Executive Recruitment
Are your people working for you?
In an increasingly service-led economy, companies spend more and more on their marketing and branding. Competition is rife, consumer choice is vast and customers’ expectations continue to rise and rise. The response is normally costly investment in branding and marketing. This is meant to ensure a consistent, valuable and differentiated experience for the customer but when times are hard can we save money and still grow our brand?
One aspect often overlooked (but perhaps more important than all others) is that corporate identity and branding need to come from your people. It’s difficult to change their appearance and attitude with a quick injection of cash but in a challenging economic climate they can be the asset that continues to drive your business forward and allows you to shelve some costs associated with your traditional marketing toolbox.
Branding should be a consideration of all employees within the organisation. This is because what really matters is the customer experience and this customer experience is unequivocally influenced by direct contact with your employees.
Furthermore, it is the strength of this customer experience that will influence the long-term strength of your brand. Employees need to stand for the company and the company needs to stand for its employees. This cycle must grow over time and be reinforced at every juncture but it’s never too late to start and it’s always the right time to challenge and develop the systems that are part of the process.
A motivated, focussed, happy team can achieve phenomenal results, the goal of course being the development of brand ambassadors right across your organisation, rather than just in the marketing department or your external agencies.
This is no mean feat however and you may need to start right at the beginning with your recruitment processes. For example:
- Do your selection processes include the facility to check whether candidates have the right “fit” with your organisation’s culture and values?
- Does your induction programme include a focus on the company’s brand, what it stands for, and what it means for customers and staff?
In addition, what about training, management development, systems and processes … have they been developed with your values as a key driver? Do you have “values”? If not, it could well be the case that your brand experience does not live up to your brand promise or your idea of that very brand. Not ideal when you consider that people will generally tell one or two people about a good experience, but will tell seven to ten people about a bad one.
Effective and ongoing training and communication with your staff will improve your chances of success. Talk to them about your company’s vision and culture. Involve them in the branding process. Ask them for their opinions and get them to contribute to changes, developments and improvements.
Ultimately, you will have a workforce that lives and breathes your company values, reinforcing the brand on a daily basis. The alternative is a less positive scenario - where employee attitudes and behaviours will directly conflict with your company’s intended messages and promises. What’s the point in spending thousands or even millions on promoting your brand externally to customers and shareholders, when it is barely understood or supported by internal staff?
For more information or an informal conversation about your current situation contact:
Sewell Moorhouse – a leading multi-disciplined recruitment group, specialising in accountancy & finance, professional practice, HR, engineering, secretarial/administration and executive recruitment, with offices in Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Manchester.
Nigel Brewster tel: 01302 367 444 email: nigel.brewster@sewellm.co.uk