A convincing image, a clear communication, a varied offering: these are all the elements that certainly invite the client to approach a supplier. But what influences client perception of a company most of all is their interaction with it.

This is why all the people in the company need to communicate about the company and its offering in the same way. To do so, it’s necessary that people of all levels be involved and in line with company objectives.

Many companies invest millions every year to improve the involvement of their personnel within the company But only 13% of these people truly feel like they’re part of the company. This is because the approach is too soft: according to Denise Lee Yohn, brand building expert, it’s necessary to work more decisively on one particular point, which she identifies as Employee Brand Management.

What is the question that every company should ask itself when it makes a new relationship with its clients? Everyone can answer that question as they think best. The important thing is that this answer is communicated to all the members of the company, at every level. This is why your collaborators are the best representatives of your brand, and they are the living showcase of your company. Technically, we’re talking about Employee Brand Engagement: the more people within the company who are involved with the company brand, the higher the return will be that the organisation can benefit from.

But steps are needed to work on Employee Brand Management?

Time:
take the time to align all the values, the offering and the pluses of the company, and continue to keep everyone on schedule.

Cohesion:
respect you principles internally, exactly as you do externally. 

Tools:
in addition to keeping your personnel informed, also give them the proper tools to completely understand the brand and become the brand.

Clarity:
help each person understand their role: within the team, in the company and in relation to external parties.

Consistency:
ensure that every new acquisition, wether collaborators or partners, are in line with your needs and values.

Involvment:
don’t limit yourselves to telling people what to do: involve everyone in the company spirit so they follow the company style in a natural way, and not only when they are asked to do so.

The relationship between company and person is this: the company sets the basis of the promise, and people substantiate it and project it to the outside.
Following this vision, we can draw some conclusions:

  • If a person is well aligned with the values and the offering of the company they work for, they will know how to best present it to the outside world. On the contrary, if the person does not know the fundamental elements of the organisation, they won’t know how to be convincing when representing it. This is why investment in Employee Brand Engagement is necessary and advantageous.
  • Involved collaborators mean involved clients. Simple as it seems. Building a wealth of shared values will repay your efforts: both in the eyes of your clients and the eyes of your collaborators, supporting your employee retention strategy.
  • A strong and effective brand speaks clearly: of its essence, how to show it and how to communicate it.

A brand is offering, value, logo, color, message, but its DNA comes from something else: from the people who represent it.

“Great brands aren’t built by advertising, they’re built by action”.
Denise Lee Yohn

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