Rollout Inside First

November 1, 2007 12:00 AM

By Linda Passante

Bells and whistles don't work unless there is someone behind them. It's exciting to launch an external campaign encompassing advertising, public relations, and promotions. But before you get caught up in great ideas and make any promises, you better be sure your employees are ready to keep them.

In order to reconnect your team and customers as part of a new initiative, you have to begin within your organization. Whether the repositioning of your brand stems from a merger or a desire to recapture lost market share, employees want to understand their role. So, tell them about the changes, why and what will change, and how it will affect them personally. That's how they can feel pride in what they do.

Here is how to make sure your brand is ready to deliver from the inside out.

Urgency Starts at the Top
Your CEO, the Chief Engagement Officer, must articulate the vision and rally the troops. It's critical that a company's leadership demonstrate commitment to new thinking to summon company-wide support for change. She or he has to understand the possible resistance points from senior managers before they arise because effective cultural change begins and ends with the head of your organization. The CEO can be a visionary or a torchbearer, but her or his will and enthusiasm for a new initiative is what will drive adaptation among senior management.

Engage Senior Leadership
These are your executives, they are used to receiving answers. They are also used to doing business a certain way. And their concerns will range from legitimate to defensive. Regardless, it has to be clearly demonstrated that you have a viable and realistic approach for success. And that means, showing the wizard behind the curtain.

The CEO of one of our clients recently brought all of his senior executives to a neutral location--Canada. Everybody loves Canada, right? In your company, these are going to be the 100 or 1,000 people who determine the strategy of your organization on a daily basis. As the CEO explained the urgency behind a new brand position, he led a series of programs over several days to inform, inspire, and energize his leadership. He connected with team members from every cross section because he solicited opinions and critiques--engaging the minds of his staff.

Set Goals and Responsibilities
After the CEO had collaborated with senior leaders on the new vision for his corporation, he asked them to create specific goals and decide what resources needed to be committed in order for them to have success in the areas that they managed. You can increase the accountability of your senior leadership by having them formalize and follow up on those commitments in regional or departmental plans.

Empower Change
Change is difficult for many employees. You can't force them programmatically. You need to ground change in the context of their roles and potential benefits. Always offer help. Consider financial incentives for those that promote innovation and who are quick to adapt to a new brand methodology.

With established strategic initiatives, seal the deal with a commitment--consider the example of Fidelity. When the financial services provider launched its "Smart Move" campaign, all 41,000 employees got a voice mail from Paul McCartney announcing the kickoff. It created a personalized connection for all of Fidelity's employees and inspired them to participate. Symbolic gestures can be important.

Employee Engagement = Customer Engagement = Financial Performance
Every interaction an employee has with a customer is an opportunity to build on the customer's emotional connection with your brand - or diminish it. And that brief few minutes can impact your bottom line in a hurry. A recent Gallup poll, featured in the Harvard Business Review, indicated that fully engaged employees deliver a 23% premium over the average customer in terms of share of wallet, profitability revenue, and relationship growth. Business units featuring engaged employees outperformed other units 2:1 on key performance metrics like sales, growth, and profit.

Brands don't grow businesses, people do. Giving your customers a fresh look at your brand has to start with your employees, because you've got a lot of fancy new bells to ring.

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