35 Tell your people what you stand for

35

TELL YOUR PEOPLE WHAT YOU STAND FOR

Make sure that everyone who works for you knows your brand well. They should know the direction of the organisation and the core values behind your brand. Your staff is in the best position to spread good things about your brand, and how they talk about your products will have some impact on your brand position in the market.

The idea There’s a story about a man who was working at NASA. It might be true. The tale is that President Kennedy visited the building and asked a cleaner what he did for a living and he said, “I help to put a man on the moon.”

When you’re willing to stand up and be counted, and when you know that all your colleagues feel the same, then you’ve got a successful brand on your hands, being built from the inside out.

So, if you asked your colleagues, “Do you know what our organisation does? What does our brand mean to you? Are you proud of it?” If they feel connected to the centre and would be happy to recommend to their friends and family the things your organisation provides, and stand up for what it represents, it’s working. If not, and it’s just a job and just about bringing home the cash, then it’s time to spread the message. Have a look at the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies; these are places where the employees think it’s great to work. Visit their websites. What do they do differently?

In practice • If you’ve got people who think they only do data entry, or only answer the phones then they aren’t part of the brand. Contacting them personally is an investment, but it’s good value. • Put your organisation’s stories on the intranet, in buildings, on noticeboards, and write to people individually, on paper, at home. • We often forget that other people don’t know everything we know about our organisation. It doesn’t do any harm to repeat your brand stories and remind people of what you stand for.