Whitepaprs

White Paper Excerpt

The idea of “brand” is now synonymous with “experience.” A brand today is our cumulative experience with and perception of an entity. Not surprisingly, the single largest determinant of brand experience is an organization’s employees. Whether an airline flight or a hospital visit, grocery shopping or buying shoes, the way we perceive the employees we are interacting with has a far greater impact upon our brand perception than years of magazine or television advertisements.

This recognition has led to a wave of investment in what has become known as “employer branding” or “internal branding,” or what traditional branding firms have come to call “brand engagement.” Placing employees at the center
of the brand equation has changed the way leaders think about their organizational cultures – and the ways that these cultures create rewarding employee experiences that in turn translate into positive and enduring customer experiences.

Despite this awareness, the path to “employee-service-profit chain” success is mired in obstacles. Current corporate culture is still largely governed by command-and-control, industrial-age practices that are a source of alienation to
today’s workers. After all, there’s a reason why we all find the television program “The Office” so immediate and funny – because in it we see the absurdities of our own work environments and reporting structures mirrored back to us. What’s worse, the power of these legacy settings and structures to estrange employees has been heightened by nearly two years of recessionary malaise in which budgets and bonuses have been cut, friends fired, and promises broken.

If employees are distrusting and alienated from their organizations, what are the chances that they will provide customers and colleagues alike with a positive brand experience? More importantly, how do you get your employees to rebuild their trust and engagement with the organization so that brand behavior and business strategy align?

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