and grandstanding and must focus on the essence of the company. To be effective, these materials must be as creative and eye-catching as the materials you deliver to an external audience.
Just as in a consumer advertising campaign, you need to surprise and charm your audience. This is a task of persuasion, not information, and dry, lifeless materials will quickly be shelved or discarded.
THE CAMPAIGN
Culture Sells
Most salespeople will tell you that �customers don’t buy products or services; �they buy PEOPLE. This is true in the workforce, �as well. People want to be part of the culture �where the “cool kids work”.
By incorporating the brand vision into these employee touchpoints, companies, over time inculcate the vision into the employee experience to the extent that on-brand behavior becomes instinctive. Apple is an obvious example, as are Disney and Virgin Airlines. It’s no accident that, despite formidable challenges from the PC world, there remains widespread Apple zealotry both inside and outside the company.
THE CAMPAIGN
Investment Required!
Amid the pressure to develop new products and squeeze costs out of operations, internal marketing is easily overlooked. After all, in times of financial stress, even external marketing budgets are scrutinized, despite the well-known fact that external marketing is important.
But it is a truth of business that if employees do not care about their company, they will in the end contribute to its demise.
And it’s up to you to give them a reason to care.
THE CAMPAIGN
Actionable Internal Branding Practices
✅ Get to know your employees more
Get reacquainted with your current employees and use their perception of the company as a source. Information can be gathered by using a variety of methods, including surveys, in-person interviews, open discussions, and more. Ask your employees about the things that they consider important in the company, and make sure that honesty takes precedence over company politics.
✅ Schedule at the right time
Interviews, questionnaires, and other methods of inquiry may sound fun in theory, but you need to time them right in order for the plan to work. Sometimes, there will be plenty of new ideas to pick from. It’s important to ask the right questions, at the right time.
THE CAMPAIGN
Actionable Internal Branding Practices
✅ Come up with new ideas
In a company, things change over time. What’s old is new, and what’s new might suddenly become old news. When products, services, or goals have a tendency to change rapidly, it’s of the utmost importance to let things naturally fall into place.
A transition period can be triggered by several things, including change in leadership, market shifts, new lines of business, or a restructuring of the organization. During this time, it can be very difficult to maintain a coherent internal structure, which may reflect poorly on the internal branding as well.
Don’t let the emergent turmoil take its course, but use it to your advantage. Come up with several fresh ideas and present them to your team. It could be a fun way to overcome the transition period while retaining valuable information and boosting employee morale at the same time.
THE CAMPAIGN
Actionable Internal Branding Practices
✅ Assess the employees’ level of determination, wishes, and attitudes
For the hundredth time, talking in person with someone is the best way to uncover their motivations, desires, needs, and how they generally think about the organization. If certain podcast hosts can build empires on top of two-hour-long conversations, why can’t we, as business participants, employ the same measures for the business as well?
All employees will get a say in the matter of internal branding, and their opinions will be carefully considered by their employers, CEO, and other higher-ups. As such, your employees will start seeing the company in a more positive light.
THE CAMPAIGN
Actionable Internal Branding Practices
✅ Take effective measures to implement the strategy
Finally, after all the necessary steps are being taken care of, you can start thinking about implementing the internal branding strategy.
One fun way to begin is to use the company history and implement it into the brand. It can jump-start the process, ensure an efficient internal branding implementation, and enable the potential for a deeper connection with the employees over a certain amount of time.
THE CAMPAIGN
There is no explicit rule about how to perform a well-thought-out internal branding strategy. Organizational rules change every day, and so it’s up to your creativity and imagination to come up with an engagement plan and put it to good use.
When each person recognizes that they’re a part of something bigger, while also retaining their individuality, good things start to happen. You will see a generous boost in day-to-day activities, sales, customer service quality, and credibility.
But you do have to know some things before you start:
THE CAMPAIGN
Know the organization’s business, vision, mission, �values and culture.
Understand the organization’s business objectives �and what talent is needed to accomplish those �objectives. Define the company’s unique attributes.
Conduct internal research
Understand how the organization is perceived by its current employees, as well as by its target candidate group, and what these employees or potential employees want from the organization. Identify top talent, and ask what those employees like about working for the company. Determine the attributes of these star employees that the organization would want to attract.
THE CAMPAIGN
Conduct external research
Learn how the organization is positioned in relation to the competition. Research may be conducted through applicant surveys, as well as via Internet searches, social media or firms that conduct reputation monitoring.
Define an employee value proposition
Clearly communicates the value of the brand the �organization is developing. The employee brand �should truly reflect what is special about the �organization and must be aligned with �its customer brand.
THE CAMPAIGN
Develop an employee marketing strategy
The strategy should have a �two-pronged approach. First, the �recruitment strategy should focus on �reaching the targeted applicant base. �Attention should be directed to the career page, �recruiting sites, social media and other external recruitment sources. The second prong centers on consistently communicating the employee value proposition to current employees to retain and engage them. Use employee testimonials to affirm the brand.
Align the employer brand with the overall company brand
Work with the marketing and communications groups to ensure a holistic branding approach.
THE CAMPAIGN
Ensure that the people and management practices support the organization’s employer brand
Training, coaching, compensation and other HR-related practices can be used to support the brand.
Develop and use metrics
Assess and track the success of the employer brand. Metrics may include quality of hire, brand awareness, employee satisfaction, employee referrals or other metrics.
THE CAMPAIGN
THE TOOLS
Brand Education
Onboarding is the perfect time to introduce new employees to your company and corporate culture. This might include presentations, videos or graphics explaining how the company has grown and evolved since its inception. These efforts may also include giving away freebies like branded sweatshirts, water bottles and similar products. Even if employees in your company don’t wear uniforms, these unique gifts can help them feel more like a member of the team.
Employees feel like they are part of something.
2. Employee Recognition Programs
An effective employee recognition program can be the central pillar of an internal marketing campaign. This is especially true for smaller organizations with fewer employees. Recognition helps team members know that management sees and appreciates their hard work.
THE TOOLS
3. Integrated Communication Apps
Employee communication is a basic use case for communication apps. Internal marketing campaigns can use this technology to deliver branded information and keep everyone in alignment with broader company objectives. For example, you could use apps to announce new product or service rollouts.
In addition, apps can offer powerful ways to measure engagement. You can easily see who has adopted the app and who uses it most frequently. This data can show you which employees are your best brand advocates. You can also leverage app usage reports to support future internal marketing campaigns.
THE TOOLS
4. Employee Roundtables
Do your employees feel comfortable expressing their opinions? Employee roundtables can offer a safe and constructive place for employees to get together with management and share their ideas. Roundtable discussions should allow individuals to disagree with one another while remaining civil and respectful.
THE TOOLS
5. Bonding Activities
Your internal marketing plan should include �activities that are focused entirely on helping �your employees to feel like they’re part of the �team. In other words, not every activity should �be about promoting your brand to your �employees. Sometimes, people just need �to kick back and have some fun.
Taking your team out to lunch is a fun way for �employees to get to know one another in an �informal setting. By increasing employee comfort levels, �it becomes easier for team members to share ideas, �ask questions and even drive innovation.
THE TOOLS
Employee Productivity
Taking benchmark measures of employee performance before and after implementing your internal marketing program can show you the impact it has on tangible deliverables. For example, let’s say your campaign includes sharing sales strategies with other departments. You should see that your marketing team is in alignment with the sales process.
Retention
Internal communications should make employees feel more engaged with the organization’s overall mission. It also ensures you’re hiring qualified candidates that truly believe in your mission and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Tracking retention and turnover rates can help you understand how your employees feel about work they do. In addition to monitoring turnover rates, you should also review exit interviews to see if there are any trends in the reasons employees give for moving on to other opportunities.
KPIs
Online Interactions
Engaged, satisfied employees are more likely to share their experiences and accomplishments with their personal networks, for example. Likewise, a high level of engagement with your organization’s Internal chat apps can show you how your teams collaborate with one another.
Successful internal marketing campaigns can turn employees into effective brand ambassadors. This in turn can have a positive impact on your external marketing efforts.
KPIs
Best Practice #1: Senior Management Participation
Visible support from internal marketing leaders and frequent and direct communication from c-suite executives is necessary for effective internal marketing.
Best Practice #2: Integrated Organizational Structure
Most strong internal brands utilize horizontal integration to achieve internal marketing, believing that it should encompass all communications with all employees to maximize employee involvement and commitment.
Best Practice #3: Strategic Marketing Approach
When it comes to marketing internally, best-practice companies market to internal constituents in a manner that parallels how it reaches out to acquire and retain customers. initiatives.
ESSENTIAL�BEST PRACTICES
Best Practice #4: Human Resources Partnership
For successful internal marketing, human resources staff must consistently seek to integrate innovative methodology to train, communicate and foster feedback.
Best Practice #5: Focus on Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a result of an efficient and collaborative work environment where employees feel involved and motivated.
Best Practice #6: Internal Brand Communication
Internal branding bridges the gap between promise makers (marketers) and promise keepers (employees). Despite the varying scope and cost of the internal branding programs, all firms shared the basic principle that internal branding should inform and engage employees to consistently support brand initiatives.
ESSENTIAL�BEST PRACTICES
A Consistent Purpose
The inside and outside of a company must match. Purpose allows you to create communication competency that speaks to your customer. If the external materials don’t reflect the internal experience, you can create confusion. Your team and customers alike may not be able to easily connect with the brand, emotionally or otherwise.
— Forbes Magazine
ESSENTIAL�BEST PRACTICES
In other words,
Keep It Real, and Deliver!
Andy Wheeler
hamiltongroupmarketing@gmail.com
815-954-0245