By Caroline Roper
When having conversations about organizational branding, it’s easy to talk about the external stuff – company colors, logos and offices. Often left out of the conversation is discussion of a company’s internal brand, or how company employees see their organization.
In order for an organization to have a successful brand, successful internal branding is a must. Internal branding digs deep within an organization, and asks questions such as are employees fulfilling your mission or do employees completely understand your organization’s purpose.
When discussing internal branding, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Talk about the technical details
Far too often an organization touts to value customer care and pride themselves on high satisfaction rates, only to discover just the opposite. Employee’s understanding of policies, practices, customer relationship philosophy and protocols is vital not only to internal branding success but also to the success of an organization. Your employees have to understand what you prioritize and hope to accomplish in order for them to be successful.
Image is important
While a brand goes beyond design details, it is still important to make sure employees having an understanding of an organization’s image. Establishing style guides, setting a color scheme and determining which fonts to use set an image for the organization. It is important to stay consistent, even when it comes to inter-organizational communication.
Ask employees for feedback… frequently.
Employee perceptions of an organization and policy are an integral part of an organization’s internal branding. What if policies are ineffective or employees see an opportunity for improvement? By asking employees for feedback, it not only provides an opportunity for new ideas to be brought to light, but also for employees to feel like they are truly involved in an organization’s decision making process.
A survey conducted by a third party organization may be beneficial to gain insight into your employee’s perceptions of your organization. The PIE Center has conducted several employee or member surveys for organizations, including the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and Florida Forest Service.
Overall, when focusing on branding an organization, it is important to remember that internal understanding of an organization is just as important as external understanding. The more understanding and investment an employee has in your brand and organization, the more likely they are to uphold organizational values.
For more information, check out this article: Mind the Gap: Are You Bridging Your External and Internal Branding? By Laura Pasternak, Chief Brand Strategist at MarketPoint, LLC.
Link: http://www.yourmarketpoint.com/files/mp_-_mind_the_gap.pdf
