I’ve often blogged about how people talk about the business they work for. People often relate to a business as if it was a single person, rather than a collective of people who have come together with a sense of shared purpose.
An employer brand is part of the powerful marketing mix in creating customer experience. It is not the single voice of a single person – it is the combined voice of all employees. If we think of company X favourably but then hear how poorly company X treats it’s people, we think less of them. (I am not going to buy into the David Jones conversation here, but really the damage to the brand will cost millions.)
People often identify with the ‘boss’ – as the leadership team goes, so goes the rest of the business.
“What do we talk about when we talk about leadership? Too often, we talk about personality, charisma and charm. Too often we talk about the type of traits that defines leadership as a very senior-executive, authoritarian affair” – Andrea Fielding.
As leaders we are only custodians of the brand – and with that comes unbelievable responsibility.
I coined the phrase long ago “employees are the new customers”. And this is how RedBalloon continues to operate.
I am looking forward to discovering the names of those who are considered Australia’s best and worst bosses (knowing of course that they represent the brand).
Have your say in the survey – closing this Sunday August, 15.
Naomi Simson is considered one of Australia’s ‘Best Bosses’. She is an employee engagement advocate and practices what she preaches in her own business. RedBalloon has been named as one of only six Hewitt Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand for 2009 and awarded an engagement scorecard of over 90% two years in a row – the average in Australian businesses is 55%. RedBalloon has also been nominated by BRW as being in the top 10 Best Places to Work in Australia behind the likes of Google. One of Australia’s outstanding female entrepreneurs, Naomi regularly entertains as a passionate speaker inspiring people on employer branding, engagement and reward and recognition. Naomi writes a blog and is a published author – and has received many accolades and awards for the business she founded – RedBalloon.com.au.
Denham Sadler is a former editor of StartupSmart. He was previously a journalist at the publication and has worked as a freelancer for the Guardian, the Saturday Paper and the ABC. In his spare time he likes puns and jaffles.
