Brand Your Employees, Not

Your Organization

Keynote address

ARK Group’s Strategic Internal Communication 2015

Melbourne, Australia

Aniisu K Verghese

February 10, 2015 @aniisu

Disclaimer

Due care has been taken while preparing this

presentation but the authors cannot be held

responsible for any misuse or misrepresentation of

information. The views expressed in this

presentation are those of the authors. Data for this

presentation has been drawn from various sources

and is gratefully acknowledged

Employer Branding Is Dead

“brandful workforce” – employees can

be the most important component of

your brand success

Julia Gometz, The Brandful Workforce

@aniisu

http://brandfulworkforce.com/#axzz3RQyTZyCc

Nearly half a trillion U.S. dollars are spent

on branding annually

The money spent by companies around the world on branding is more

than what they invest in research and development, according to the

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Brands: Reputation and Image in the Global Marketplace (2013).

@aniisu

@aniisu

The future of work – A journey to 2022, PwC; www.pwc.com/humancapital

World of work shifting to individualism

A central London college is offering its students

the chance to become fully qualified selfie -takers.

The art of self portraiture

@aniisu

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/11323218/Selfie-students-London-college-offers-course-in-selfies.html

@aniisu

Apps get personalized: Lift adds

‘personal coaching’

http://www.slideshare.net/SocialChorusU/how-to-sell-your-company-on-employee-advocacy

@aniisu

Evolution of the Employee, Jacob Morgan Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/09/02/the-evolution-of-the-employee/

@aniisu

Credibility matters

http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2015-edelman-trust-barometer/trust-around-world/

Your employees create more than

ever

11

Game Changers, Waly Ollins, Spring 2013

Transforming Employees into Advocates 8 Steps to Launching a Successful employee

advocate program Power, Social Chorus

Your employees’ actions are more powerful

@aniisu

Employees are posting about you without any

encouragement

Employees Rising: Seizing the Opportunity in Employee Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research @aniisu

21% of employees are positive activists

Employees Rising: Seizing the Opportunity in Employee Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research

• They make

engagement visible

• Defend their

employers

• Actively advocate –

online and offline

@aniisu

2011: Trends in Organizational (Internal) Communications/Employee Engagement, Edelman Change & Employee

Engagement

“Managers are no longer the center of an employee’s universe”

Employees find information on their own, both inside and outside the company, and construct their own information networks and dialogues. Managers can help influence the dialogue and be a part of the conversation. And they can continue to interpret and shape opinion and behavior. But, they can no longer strictly dictate the terms of the dialogue, or when or how it takes place. They can no longer determine the rules of engagement. The company and the employee now have a more direct relationship.

@aniisu

http://www.vikalpa.com/pdf/articles/2007/oct_dec_13_to_27.pdf

“Employee commitment may be shifting from the

organisation to one’s occupation.”

An individual with higher occupational commitment

would strongly identify with his occupation and have

positive feelings towards it

Probably why Engineers Day gets a lot more attention

these days?

@aniisu

Managing You Inc.

“People will have to master multiple skills if they are to survive in such a

world—and keep those skills up to date. Professional sorts in big service firms

will have to take more responsibility for educating themselves. People

will also have to learn how to sell themselves, through

personal networking and social media or, if they are

really ambitious, turning themselves into brands. In a

more fluid world, everybody will need to learn how to

manage You Inc.”

Workers on tap, The Economist: January 3rd, 2015

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21637393-rise-demand-economy-poses-difficult-questions-workers-companies-and

@aniisu

http://simply-communicate.com/news/book-reviews/future-work-journey-2022#.VBQWyjbPBjI.twitter

Hunger for Autonomy

• “People are more likely to see themselves as members of a particular

skill or professional network than as an employee of aparticular

company.”

• According to the findings, 2 out of 5 respondents think that the traditional

employment will disappear. Instead, individuals “will have their own

‘brands’ and sell their skills to those who need them.”

• This will be part of a generational shift, with younger people hunger for

autonomy and entrepreneurialism.

@aniisu

Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker™, The September 2011 Report

The Impact of Recognition on Employee Retention

Case for Personalization

@aniisu

“Employees are your next

new product”

-Source: 2011: Trends in Internal Communications (Edelman Change & Employee Engagement)

@aniisu

Employees want more ownership

The Future of Employee (Re)Engagement, MSL Group, 2013

“Beyond a stream of income, people expect more from their

jobs today – ownership, meaningful

work, social contribution – their personal

motivations differ.”

@aniisu

2011: Trends in Organizational (Internal) Communications/Employee Engagement, Edelman Change & Employee

Engagement

“People are more inclined to self-identify as individuals

rather than part of a discrete organization or brand. This is

enhanced and encouraged by one’s ability to connect and

link to one’s peers and to find self-defined communities.”

@aniisu

People are Inclined to Self-Identity

Employees with socially-encouraging employers perform

significantly better than employees whose employers aren’t

socially encouraging

Employees Rising: Seizing the Opportunity in Employee Activism,

Weber Shandwick & KRC Research @aniisu

Source: Empowering employees: new rules of engagement. Engage and youGov study, October 2008

http://www.ioic.org.uk/content/training/knowledge-bank/1457-engagement-yougov-survey-results.html

Involvement and empowerment: shift in engagement trends

@aniisu

Breaking Them in Or Eliciting Their Best? Reframing Socialization Around Newcomers’ Authentic Self-Expression,

Cable, Daniel M.; Gino, Francesca and Staats, Bradley R. Administrative Science Quarterly 2013

When initial socialization focused

on personal identify (emphasizing newcomers’

authentic best selves) led to

greater customer

satisfaction and

employee retention after

6 months than socialization that

focused on organizational

identity (emphasizing the

pride to be gained from

organizational affiliation) or the

traditional approach focused on

skills training.

Focus on Personal Identity

@aniisu

Eras and roles

The Multifaceted Communicator

Integrator Master data

analyst

Systems designer

Publisher and

developer

Student of behavioral

science

Curator of corporate character

ARTHUR W. PAGE SOCIETY BUILDING BELIEF, 2012

The Future of Business Citizenship, MSL Group (2014)

http://mslgroup.com/insights/2014/the-future-of-business-citizenship.aspx

CSR is a driver of employee activism

@aniisu

@aniisu

Zappos is holacratic: no job titles, no

managers, no hierarchy

of

http://qz.com/317918/holacracy-at-zappos-its-either-the-future-of-management-or-a-social-experiment-gone-awry/

Self-management at Morning Star

30

• No one at the company has a boss.

• Employees negotiate and set individual responsibilities with their fellow workers.

• Everyone can spend the privately held company’s money without budgetary constraints.

• Nobody carries a title, and there are no promotions.

• Compensation at the largest tomato processor on the planet is peer-based. https://hbr.org/2011/12/first-lets-fire-all-the-

managers

Individual Social Responsibility

“The shift from looking at

one’s staff as just

employees to

recognizing them as

individuals in their

own right, is gaining

popularity for ensuring

mutual respect and loyalty

and creating new employer-

employee dynamics.”

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/newmanager/joyous-employees-happy-company/article6394788.ece#

@aniisu

Personal Branding Improves Engagement

• Weeklong series of training

exercises to help train

prospective new hires on

building their personal brand

and increasing their

marketability.

• The exercises include

videos, articles, checklists

and even a contest for the

“Best Elevator Pitch.”

@aniisu

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/12/04/personal-branding-in-the-future-workplace-a-crucial-skill-for-employees-and-recruiters-alike/

@aniisu

http://www.slideshare.net/dellsocialmedia/activating-employees-as-company-advocates-on-social-media

Certifying employees as social media champions

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/careers-leadership/goldsmith-engagement-comes-from-

within/article558146/?page=all

In tweets!

1. Stay relevant as communicators. The workforce and workplace

of the future will be geared to building personal brands. The organization will become an amalgamation of brands @aniisu #intcomms

2. Be at the forefront of change by branding your employees.

Communicators need newer skills for the future, ability to leverage talent, learning to let go, taking charge @aniisu #intcomms

3. Lead the future of communication. Tap the power of your employees to build the organization’s brand from within @aniisu #intcomms

Summary

@aniisu

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:http://www.facebook.com/ICbook2012 • E-mail: intraskope@yahoo.com • Visit my blog: www.intraskope.wordpress.com

Stay Connected

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