This brand doesn't ring a bell

Here's a recent Letter of the Day in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, headlined, "A bad encounter sours him on the Salvation Army."

"Last night, my son and I went to a local [name withheld] store. With the holidays approaching, there was a Salvation Army bell ringer at the entrance. Unfortunately, I had no cash, just check cards, so I was unable to donate.

"As we walked past, the bell ringer began to harass me about not giving any money. Because I was with my son, I didn't want to start anything, and quite frankly, I was having a hard time believing I was being lectured, so I let it go. As we left the store, it started up again—and continued as we were driving out of the parking lot. This person was waving his arms and yelling at us.

"What a shame that a service that is designed to help the needy has to resort to using combative, rude people to achieve its goals. I will never again give to the Salvation Army."

This letter's a good reminder that a brand is always at the mercy of its employees. Train to your brand message so it's communicated consistently by employees (even volunteers) when they have these "Moments of Impression" with customers. They can grow—or mow—your brand.

Do You Have Engaged Workgroups?

Can you "strongly agree" with the following eight questions?

1. The leadership in our organization can explicitly state the value our company brings to customers, in one or two sentences.

2. The leadership in our organization proactively helps employees understand the value we bring to customers.

3. Employees in our organization can explicitly state the value we bring to customers, in one or two sentences.

4. Employees in our organization seem aligned to the company's core values (what we stand for).

5. Employees in our organization are empowered to share with customers what value we bring, in their own words and style.

6. Overall, employees in our organization do a good job of communicating what value we provide, with each other and with customers.

7. In our organization, Marketing and HR work together to ensure the value we provide is communicated consistently across all possible channels of customer contact.

8. Our organization does a good job of measuring employee engagement (alignment, culture, etc.).

If you can "strongly agree," you're on your way to connecting your company's values with the values of your customers. A strong culture is the cornerstone of a strong brand.

If you can't say "yes!" to them all, you have some work to do. Here's how to start developing engaged workgroups:

Help employees understand your brand message. And make it simple, it's your "story."

Give employees the tools to communicate the message effectively and consistently.

Show employees you trust them to represent your brand in the marketplace. Heck, Zappo's lets employees step into a video booth to shoot their own commercials promoting cool new products they endorse!

You can try to influence what your brand becomes through advertising, design and marketing, But it's ultimately decided by those who interact with your culture.

How Long Can Employees Live on a Compliment?

Most companies tend to over-engineer employee recognition, believing it takes a corporate movement to motivate and reward employees for jobs well done.

Once they start the initiative, executives get to feel good about their culture; directors and managers get to feel good about themselves. In some companies, leaders even recognize each other for recognizing subordinates, rewarding themselves for navigating through the carefully designed steps in the "Fairness And Kindness to Employees" (FAKE) Process.

Look at this from the employee's chair to get the best perspective:

"All that recognition you so happily, so consistently, imposed upon my colleagues and me felt 'canned,' even forced. It didn't really mean a lot, because I don't think you meant it."

How about company execs creating a culture of respect by allowing leaders to bestow that respect in their own personal styles? They do have strong personal styles. That's why you hired or promoted them, right?

Don't make leaders read from a script, let them write the script.

Mark Twain once said, "I could live two months on a good compliment." I use that quote often when helping businesses understand how to motivate and engage employees.

If you're an employee, be bold about showing your bosses how your personal skills and style make you different and give value back to the organization.

If you're a leader, remember that a sincere compliment might just be the best motivator you have.

'None of us stands out.'

When I opened a trade magazine this morning, I was reminded of getting ready for high school while my dad dressed for his workday at IBM: white shirt, blue tie, dark suit. Everyday the same.

There, in the middle of this magazine, was a two-page ad for a large, reputable printing company. It featured the company's employees standing in its production facility, smiling at the camera.

Cool, right? Could have been. Except that every single one of them was dressed in the exact same blue shirt branded with the company logo. Over 100 men and women, all looking the same. The headline might as well have read, "Do business with us, because none of us stands out."

Why didn't someone in leadership think to say, "Hey, everyone, we're taking a company snapshot tomorrow and we want to feature YOU—the people who make us the company we are. Show some personality and wear your favorite shirt. Better still, why not your favorite hat!"

I bet the customers of this company care more about who is in the shirt than they do about what's on the shirt. Those customers have come to know the company and its brand through those people. They might even be able to look through the crowd and pick out the people they've dined with, fished with, bought from—if only they could tell one from another!

While an organization's brand image might have been concocted by smart executives and marketers, employees are the only ones that can bring your brand to life, by sharing its values with other people.

Even my dad got the chance to dress more individually once IBM learned that people built relationships with other people, not ties.

A Brand Fit for a Princess

The royal wedding reminds us how a brand is created and brought to life by people.

An international organization with 1,200 employees and millions of global customers, the brand of the royal family (let's call it Royal Inc.) is as strong as any in the world. And it's build solely on people.

Kate's smiles and waves, the married couple's balcony kiss, the secrecy surrounding the dress and its designer--all well-choreographed personal brand moves that contributed to the corporate brand.

Played right, like last Friday, the "brand" with a little b (that of company employees and leaders) can thrive and grow alongside the "Brand" with a big B (the organization, Royal Inc.).

Did Queen Elizabeth, the 85-year-old CEO of Royal Inc., agree with all the ideas submitted: employing the dress designer from a controversial fashion house whose founder killed himself a year ago, hauling live trees into Westminster Abbey, or allowing Prince William to drive himself and his bride around London in a convertible? Not sure. But, did she approve the moves, knowing if they were executed properly they'd help Royal Inc. diversify and grow? Bloody right.

Leaders often try to communicate their brands through traditional means like elaborate logos and websites, image-appropriate office space or elaborate marketing strategies. Will and Kate showed us just how important employees are in bringing the brand to life through connections they build with constituents.

No matter what image Queen Elizabeth has established over the years, the new duke and duchess of Cambridge are dusting off and revitalizing Royal Inc.'s brand message.

That's what engaged employees can do for any company when they understand the brand message and are trusted to represent the brand in their own ways.

We may never become kings, but we will continue to be the brands for our companies.

Rewarding Employees Not So Tough

My first job was as a paperboy. Once I learned how to wake up early, it was a good way to earn money.

I was lucky. My boss was a skilled leader and my first professional mentor.

When I "interviewed" with him over a soda, he asked if I knew much about delivering newspapers. "I can do this," I said, and showed him how I could fold a paper into thirds and tuck one end into the other to make a nice, compact bundle of news. Ideal for tossing onto doorsteps.

"Wow, that is great! Where did you learn to do that?" he asked. Proud of my skills, I told him I had friends in the business.

Of course, this guy had seen the "tuck and roll" hundreds of times. He invented the move, for all I knew. But that day he made me feel talented and appreciated. I pedaled my bike faster on the way home, excited to tell my parents about the new job and how my superior said I was going to become "one of the best."

Every time I tossed a paper onto a stoop I was a master at my trade, perhaps the greatest delivery boy these parts had ever known.

Obviously, I remember and am affected by that guy's leadership to this day. He engaged me in my work. And can you think of a less-interested employee than me, a teenager wanting to do nothing but play hockey and hard rock?

He acknowledged what I was doing well and helped me with things I struggled with, like how to graciously collect money from late-paying customers.

If you're a leader, you have your own story like this or you wouldn't be one. Remember how important your first good coach, teacher or mentor made you feel? Pass it on.