Why great businesses and brands start from within.
It’s only natural to spend a lot of time thinking about your customers. After all, without them, you don’t have a business. But it’s equally important that you don’t forget your own employees. What happens inside the walls of your business can have an equally significant impact on the bottom line.
Just think about it. You could spend tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars developing the greatest business strategies and marketing campaigns in the world. But if your team doesn’t understand them or, even worse, doesn’t buy into them, you’ll always be swimming against the tide and struggling to reap the full rewards.
On the flipside, foster a highly motivated and empowered team and it will be one of the most powerful assets you’ll ever have. After all, with everyone ‘on board’ when it comes to what you stand for as business, and what you’re trying to achieve, that’s when the real magic happens – everywhere from improved sales performance and customer relationships, to reduced employee turnover rates.
So how do you do it?
Just like engaging effectively with your customers, a lot of it comes down to clarity and focus. Your teams are busy, they’re stressed, they’re most likely distracted a lot of time too. You need to find ways to capture their attention, make them feel valued, while also making it super easy to understand what your brand vision is – and how they can make a positive contribution towards it. Education is a big part of this. But so is inspiration!
What’s your EVP?
Every business should have an Employee Value Proposition, or EVP. This is a short and aspirational statement that sums up the promise you make to your employees in return for their commitment to you. Your EVP sits at the heart of your Employer Brand and, in addition to summing up your workplace philosophy and the things that make your business exciting and unique to work for, is a real opportunity to generate pride amongst existing team members, while also attracting the attention of new ones. (If you don’t have an EVP yet and would like some help to create one, contact us here.)
Connection to Mission
‘Connection to Mission’ is another valuable concept when thinking about how to get the best out of your team. We all want to feel appreciated and connected. There’s a growing body of research nowadays showing that, across all levels of business, the best performing employees almost always want to be more than just a ‘cog in the machine’. They want to know how their work connects to the bigger picture, or company mission, and makes a difference.
“At heart, we are all purpose driven humans. The more emotionally attached our team members are to our company purpose, the more discretionary effort we will see them make in their personal quest to achieve it.”
Anna Finch, Kardia HR.
Great companies find creative ways to make this connection clear to their team. They’re always looking for opportunities to show – and reinforce – how each person’s roles contribute to the wider mission and success of the business. It might be a simple gift left on their desk, a monthly award presentation, an annual celebration, or simply random acts of kindness.
There are many other strategies too, of course. They all have their place and, used effectively, can help to rally your team around your business and its purpose like never before.
Could you be doing more to engage and inspire your own people?
Just as you might use a marketing agency to help connect with your customers, you can do exactly the same with your internal team communications. If you’d like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch.
