By Quisto Settle
All employees are brand managers. It’s a simple enough statement but what does it mean?
It means your employees are the face of the organization because they interact directly with the public. It means that despite leadership receiving the most attention, the real impact comes from “regular” employees who don’t have the same stake in the brand.
It also means that an employee goes rogue and licks taco shells, like what happened recently at a Taco Bell, it affects the entire organization. In a more visceral example, animal abuse at a dairy farm can go viral, negatively impacting the organization and sometimes the whole industry.
This means all employees need to be on board with the brand. There needs to be a shared identity. One person out of sync can cause big problems.
You can think of a brand like an iceberg. What you see (logos, taglines, messages) is important, but it’s just the tip. Beneath the surface, the employees and their decisions make up the bulk of the iceberg.
There is no logo, no tagline, and no message you can develop to overcome a poor product or service. You need your employees to be on board or you will fail. It’s that simple.
Building a good internal brand takes work, but it pays off.
This is where quality leadership becomes important. Leadership needs to foster an environment where people are comfortable and willing to communicate with each other. Good internal communication is linked to good morale.
This payoff from building a good internal brand spills over into building a good external brand. Loyal employees can help lead to loyal customers because the public can see if employees like their job.
The effects don’t end here. The external brand also affects the internal brand.
Employees perceive the brand directly and indirectly. They make their own judgments of the brand, but they also receive feedback from people outside the organization. The more the public likes the brand, the more positively employees will perceive the brand.
These internal and external perceptions of the brand affect each other. It’s reciprocal.
Build the brand inside out. The good internal brand boosts the external brand, which boosts the internal brand starting the cycle over again.
Then maybe your employees won’t lick taco shells.
