Internal marketing: Living the brand

It`s a major challenge retaining a strong organisational culture in the face of the dynamic change that characterises business today. Transformation, mergers, globalisation, downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, cost-cutting, BEE - such constant changes can be problematic for the brand and ethos of a company.

Employee buy-in to the values of an organisation can provide the core strength needed for the company`s survival and growth in a changing and challenging environment - and internal marketing is undoubtedly the key tool for achieving this.

The value of a cohesive and motivated workforce aligned with the company`s purpose impacts powerfully on customer relationships and customer service - and on the bottom line.

Outlined here are three models for internal marketing which are easy to implement and can turn around a demotivated and divided workforce in a matter of weeks.

While the concept of breaking down silos in a company is not new, its value to internal marketing is not fully appreciated. Walls, hierarchies, divisions, employees whose first loyalty is to their manager - these outdated management structures can endanger the survival of a brand.

So the first step in internal marketing is to get people talking to one another, to strengthen interpersonal relationships and cooperation. Here the physical conversion of the working environment into an open plan, open door, convivial, inclusive workspace is essential.

In this environment it becomes much easier to engage employees in the big picture of the company, including them in the knowledge, motivation, strategy and rationale that makes the company work.

The second step is to empower employees with the freedom to adopt the company`s brand attributes and link these to their own reputation. Key members of staff should be selected as "reputation champions", to communicate the brand values and company ethos to all the staff and explain how these can become part of the behaviours of each individual.

Employees are encouraged to take ownership of their own reputation and live the brand through their own conduct. The "reputation champions" act as role models and constantly reinforce the message. The link between personal reputation and responsibility very quickly filters through to relationships with colleagues, which leads on to better team performance and to more efficient delivery.

The reputation model has to be driven from the top down, with senior personnel equally committed to living the brand through their own relationships with employees. This is easily achieved with the route of escalation model, which provides an innovative way of dealing with challenges faced by staff members.

The route of escalation empowers staff to turn to any individual they feel comfortable with in the organisation to help them overcome challenges. If an employee is reluctant to raise a serious concern through the usual corporate channels he can go elsewhere - to a trusted individual within a different division, for instance.

In turn, all employees are mandated to assist to the best of their ability. Senior executives therefore should provide unrestricted open door access so that potential challenges can be addressed speedily and informally. The result is a collective responsibility for staff well-being that ensures mutually supportive relationships from the bottom to the top of the HR chain.

These three models have the power to transform interpersonal relationships within a workforce, resulting in greater job satisfaction, better staff retention, increased efficiencies, better product, and better service.

When employees form a cohesive unit committed to the value proposition of the company, then customer relationship management can be maximised. The fact of the matter is that customers will remain loyal to a company because they like doing business with it. The logical conclusion is that internal marketing should be the first component of any marketing programme.