Many companies and people have developed models to measure employee engagement. Gallup has their 12 core elements to measure engagement, and consultancies like Towers Watson and Hewitt Associates are leaders in measuring / benchmarking employee engagement. One key component to most of the methodologies is recognition—more specifically in how the recognition is being delivered and by whom.
An employees’ manager plays an important role in the effectiveness of recognition. There are many forms of recognition, but it is most meaningful when it is accompanied by sincere praise for a specific accomplishment. A personal thank you can go a long way from a manager to employee.
I ran across this article from Inc.com. The subject of the article is about creating a culture of recognition and why some recognition initiatives succeed while others fail. According to David Brown, founder and president of Datotel, the key to recognition is not only the award received, but also the kind words delivered directly to the employee as part of the recognition. In fact David make a conscious effort to thank his employees several times a week.
Macquarie seems to think so. The Australian investment bank introduced a new working environment based on the concept of Activity Based Working (ABW) developed by Veldhoen + Company. ABW is the process of creating a flexible environment that enhances the way a company operates. The firm Clive Wilkinson created the design for Macquarie’s office to complement the ABW style. In Macquarie’s case the new environment supports complex problem solving, autonomy and creativity. You can go to the Clive Wilkinson site to view more images and read more about the project or you can go to Veldhoen + Company to read about the entire project and ABW.
I definitely agree that an office environment can increase productivity, change behaviors and encourage culture change. It appears that a greater number of companies are embracing non-traditional working arrangements to offer more flexibility and adapt to today’s changing world. The concept of ABW could be a trend that we see increase in the years ahead. If so, it could prove to be a very useful tool in shaping corporate culture.
Below is a video from Clive Wilkinson about the Macquarie project.
This is another topic of much debate. Many argue that there is no internal brand and external brand—there is only brand. The assumption is that if the external brand is successfully doing its job then it will align employees with its promise, values, personality, etc.
I tend to disagree with this position slightly (although it may just be an argument of semantics). I believe that a company’s brand often times focuses more on the customer and sometimes neglects the employee. There are many times when you need to convey one message to a customer and a completely different message internally to the employee.
This is where I believe that internal branding is important. It allows you to convey a slightly different message regarding a company’s values, personality, etc. than you would receive from the external brand. Ultimately it goes back to the commitment between the employee and the company. If the company is going to make promises on behalf of its employees, it should also convey its commitment to employees to ensure those promises are met. It is important to note that alignment to the external brand is critical and the company should never send conflicting messages.
A great example (which could fall on both sides of the argument) is Kaiser Permanente’s “Practice What you Believe” campaign. It was launched at the same time as Kaiser popular “Thrive” campaign, with the intent of supporting campaign messaging and Kaiser’s brand positioning, but to an internal audience. You can read the article and see some examples from the campaign by going to healthleadersmedia.com
In short, the answer is yes. However, I believe that to accomplish this, companies can only lay the groundwork—it is up to the employees to develop the culture. It seems that many companies simply create communications that say we are this and you (the employee) need to align with it. By contrast, companies that are focused on engagement create environments that act as catalysts for change and let the employees make the decision to act—which they do based on each person’s evaluation of the company’s desired values/behaviors compared to their own desires and values.
I recently found an article from Inc.com that talks about what motivates employees. The article provides a lot of good insights and contains links to numerous resources and related articles. I like that the author started with 1. Setting A Good Example because, again, I believe that cultures can be changed when leadership properly provides opportunity for change and exemplifies the value/behavior they want to see within their company. There are a ton of other points in the article that are great, but I will spare you my opinion on all of them.
I hope you enjoy the article.
You must be the change you want to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi
One of the most important parts of internal branding is the alignment to the external brand. More specifically, the internal brand should represent a dual commitment between the employer and employee to help fulfill on the brand’s external promise to customers. Sometimes the internal & external brands are so aligned that they are one in the same. A beautiful example of this is with Intel’s campaign below—that serves both their external and employer(internal) brand. The ad highlights the fact that it is Intel’s people who bring innovation to us all, while telling employees (and potential employees) that at Intel they have the opportunity to create that innovation. I love these ads, and my hope is that they have been successful for Intel in reinforcing the internal messages as well.
Below is another great ad that provides insight into the culture of Intel.
There are a lot of similarities between internal branding and employer branding—and for the most part they are one in the same. Both the internal brand and employer brand focus on the telling a company’s story with a goal to increase employee engagement and encourage certain behaviors. However, from my viewpoint, the employer brand pays specific attention to the recruiting / talent management process and focuses on conveying the company’s value propositions.
If you are new to internal branding or just want to acquire a good understanding of the basic process, I have included links to a couple of great resources. I will warn you that everyone has their own take on internal / employer branding, but I have found these two resources to be very easy to read and do a good job of outlining the process.
The first is a book called The Employer Brand, written by Simon Barrow and Richard Mosley—two colleagues at a London consultancy called People in Business. They both have a wealth of experience in employer branding and draw from over 15 years experience working with some of the biggest brands in the world. I found the book to be very easy to read, yet very informational. The book also provides you with a lot of great references to other information related to employer branding.
The second is an Internal Branding report from Melcrum and written by David Grossman at dg&a. It is called Internal Branding. How to create and sustain a successful internal brand. You will have to access this article at Melcrum’s website. They should offer a trial membership for free. The article provides a great overview and outlines a simple, yet informative, approach to internal branding.
I hope these resources answer some questions you may have about internal branding or employer branding. Please let me know your thoughts by commenting or send me an email at info@corp-cult.com.
What does it all mean? I guess we first have to ask ourselves what we believe. As for me, I am someone who believes that people are the driving force behind a company’s success. I also believe that people should believe in the company for whom they work, feel as if they are making a difference, and (for the most part) enjoy their work. With this idea in mind, my goal for this site is to highlight what people (companies & agencies) are doing to drive engagement and foster strong corporate cultures.
Since I am now just at this beginning stages of this blog, I will outline how I will talk about corporate culture and internal branding. There is a decent amount of confusion between employer branding, employee branding, internal marketing, etc. Most of the time I will just refer to the all of the above as internal branding. Regardless of how it is defined, I believe that the goal for internal branding is to help keep employees engaged throughout their experience with the company—from company values to performance reviews to recognition.
For my first post I am including a link to a news program covering a great corporate culture that I am sure most of you have heard about which is Zappos. Zappos is the epitome of a great company culture, and is featured in this ABC News story.
Back to my question—what does it all mean? I hope this site will get us all a little closer to that answer. This will be my first of many posts so please stay tuned in for more.
Welcome to CORPCULT—a site dedicated to Corporate Culture & Internal Branding
My name is John Douris, and I believe that companies should work hard to define their culture and communicate their story in inspiring ways.
My goal for this site is to highlight companies who have great corporate cultures and have embraced internal branding. This site includes information regarding internal branding, employer / employee branding, employee engagement and anything related to corporate culture. If you have any information you would like me to include in my blog please feel free to send me an email.
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An employees’ manager plays an important role in the effectiveness of recognition. There are many forms of recognition, but it is most meaningful when it is accompanied by sincere praise for a specific accomplishment. A personal thank you can go a long way from a manager to employee.
I tend to disagree with this position slightly (although it may just be an argument of semantics). I believe that a company’s brand often times focuses more on the customer and sometimes neglects the employee. There are many times when you need to convey one message to a customer and a completely different message internally to the employee.
In short, the answer is yes. However, I believe that to accomplish this, companies can only lay the groundwork—it is up to the employees to develop the culture. It seems that many companies simply create communications that say we are this and you (the employee) need to align with it. By contrast, companies that are focused on engagement create environments that act as catalysts for change and let the employees make the decision to act—which they do based on each person’s evaluation of the company’s desired values/behaviors compared to their own desires and values.
There are a lot of similarities between internal branding and employer branding—and for the most part they are one in the same. Both the internal brand and employer brand focus on the telling a company’s story with a goal to increase employee engagement and encourage certain behaviors. However, from my viewpoint, the employer brand pays specific attention to the recruiting / talent management process and focuses on conveying the company’s value propositions.
My name is John Douris, and I believe that companies should work hard to define their culture and communicate their story in inspiring ways.