How culture builds the right brand to
deliver your strategic plan.
YOUR PEOPLE ARE YOUR BRAND

It’s a tough market out
there so how do you
build the authentic brand
promise that goes before
the sale to ensure you are
in at the sales stage?
Never before has the customer
being so well informed about
your business, your products,
your service and your quality
reputation.
Research shows that close to
60% of the buying decision is
made before the client even
contacts you.

It is the people-behaviour
element of the brand that
needs to be addressed to
ensure a consistent brand
promise is delivered
across the whole
organisation at all times.
Aligning the internal culture of
the organisation behind the
brand promises ensures you
deliver a great customer
experience.

Employees are
ambassadors of the
brand and arguably have
more influence over
customer perception
than marketing or PR
activities.
Research shows that
customers’ perception of a
brand is strongly influenced by
their experience of the people
that represent the brand
which can be anyone from the
CEO to the delivery driver.

Authenticity from the top to
the bottom is a must for
organisations and the focus is
on how the values and brand is
translated into daily practices
and behaviours, drawing a
golden thread from the
boardroom to the front line
customer experience.
Workplace culture is
central in this new
paradigm of recognising
the value of values… but
this has to be in practice.

Brand control is moving away from the
organisation that “owns” the brand to the
communities that engage with them.
Trust is becoming increasingly important as customers seek to
understand the substance behind the promoted “face” of brands
they buy. What do they really stand for and believe in? The speed
and reach of communication enabled by social media magnifies
this trust factor.

Organisations and brands are no
longer what they say they are.
They are what others say they
are”
“

Authenticity is the new
Holy Grail for
organisations and the
focus is on how the
values and brand are
translated into the daily
practices and behaviours
of employees.
Employees are ambassadors of
the brand and arguably have
more influence over customer
perception than ever before.
So how do you do build this culture?

Being intentional about
culture means you
approach it in a planned
way. You shape your
company’s norms, values
and beliefs deliberately
rather than letting them
evolve organically.
Workplace culture is central in
this new paradigm of
recognising the value of
values… but this has to be in
practice rather than a PR or
communications exercise.

One of the most important
pieces of this puzzle is how
you articulate your culture to
the people who need to live it
every day.
It might sound complicated, but the following
ten steps will help you get started:

Get clarity on the
brand values
required to
deliver the
strategy
Look at your strategic
plan, your target
market, your
competitors and then
devise the best set of
values and culture that
will enable you to
stand out and delight.
1

Define the gap in
the business
between the
current and the
desired
Requires a high degree
of self-analysis with
surveys and
questionnaires likely at
both client and staff
level. Analyse from
past staff and customer
surveys what they have
been saying.
2

Design the Brand
Program based on
the required
behavior change
Look to a blended
approach using a range
of interventions with
coaching at the senior
level the best place to
start. Get as many staff
involved in the process
as you can to ensure
buy in.
3

Communicate
what your culture
is and why it
matters
Clearly outline your
corporate culture for
employees. How do you
define it? How can they
live it? Explain how it
enables your unique
business strategy and
desired brand. Explain
how the required
behaviours will connect
to your target audience.
4

Set behavior
expectations
Cultural attributes help
you set expectations
around attitude, how
people work together,
how they interact and
more. Explicitly
communicate them in
simple “action” phrases
that clarify what you
want from employees.
5

Remember the culture of any
organisation is shaped by the
worst behaviour the leader is
willing to tolerate”
“

Educate your
people about the
culture
Lead by example is the
best way to educate
people about culture and
expectations. Provide
culture training for all
employees and leaders.
Add it to new hire
orientations and regular
meetings. Go “deep” on
each cultural attribute
you want to reinforce.
6

Thread culture
through
everything you do
This goes beyond day-to-
day communications. How
do you hire for cultural fit?
How do you talk about it in
inductions? How do you
incorporate it into
performance KPI’s? These
all show your employees
what’s important to your
culture.
7

Set accountability
and metrics
You have to evaluate your
culture and hold people,
especially your leaders,
accountable for living it
every day.
Develop metrics for
employees and managers
to help integrate cultural
values into their goals and
performance targets.
8

Empower culture
champions
Every company has
respected leaders, both
formal and informal, who
are ambassadors of your
culture. If you are the CEO
then you need to be
Ambassador No1 and
ensure you surround
yourself with people who
know they’re regarded for
upholding the culture.
9

Create
opportunities to
live the culture
and keep the
momentum
It’s important that people
understand the overt ways
they can participate in your
culture. Think about
holding special events
where employees can pitch
ideas for improving their
product and delighting
customers.
10

Building People brand is all about influencing
the behavior of staff to reinforce your
corporate brand values and promise in their
everyday work. Creating the right Employee
brand means creating the internal culture
that gives direction, purpose and then
empowers and supports staff to deliver this in
a way that is authentic to them”
“
To summarize

Remember there is nowhere to hide today.
What are you doing
to better align your
culture and people to
your brand to deliver
the results you need
to succeed?

Richard Anderson
Contact me for a chat
I coach business leaders to drive
career and business success through
the better understanding of self,
brand, culture and leadership
strategy.
richard@rajjan.com.au
www.richardanderson.com.au
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