"We need better cultural alignment around our brand and a stronger employer brand to unify and motivate employees and attract new recruits."
EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT
Look at any outstanding corporate success over the last decade and somewhere along the line you’ll find that its ability to engage employees and earn their commitment plays a crucial role in its success.
This is the essence of internal brand alignment and why it is becoming increasingly important in the recruitment and retention of employees at all levels.
Employees who are aligned with a company’s brand are actively engaged on two important and complementary levels: They have an intellectual understanding of what the brand stands for and what it means in their daily work and interactions, and they are emotionally committed to its success.
Taken together, the two ingredients provide the strategic underpinnings of our approach, but the question remains: How are employees actively engaged?
The first step involves an analysis of current employee attitudes to understand the misalignments and the disconnects that prevent active support. Is it a matter of misunderstanding or perhaps simply a lack of information?
On the basis of the information gathered, a plan is developed and structured around a three-level approach.
- Clearly communicating and allowing employees to fully hear the message.
- Taking the necessary action to instill confidence and allow employees to believe the message.
- Providing the necessary training and tools to enable employees to live and represent the message.
This measured, iterative approach to internal brand alignment ensures that employees have both the intellectual understanding of what the brand stands for and, critically, they are emotionally committed to its success.
