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A promise kept
It has to be made from the inside-out. It has to be true.
And it has to be something "more" to inspire.
The value of values
Employer brand
'Attract - develop - retain' is a strategic imperative for top-performing organisations. And 'the battle for talent' is one that leading businesses have to win. Neither of those statements is new, but the Covid pandemic has sharpened that recognition, and intensified the pressure on businesses to deliver a compelling employer brand.
How do they do it? One starting point: understand that the external brand and the internal brand are the same thing. Then three steps:
1. Set out a proper, credible and motivating business cause.
2. Define their brand to support and drive that cause.
3. Operationalise the brand, to ensure that every experience for all stakeholders is consistent:
Internal communication
We're past the point of asking whether an organisation should commit to internal communication. And we're surely also beyond thinking that traditional cascade programmes have any value. (Digital platforms have shattered previous structures, and as the Executive PA of a Chairman said, "I've never seen a waterfall go uphill."
Whatever channels and systems an organisation adopts ( and agreeing them is a critical first step) there are three principles that continue to drive the best internal communications approaches:
1. Inform. Never assume they either don't know or don't want to know.
2. Involve. Bring people into the process earlier than you have assumed.
3. Inspire. Tell them what it's all leading to, what your business cause is, why it will make things better for them, and how it will set you apart.
Resilience
The Covid pandemic has created new dimensions to what used
to be known as 'business continuity', and new urgency to develop organisational resilience.
It's also created a mini-industry in resilience advice. Most of which misses three points: first, "the fundamental component of organisational resilience is people"; second, "resilience is a compound substance"; third, "resilience is really about being change-ready."
We have developed a research model, RQ2, that enables leaders now to understand the change-readiness of their organisation, and to know how to ensure future prosperity - and improve their corporate reputation.
