Every time I hear an advertisement, see a company’s tagline, read a website or brochure, I think about the brand promises the company is making to its customers.
And, I wonder if the company has a culture where people are motivated and driven to deliver on those promises consistently.
Like you, I’ve had disappointing experiences with brands and wondered how the CEO would react if s/he knew how customers were being serviced and treated. And I’ve also had very positive experiences. The difference between the two lies in a company’s culture.
culture [ kuhl-cher ] the social construct of the organization.
For example, a manufacturer cannot brand itself as “innovative” unless the CEO recruits and hires innovative thinkers and creates a culture where innovative thinking is encouraged and rewarded.
Nor could a manufacturer brand itself as “easy to do business with” unless its people have a genuine desire to want to bend over backward and jump through flaming hoops to help its customers. And, a manufacturer certainly cannot brand itself as a “leader” in its industry if the CEO doesn’t maintain a culture of people who are naturally competitive and driven to lead through collaboration and teamwork.
Leading brands don’t achieve their elite status through aggressive and expensive marketing campaigns. A company can spend millions on marketing, but if the brand is fuzzy, or if its people don’t deliver its promise, marketing does more damage than good because it exposes more customers and partners to an underwhelming or disappointing experience. When a company sees little or no value in marketing, a weak brand is often the reason.
There is a direct and unbreakable relationship between your brand and your culture. Consider that:
- A brand is a unique set of distinctions a company owns that make a noteworthy difference in the lives of its customers. Distinctions are not found in the products or services a company sells for one simple reason: Given enough time and capital, any company can duplicate what its competition offers. A company’s unique distinctions are best defined by the reasons the business was created, and what its employees can consistently deliver. These typically include things like innovation, thought leadership, technical aptitude, purpose, and business philosophy.
- The quality of employees a company can attract has a direct correlation to the significance and strength of its brand. Top-performing employees are very discerning, and hence very selective about where they choose to work. For this group, a company’s culture will play a significant role in their decision to join or leave an organization. Top-performers want to work for brands of significance and purpose. Nice paychecks and benefits satisfy financial needs, but being a part of a strong brand satisfies employees’ much deeper needs to feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
- A company’s business (brand) strategy can only be executed by employees who share the same level of passion and determination to win as the CEO. Grooming such employees requires building a culture of high-rewards in exchange for delivering on high-expectations and teamwork.
- If a CEO wishes for his or her employees to give their best every day, s/he must give them all the right reasons. Employees need and deserve six things from their employer:
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- To be challenged into a sense of accomplishment and achievement. If you’ve ever wondered why people waste colossal amounts of time playing games on their smartphones, it’s because the more they play, the more challenging the games become, leading to greater feelings of accomplishment.
- Meaningful work. Employees naturally feel better if they know that what they do every day serves a larger purpose, and makes a positive difference in the company and people’s lives.
- Strong leadership. Without it, employees will be lost, confused, and will not know if they are performing to expectations. Leaders have an enormous impact on a company’s culture.
- Recognition for performance. This drills down to the fundamental need every human has – to feel important. If employees only hear about failures or the mistakes they make, they won’t stick around very long.
- Opportunities for personal and professional growth. If employees don’t feel as if they are growing through new challenges, opportunities for advancement, promotions, and added responsibilities, they will become bored quickly and likely move on to new ventures.
- Fair compensation. Enough said.
When I think of culture, I think of sports and wonder how fans would react if half the players on the court or field didn’t try very hard, or worse, hated their coach. Would the fans (customers) ever return to see more games? Would the players ever win any games? A championship or a Super Bowl?
I think you know the answer.
If you’d like to know more about how to build a stronger culture to deliver on your brand’s promise and expectations, contact us today.