I think that we’re all aware and somewhat petrified (for the younger generation read ‘excited’) at the speed of change taking place in this society we call Earth. Not only does time appear
to go faster, but also many of the rules that were sacrosanct
seem to be breaking down or disappearing altogether.
Take a job for life: In the good old days after the second world war, youstarted an apprenticeship with a company and by the
time you got to 65, you got the gold watch and were put out
to pasture. These days statistics tell us that the average life-span of a CEO of a major multinational company is 1-2 years,
and job-hopping for middle management is seen
as work experience.
Take trust in a company’s products and their reputation. In the good old days you had bellwether stocks (IBM, AT&T, Bethlehem Steel) and people trusted these companies to deliver and walk
the talk. These days you have downsizing, restructuring, mergers and takeovers and of course, not forgetting Enron and their accountants Arthur Andersen – so you can’t believe what companies say or even do anymore (take Shell and their less
than exemplary environmental record in Nigeria, or overstating their oil reserves as a case in point). And these days with the all-knowing, all-seeing Internet and its latest manifestation, Web 2.0, people are taking the initiative and the rise of consumer power – blogs, podcasts, video phones and video recorders, text messages – and the imminent convergence of telecoms and media mean that the balance of power is shifting. Pressure groups are becoming increasingly more vocal and active and control of the
flow of information is passing from those who manufacture and create products and services to those who use them – i.e. you
and I.
If you equate this observation to the human population, there
is cause to believe that society is moving to a higher level of consciousness, awareness and sophistication. Consumers are saying “no“ to being constantly sold to byadvertising agencies. Consumers are saying “no“ to being lied to – witness
the demonstrations against the Iraq War in the UK and to the collapse of Enron and the subsequent enactment of the Sarbanes Oxley Act which forces companies by law to tell the truth on their balance sheet or face punitive consequences.
So how is an HR Manager and indeed his boss, the CEO, supposed to react to these fast-changing events and lack of allegiances and trust in companies in general, especially when seeking to attract graduates?
Let’s look at some facts and statistics to see the lay of the land.
In a recent study among 1000 school leavers in the UK, when asked the question: “what are you looking for in a job?“,
82% said that they were looking for a job that was “personally fulfilling“. Furthermore, 62% said that they were looking for more of a “balance between work and life“, i.e. more time for themselves. So the days of offering more rewards by way
of money, status or perks are just not working anymore
with an increasingly educated, aware and sophisticated population.
More and more these days the battlefield where companies compete against each other is fought less and less on price and more and more in the hearts and minds of consumers. The most visible manifestation of this is the increasing importance that brands and branding are taking in the boardrooms. Companies
are realising that their brand represents everything in the minds
of consumers: not only a promise of consistency and quality, but also shorthand and an expression of their needs and aspirations. Brand and branding is now centre stage, not only reflected as a line item in the balance sheet, but also increasing a company’s share price (or vice versa) depending on whether companies have invested in their positioning and differentiation which is accepted as being believable and true and resonating with consumers’ belief systems and what they deem to be important and relevant as part of their life and lifestyle.
Companies are increasingly aware that brands are the only key differentiator between their offer and their competitors – as the saying goes: “a hotel without a brand is just a bed for the night“.
And more importantly that staff are the brand ambassadors
of a brand being the closest touch point to the customer. So the question now is how does one motivate staff to fully endorse
and believe as well as communicate the brand values to customers?. Not being an H.R. professional, I don’t have the
answer by way of best practice standards and systems.
I do however lead a ‘growing the brand’ seminar for companies which provides the bridge for thought leaders and middle management in organisations between learning about a company’s vision, mission and values and how to live these day to day.
What I mean by “how“ is that truly enlightened companies that attract the best people and constantly hit the top ten companies
to work for, realise that they stand for something that is more than just about the money or product or service on offer.
They have embraced a value system (e.g. Apple – ‘think different’, or H.P. with ‘Invent’) that resonates with our desire
for “meaning“ or “being“ – a sense of purpose.
Here we as consumers are looking for honesty, integrity
and a value system we can believe in that resonates
with our desire for meaning, truth and authenticity.
Companies are increasingly taking over from Governments and the promise of a welfare state is rapidly losing its potency as the benefits of mass production and our increasingly ‘global village’ environment take effect. Companies have to be seen to “care“
in word and especially in deed. So the all-important “values“
are taking their rightful place as companies embrace their responsibility to give something back – whether it is by way
of charity, work in the community, adding value to their offer,
or providing their staff with training programs, motivational
and team-building events flexi-time work structures or crèches
for their children.
How you communicate and indeed ‘live’ your brand both internally, at point of origination, and on its journey to the customer and what it stands for are what makes the difference between ordinary brands and truly great brands. Enlightened companies are seeking more and more to empower their staff so that they not only agree to represent the company in a ‘job’ but, more importantly truly endorse the company and its products or services as co-owners – this is becoming the rallying cry for HR managers. Let the brand
ambassadors represent the company. Everything else is process.
Anthony Ryman is Managing Director of grow, a Doha-based advertising and design agency focused on brands and growing companies’ brands and businesses. grow offers a number of services including brand creation and development, customer communications, multimedia, brand experience and
internal communications (growing the brand seminars), exhibitions and events. Click here for more information. Clients include: Qatari Diar, Commercial Bank, Doha Bank, UDC, International Bank of Qatar, Carnegie Mellon, Ritz Carlton, Marriott Hotel, Ramada Hotel, Four Seasons, Al Faisal Holding, Robert Bosch, QAFAC and Chili’s, to name a few. |
