04.2.2024 Donna Spencer
When I worked for Hitachi we partnered with a fantastic PR agency in EMEA called Catalysis. I’ll never forget their initial pitch. Before presenting their proposal to the team, they attended a show we were exhibiting at and asked people what the Hitachi employer branding meant to them. One chap said “the people at Hitachi care about my business as if it were their own business” and this stuck with me for 3 reasons:
- It was an emotional statement - not a typical 'business facts' statement
- It was about our people – not products
- It was true
This insight was invaluable and became the basis of our internal communication strategy – our people needed to know that our customers really valued what we did for them.
There’s a connection here. Formulating an Employer Value Proposition (EVP) without knowing what your customers value is like baking bread without adding the yeast. It will remain flat, uninteresting and not entirely true to the core. Ideally your employer branding should be taken care of as part of ongoing brand management strategy but in any case, your employees need to feel comfortable with what your organisation does, why they do it, who for and what makes the organisation so different.
Tribal Tips:
- Work with marketing to understand the current brand perception in the market
- Understand internal brand perception by asking your employees
- Identify gaps and desired state
- Create an internal brand communications plan to bring both in line with desired state
Read more: 20 Must Have Guidelines for Employee Social Media
