I recently read an article that reminded me how important a company’s brand promise is to success. A brand promise takes a company’s positioning to a more actionable level, operating like a compass to provide direction to employees about what the brand stands for. Does the brand promise lower costs than its competitors? Faster service? Guaranteed satisfaction?
Success starts with employees. Employees are brand ambassadors expected to deliver on the brand promise. But what if employees don’t know, understand or buy into the brand promise? When management doesn’t effectively communicate and support employees to do their jobs effectively and efficiently, it may seem to customers like the company’s brand promise is: “We promise the worst customer experience possible.” Companies known for bad customer experiences often receive low ratings by employees too. 24/7 Wall St. and Glassdoor recently identified “The Worst Companies To Work For” in the U.S., and most of the Top 12 companies were in healthcare and retail. Among the things lacking at these companies were a clearly communicated vision from the company’s leaders, opportunities for advancement, and work that impacts the company’s bottom line.
The corporate culture dictates how information is disseminated, as I discussed in an earlier blog about banking. During brand changes, it’s essential to keep employees in the loop throughout all phases of the process. If the brand change is prompted by M&A activity, employees at both companies worry about job security. Needless to say, effectively communicating the brand promise during a brand change can be tricky, especially when corporate cultures are merging.
All too often, employees don’t understand their role in delivering the brand promise to achieve organizational goals. In service industries, like financial services, hospitality and healthcare, the words and actions of employees are the customer experience. For example, if a hotel’s brand promise involves fast service, do hotel employees provide fast service or are customers stuck in line for 30 minutes? Stephen Covey does a much better job of explaining the execution gap than I can in his entertaining video (especially for parents and soccer fans), “Goals – the 4 Disciplines of Execution.” One statistic really stands out in this video: Only 15 percent of employees can clearly identify the organization’s top goals and priorities.
To help employees stay focused, management can clearly define and communicate priorities rather than sending mixed messages and forcing employees to juggle conflicting duties every day. Prioritizing delivery on the brand promise is a place to start. Management can do this by taking the time-consuming duty of brand implementation off the table during a brand change. Outsourcing non-core duties to experts demonstrates management’s commitment to keeping employees focused on the customer experience.
Don’t let distractions take your employees off course. Let your brand promise guide your business to success.
