While recently on a trip down in the US, I was asked to participate in a taste test for Coke vs. Pepsi. Really… taste tests are still around. And this got me thinking about branding and how HR can make a difference to a corporate brand.
What is an internal brand? The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) defines internal branding as “the set of strategic processes that align and empower employees to deliver the appropriate customer experience in a consistent fashion“. Just as brands make promises to customers, companies make promises to their employees.
Here are some tips I uncovered for creating your internal brand.
Know your brand. Become familiar with your company’s brand strategy. Talk to marketing and branding and find out how your brand emotionally connects with consumers.
Discover what your employees believe to be your brand; what it promises to customers and what it promises to employees. Where does your internal brand promises live up to, or fall short in the eyes of your employees?
Create a plan. We all love plans. Make internal branding the cornerstone of your HR strategy. This is an opportunity for Human Resources to help ensure that throughout the organization, all of the actions that people take every day are in line with the corporate brand strategy.
Communicate, communicate, communicate. In order to market your employer brand, communication of the brand values to employees is paramount. Your employees need to see the parallels between your customer and employee experiences. Train managers and supervisors to walk the walk – this is up to you to find a way to execute.
And finally, measure the ROI. All those horrid years of math will come in handy now.
Have you had an increase in employee satisfaction?
Have your sales increased?
How about employee turnover – is it up or down?
Using measurable results, you can see the impact of where your branding efforts are working and where they need to be improved.
Ultimately, your employer brand is your promise to employees. If your employees don’t believe in your brand, who will?
When a company can consistently live up to its brand promises both internally and externally, it is a fabulous place to work!
Dana Sebal has over 10 years Marketing and Human Resources experience. Outside of her professional career, Dana’s passions include her family, rowing, running, tennis, skiing, yoga, and Beagles.
Republished with permission from Fireside HR BCHRMA’s new blog.
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Tags: employer branding, recruiting, recruiting advice, recruitment
