Have you heard the buzz about incorporating brand messaging in all of your employee communications (orientation, training, team meetings, general memos and communications)? Many of the companies I work with as a consultant are certainly focusing on this more and more.
The theory is that employee retention and productivity improve as employees experience greater job satisfaction and motivation. This comes from an increased sense of purpose and loyalty (the employees understand what the company is trying to achieve for its customers and they commit to making it happen). A survey performed by Deloitte & Touche discovered that one third of the CEOs surveyed felt that the company vision was the primary reason employees stayed with the companies.
Of course, improved retention is not the only reason to focus on internal branding. Business2.com studied U.S. companies and found that every one point increase in brand equity yielded approximately one percent increase in stock return.
No one is better able to reinforce or negate your brand to your customers than your customer contact employees. They interact with more customers than all other department personnel combined. Every company wants their customer contact personnel to act in accordance with the brand, but few have internal brand marketing as a strategic objective.
I heartily recommend considering any strategy that can both decrease turnover and increase company value.
