Tomorrow’s Brand Starts with Today’s HR Practices
By Priscilla Kohl | HRTools.com Business Writer
"You have the most important jobs in America."
---- Jack Welch, former CEO and Chairman of the General Electric Company, commented during a June 28, 2009, kick-off presentation at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) annual convention.
A trusted brand influences buyers. Brands don’t just happen overnight; they are made.
HR professionals take their roles very seriously. And they will tell you that it takes time and orchestrated efforts for an organization to build a trusted brand.
Influencing buyers is any business’s goal. This is when you know your brand has ‘arrived’—when it has become a major influencer in the marketplace. In fact, this is why financial analysts prefer companies with strong brands, as strong brands can indicate sources of potential profits.
Brandon Carl, a business consultant employed by a large Texas-based corporation, living in Irvine, Calif., agrees:
"The brand is everything. When people are familiar with your company, it gives you automatic credibility. That’s one less barrier you have to sell against, especially right now. With the state of the economy, in terms of business, owners are less likely to do business with companies they are unfamiliar with. Having that brand recognition opens a lot of doors and makes life much easier."
For starters, in order for a business to influence others, its people must first develop and maintain trusted relationships. Obviously any size business has the ability to develop relationships and, therefore, make itself into a trusted brand.
Relationships have both mental and emotional components. So while people make mental associations with a brand—i.e., concepts that live in your head such as logos, packaging, memorable experiences, going green, etc.—successful branding also entails making emotional connections.
One example that comes to mind are the well-known coffee brands with their coffee shops found throughout the country. People who love coffee can spot the logos a mile away; they can start smelling and enjoying the coffee in their heads long before they enter the parking lot. A few of these brands are major influencers in the marketplace.
Where can a business begin if it wants to become a major influencer in the marketplace? First, it is important to understand that a unified HR strategy can be powerfully effective to an organization. In other words, a business should utilize those people who can best represent and lead a business, meaning HR professionals.
Why? Because organizational culture and values are what define a business, and HR leadership can expertly develop, communicate and sustain these elements for an organization.
HR helps a business find ways to be relevant to consumers in meaningful ways that make people care.
If you notice, the successful brands have succeeded in forming emotional bonds with the public, because they have figured out how to make their way into people’s lives and meet their needs. They also understand that a brand presence, however, should never be taken for granted, and it must be earned and preserved every day.
Here are 10 ways that HR serves to help build influential and trusted brands:
- HR helps recruit, attract and hire employees who fit in with the organizational culture.
- HR helps build people loyalties—among employees, clients, customers, vendors and their communities.
- HR serves to advocate, develop and perpetuate good will.
- HR guides and leads organizations to earn trust and credibility.
- HR helps elevate an organization’s image and build public awareness.
- HR helps establish an organization’s reputation and aligns behaviors with values.
- HR supports leadership so they can remain focused on projecting a coherent vision.
- HR mobilizes engaged employees who commit to providing quality and value.
- HR instructs organizations in the areas of social responsibility (ethics, protecting the environment, communities and resources, etc.)
- HR helps a business minimize risk and avoid liabilities.
The bottom line: Sometimes a business has only one chance to make an impression. While it can take years to build a brand reputation, it can also take just a few minutes to jeopardize that reputation. HR can help you preserve that important and very valuable brand image.
As Carl puts it, "More and more people are learning about my company because of brand recognition. It’s a great feeling to know that my employer is succeeding in this area. When business owners have already heard about us, then they are more willing to meeting with me and hear more about our services."
<p>HR professionals help employers build brand identity and brand loyalties in 10 measurable ways.</p>