engaging the social workforce
DESCRIPTION
Insights from industry leaders attending PRSA's Connect 2013 on evolving leadership styles, tools and programs to engage 21st century employees. Featuring Scott Spreier of The Hay Group; Melissa McVicker of Intel; Rilla Delorier and Chuck Allen of SunTrust Banks; Becky Graebe of SAS; Katie McBride of General Motors; Mike Standish, PBJS, Ben Edwards of IBM; Allison Bunin of North Shore-LIJ Health System; Ellen Valentine of SilverPop; Bruce Brooks, Interface FLOR; Geno Church, Author of Brains on Fire; Cameron Batten, American Express; Ben Brooks, Former Marsh and Anthony D’Angelo, ITT.TRANSCRIPT
Conference Report
Connect 13: Engaging the Social Workforce
IndexChaptER 1: LEadERS GEt EnGaGEd
ChaptER 2: EnGaGEmEnt iS FoREvER
06
25
07
10
How Global Trends Affect Employee Communication and Engagement
Aligning and Inspiring Employees
13
26
17
30
20
Purpose Driven Leadership and How It Is Transforming SunTrust
Your Audience Never Leaves: Digital Tools to Support Live Interactions
Click to Enter: Opening New Doors to Employee Engagement
Drive Systemic Change Beyond Social Media
Inside GM: Engaging Employees Before, During and After a Crisis
Rilla delorier and Chuck allen, Suntrust Banks
mike Standish, pBJS
Becky Graebe, SaS
Ben Edwards, iBm
Katie mcBride, General motors
Scott Spreier, the hay Group
melissa mcvicker, intel
ChaptER 3: CREatinG BRand ChampionS41
42
33
44
36
People-Powered Brands: Empowering a Tribe of Internal Advocates
Connecting with Candidates and Newly Hired Employees Before and After Day 1
Do It Like Marketers Do – Treating Employees as a Key Audience
38
47
50
Becoming an Employer of Choice from the Inside Out
The Digital Divide: Global Engagement at All Levels
Unleashing Employee Potential
Internal and External Rebranding: Connecting the Dots and the People
Cameron Batten, american Express
Bruce Brooks, interface FLoR
Ben Brooks, Former marsh
anthony d’angelo, itt
Geno Church, author, Brains on Fire
allison Bunin, north Shore-LiJ health System
Ellen valentine, Silverpop
04
There may be no better time in history to be a communications professional. There are more tools available to
us than ever before, and the tools themselves allow us to shape our experiences and share our learnings for
continual improvement.
We’re especially fortunate to be working in the age of social media. What was once thought to be a business
distraction has evolved into an essential business communications platform with endless applications – the
most logical and adaptable of which is employee engagement.
Social media in the workplace is a fascinating phenomenon because it bubbled up from the bottomand drove
those at the top to rethink the way they do things. People of every age and socioeconomic level live digital
lifestyles. They want the place where they spend most of their waking hours – the workplace – to function
the same way. The great news is that companies are now using digital and social tools in all areas of business,
employees are participating and everyone is benefitting. Social media is exploding, but the best is yet to come.
As we assembled our lineup of speakers for PRSA’sConnect 13: Engaging the Social Workforce, I was amazed at
the vast range of social media programs and platforms they’ve implemented for millions of employees around
the world. They’re living proof that you don’t need huge budgets or armies of people to effectively engage
employees and impact results with social media. What you do need are resourcefulness, ingenuity and, as with
any initiative, a sound strategy tied to business objectives.
This eBook contains insights gleaned from each presenter during the event. Throughout the eBook you’ll be
able to compare our written learnings with illustrations of each company’s journey in engaging their employees
along with short videos to give you a flavor of the event. We hope you enjoy and learn from each of the
elements.
I want to thank everyone who participated in Connect 13, especially our speakers who allowed us to share their
stories in the following pages. I’m confident their experiences and ideas will inspire you to use social media to
achieve great results in your organization.
Best regards,
Brian Burgess
Practice Director, Brand and Talent
MSLGROUP North America
Evolving Leadership Styles, Tools and Programs to Engage 21st Century Employees
Engaging the Social Workforce
05
06
ChaptER 1LEADERS GET ENGAGEDLeaders’ roles and spheres of influence have changed dramatically in recent years. authority wields less power than it used to; instead, people respond to leaders who are transparent, visionary and committed to a purpose. See how leaders in some of the world’s most respected and iconic companies use social media to engage and inspire their employees in good time and bad.
Engaging the Social Workforce Leaders Get Engaged
07
How Global Trends Affect Employee Communication and Engagement
It’s impossible to have engaged employees
without good leadership, but the fact is,
leadership may be losing its mojo. Far too many
leaders are unable or unwilling to adapt to
changes assaulting their organizations, which
emboldens disgruntled employees to grab
power and entitlement. Clearly, those in charge
need to shift the way they communicate if they
want people to listen and engage.
Leaders Get Engaged how Global trends affect Employee Communication and Engagement
Scott Spreier, the hay Group
Scott Spreier, The Hay Group
08
A number of factors led to this environment.
Since 2005, Fortune 500 company earnings
went up 16% and productivity increased 23%, but
wages rose only 2%. In other words, people are
doing more with less and not being rewarded. As
staff reductions eliminated management layers,
matrix organizations emerged where employees
end up mediating between multiple bosses
who don’t communicate. On top of all this, the
coercive style of leadership – necessary in a crisis
– continued to grow even after crises began to
subside.
The Hay Group’s research shows people who
work in good climates outperform those in
average climates by up to 30%. Their leaders
give them a purpose, job clarity, responsibility,
freedom, flexibility, coaching and a sense of
team, in other words, climates where people
want to come to work every day. Unfortunately,
more than half of employees say their work
environments are demotivating. Trust in CEOs
fell from 50% to 37% between 2011 and 2012,
while trust in employee peers went up. These
days, people are listening to each other more
than their leaders.
( Scott Spreier comments on the importance of a
good workplace climate. )
The Leadership Slide
So what happens now? While we’re slowly
coming out of the financial crisis, the future looks
even stranger than the past. A combination of
megatrends is predicted to affect us over the
next 20 years in ways we can’t yet see.
Globalization 2.0: Most of us understand
globalization intellectually, but find it hard to
internalize. We must realize that, especially in
the U.S., we’re one unit of a global business. We
have to learn to understand the rest of the world
if we’re going to operate effectively.
Global Warming: We don’t know what climate
change and environmental issues will bring or
how they will affect our organizations. More
hurricanes, typhoons and superstorms could
have a 9/11 type impact on business.
Demographic Changes: Multiple generations
in the workforcecan lead to talent wars and
fractured teams. To deal with the diversity, we
must be self-aware and have the emotional
intelligence to recognize and look past our own
filters in communicating with digital natives or
people from other cultures.
Individualization: People nowadays feel
entitled and younger generationsembrace
individualism more than the generations before
them.They have a lot of creativity and innovation,
but also a tendency toward chaos. We must learn
to tap the individualism and avoid the chaos!.
Digital Lifestyle: Everyone is always “on,”
information is always accessible and narratives
compete constantly. In a flatter world where the
divide between public and private is blurred, it’s
harder to engage people. Positional power and
titles are becoming things of the past; digital
anarchy is the new norm.
The Road Ahead
Leaders Get Engaged how Global trends affect Employee Communication and Engagement
Scott Spreier, the hay Group
09
1. Focus on the narrative, not just the numbers.When all people hear about are numbers, they
lose their sense of purpose and reasons to
come to work every day. Neurological tests bear
this out. When you only talk numbers, nothing
happens. When you tell a story, the brain lights
up. We can’t keep talking in sound bites. We
must replace the spinning with contextual
transparency, stop being opinion junkies and look
for more facts and unvarnished truths.
2. Stop trying to control the message. Digital communication enables the
disenfranchised and allows people to say
whatever they want. Right now, they’re in sleeper
cells, happy to have jobs. When things get better,
they’ll become active and could sabotage your
organization. Call it the employee spring; it’s very
powerful and very hard to control.
3. Align what you say with what you do. Successful businesses have a shared purpose
and use organizational messages to reinforce
it. As the keepers of reality, leaders must
continually ensure formal communications and
actions are aligned.
4. Help leaders unleash their inner pirates. Pirates are bold, courageous and not afraid
to bend the rules. They’re willing to sail
unchartered territory and work without a net.
They aren’t afraid to make changes and bring
people along with them. Good leaders are
innovative, visionary, curious and never satisfied.
They make the narrative their own and navigate
the system to best advantage.
What We Need to Do Better
Engaging employees begins with strong leaders
who, when faced with a dead end, look at all the
options and go. The trends tell us there could be
lots of apparent dead ends ahead, but none that
can’t be overcome. Embracing the inner pirate is
a good first step.
Scott Spreier, Hay Group’s leadership and talent
practice leader, helps executives around the globe
more effectively address key organizational and
business issues including sustainable growth
and strategic alignment. Working with individual
executives and senior teams, he helps clients
focus on creating climates and cultures that
embrace change and enhance performance
to drive business results. Scott has consulted
with a number of Fortune 500 companies in
sectors including government, technology,
telecommunications and pharmaceuticals.
Our frenetic, fast-faced, fractured world presents many challenges for today’s leaders, but there are many
things they can do to overcome them. For instance:
Leaders Get Engaged how Global trends affect Employee Communication and Engagement
Scott Spreier, the hay Group
10
How do you bring together 100,000 employees
to talk about your brand? At Intel, it started
with a bold vision: “This decade, we will create
and extend computing technology to connect
and enrich the life of every person on earth.” A
statement like that is no doubt powerful, but
even Intel’s leaders didn’t realize the impact it
would have on their employees.
Aligning and Inspiring EmployeesMelissa McVicker, Intel
Leaders Get Engaged aligning and inspiring Employees melissa mcvicker, intel
11
For years, Intel was admired as a technology
darling boasting high stock prices, rapid growth
and big bonuses. Everything changed in the mid-
2000s, as the tech crash drove restructuring,
cost-cutting, increased employee turnover and
devalued stock options.
The turning point came in 2010, when
Intel realized their customary, top-down
communication wasn’t working in a complex
business with expanding product lines and
markets. Intel was no longer their employees’
first source of information; instead, people were
turning to Twitter and other media channels to
get news in real time. Leaders knew they had
to align with their employees’ needs if they
wanted them to not just hear the words, but to
take action. And they had to make an emotional
connection, which is where the bold vision came
in. Rather than saying, “let’s go build the next
product,” the Intel vision inspired people. It
was a galvanizing force that showed where the
company was going and how employees could
help achieve that goal.
Changing Times
Intel is a company of engineers who are not always the easiest to reach. The internal communications team uses lots of different ways to get through to them, forgoing strategy language and bullet points for fun, funny and interactive messages to inspire the next great innovation. Most communications fall into one of three broad categories: Inspire Me, Connect Me and Value Me.
Inspire Me Intel is a very technical company where it’s hard for employees to explain what they do, especially to outsiders. To make it easier, the communications team created an intranet platform where employees can share the Intel story, then recruited ambassadors to start the conversations. It didn’t take long before people were engaging before they were asked to. One example is the team who, on their own, turned a code of conduct training course into a fun, Bollywood style presentation with much greater impact than the conventional version.
Connect Me Intel is serious about engaging their employees. All intranet articles allow comments and dialogue. All full-time employees can have a company blog. They tap the “wisdom of the crowd,” through Intelpedia, Ask a Geek forums and forums for asking for peer advice during annual benefits enrollment. Employees can personalize their intranet home pages with the modules of their choice – and 40% did within the first few months. The Intel intranet also encourages conversations with executives through leader profiles, blogs, one-to-a-few sessions and quarterly webcasts.
Value Me Online platforms are perfect for showing employees you care, in small and big ways. Intel started with fun recognition rewards like movie tickets and debit cards, and soon added online tutoring and information about tuition assistance, health centers and scholarships. They found that employees may not realize the benefits they’re already getting, so they use social media to raise awareness of perks such as stock options using friendly, easy to understand language.
Breaking Through
Leaders Get Engaged aligning and inspiring Employees melissa mcvicker, intel
12
Intel leaders understand the need for employee
engagement, especially using the technology
and devices they’re moving toward as a
business. They know they need to be where
their employees are instead of forcing them into
channels they don’t want to use. They really want
to know what employees are thinking and why
something isn’t working so they can ask them to
be part of the solution.
Since Intel started using digital platforms to
engage employees, organizational health scores
have gone up, dialogue is trending positive,
turnover is less than 2% and pride is at a record
high. They see mobile as their next area of
growth, since they have 40,000 manufacturing
employees without access to PCs. So far, they’ve
created an internal app employees can put on
their personal devices to receive news, benefits
information and other company updates.
Intel knows engaging 100,000 people starts with
a good story. Employees have the stories; all you
have to do is find ways to get them out there.
It’s Working!Melissa McVicker is the director of employee
communications at Intel. With more than 15 years
in communications and marketing at Intel, she
manages all communications to global employees,
including Intel’s intranet and social media and
executive communications. She managed global
product launches, oversaw sales and customer
communications and was co-director of Intel’s
Global Communications team.
Leaders Get Engaged aligning and inspiring Employees melissa mcvicker, intel
( Melissa McVicker talks about what leaders must
do to engage employees )
13
The SunTrust journey to convert from a mission-
driven company to a purpose-driven company
started more than 10 years ago. But because
SunTrust teammates (employees) were so
focused on perspiration instead of inspiration,
the dialogue had to shift to remind them of the
noble work they do as a bank.
Rilla Delorier and Chuck Allen, SunTrust Banks
Purpose Driven Leadership and How It Is Transforming SunTrust
Leaders Get Engaged purpose driven Leadership and hot it is transorming Suntrust
Rilla delorter and Chuck allen, Suntrust Banks
14
Not that long ago, business was all about
shareholder value. In recent years, however,
experts realized purpose was a strong driver of
business metrics including attraction, retention
and productivity. Purpose- and values-driven
organizations were shown to outperform
comparison companies by 16 to one. Firms with
shared values-based cultures enjoyed 400%
higher revenues,700% greater job growth and
1,200% higher stock prices.
The numbers didn’t stop there. According to the
book,Firms of Endearment, purpose-driven firms
produced an outstanding aggregate return of
1,025% over the past 10 years, compared to 122%
for the S&P 500. And MillwardBrown research
The Business Side of Purpose showed values-driven brands outperform
the competition by five times shareholder
growth. These results, coupled with high profile
examples such as American Standard fixing
latrines in developing countries, and Dove raising
teenage girls’ self-esteem, seemed enough
to sell a purpose driven approach to any CEO.
Purpose, however, is rare in service organizations
like banks, so SunTrust dug up even more facts
to support this direction, specifically related to
people engagement. They found, for example,
that 65% of respondents to a 2012 Calling
Brands study said purpose would motivate them
to go the “extra mile” in their jobs. Sixty-four
percent said it would engender a greater sense of
loyalty toward the organization they work for.
Leaders Get Engaged purpose driven Leadership and hot it is transorming Suntrust
Rilla delorter and Chuck allen, Suntrust Banks
15
How to measure success. Purpose requires
a whole new metric system. You’re not selling
something, you’re doing good and creating
intrinsic value that can be difficult to measure.
How to manage reputation. Even doing good
won’t make everyone happy. Shareholders may
question your position if they don’t agree with the
causes you support. With purpose, reputation has
to be built from the inside out, with everything you
do as a company aligned.
How to manage the integrity gap. For purpose-
driven companies, there can be no difference
between what you say and what you do, both
as a company and as individuals. Leaders must
carefully scrutinize how they spend their time,
where they spend their money, what questions
they frequently ask other people, what they
celebrate, what they reward and what keeps them
up at night. If there are gaps between purpose and
actions, they must take steps to close them.
What It Takes to Be a Purpose Driven Leader
For SunTrust, the integrity gap was a huge divide
between how they wanted to be perceived and
how people perceive banks as a whole. As a result
of the financial crisis, only 36% of Americans
have confidence in the banking industry and only
31% think their banks help them. When it comes
to financial services, people don’t want to be
cross-sold, bundled or deepened, they want help
from someone they trust. SunTrust, like many
companies, found the fruits are in the roots. They
unearthed their founding values, which were
to build communities and back dreams. They
rediscovered their purpose to light the way to
financial wellbeing.
SunTrust knew positioning as a purpose-driven company required more than just talk. Leaders had to do
introspective work first and make a decision that went beyond jumping on the purpose bandwagon. They knew
this commitment would take guts; too many leaders are content to simply make a point and too few want to
truly make a difference. SunTrust didn’t want to just fan the flames of their own constituency. They wanted to
convince people who think differently than they do, find work that needs to be done and bring people together
to do it.
SunTrust discovered that to be a purpose-driven company, they had to challenge themselves on several fronts:
Leaders Get Engaged purpose driven Leadership and hot it is transorming Suntrust
Rilla delorter and Chuck allen, Suntrust Banks
SunTrust engaged teammates in the company’s
renewed purpose by communicating its
principles, values and performance promises,
which emphasize deep client relationships,
teamwork, productivity and financial results.
They are igniting a movement to show people
that net worth does not equal self-worth, and to
help them feel better about their finances even
if they’re living close to the edge. The SunTrust
brand message, “how can we help you SHINE
today,” speaks to the circumstances clients
are going through, rather than talking about
checking accounts and bank services.
What SunTrust sells is the way their teammates
interact with clients. To create new client
experiences that reflect the company’s purpose,
they had to start with the heart and minds of their
teammates. Conversations in social media and
other channels help teammates understand what
clients are going through and make interactions
much more impactful and meaningful.
Connecting the Dots
16
RillaDelorier is chief marketing and client
experience officer for SunTrust Banks, Inc. She is
responsible for the company’s advertising, direct
marketing, brand management, sponsorships,
client analytics, cross-channel strategy, web
solutions, line of business marketing, corporate
communications and client loyalty programs. With
a focus on leveraging client insight to enhance the
bank’s operations, Rilla and her team use client
feedback and analytics to design client experiences
that reinforce the SunTrust brand promise and
increase loyalty. She was recognized in 2011 by
American Banker as one of the “Top 25 Women
to Watch in Banking” and serves on the Board of
Directors for the Bank Administration Institute
(BAI).
Chuck Allen is senior vice president, enterprise
change management for SunTrust Banks, Inc.
He helps lead a Center of Expertise that guides
the company’s approach to multiple large-scale
change initiatives and equipping leadership to
improve employee capability to move through
change quickly and effectively. Prior to that, Chuck
was senior vice president, director of internal
communications, where he was responsible
for managing internal communications and
communications services.
Leaders Get Engaged purpose driven Leadership and hot it is transorming Suntrust
Rilla delorter and Chuck allen, Suntrust Banks
( RillaDelorier stresses the importance of
teammates’ interactions with clients. )
17
SAS is consistently ranked a “best place to work.”
They have 13,500 employees in 56 countries and
an internal communications team of 10 people
who manage to keep everyone connected with
absolutely no print media.
SAS takes its digital communication cues from
the outside world. They created a collaborative
environment based on Facebook, a real-time
news approach patterned after Twitter and
professional connections and groups similar to
LinkedIn. They looked to YouTube for how to use
eyewitness and amateur video, My YAHOO! for
news and information filters and subscription
features, Google for optimized search and
Pinterest for sharing photos. Modeling internal
platforms after popular real-world channels
almost guaranteed adoption and eliminated the
need for training.
Becky Graebe, SAS
Click to Enter: Opening New Doors to Employee Engagement
At the heart of the company’s internal
communication network is theSAS Wide Web,
a searchable intranet packed with news, daily
employee spotlights, videos and employee-
generated content and feedback. SAS knows
tools like these have to be interesting and
interactive to keep people coming back, so
they weave fun, unexpected elements into the
site. They’re also sensitive to the fact that their
audience is global, and provide a corporate
“wrapper” that accommodates local country
content and native languages.
Leaders Get Engaged Click to Enter: opening new doors to Emplyee Engagement
Becky Graebe, SaS
18
Because they have a small staff and a large, diverse audience, the SAS team has to be efficient and creative.
A few key principles keep communications on track, consistent and aligned with the SAS culture of
collaboration, innovation and fun.
Encourage interaction. Employees can
comment, share and like every news story on
the SAS Wide Web through integration with the
social media platform. Nothing is anonymous,
and the social media policy is readily available.
Get families involved. SAS has an external
site for U.S. families to communicate benefits,
corporate health services, activities, lunch menus
and other items of interest. This offloads the HR
team, saves on printed materials and deepens
employee relationships.
Let employees tell their stories. SAS makes
it easy for employees to submit stories, photos
and videos, and simple Q&A profile forms let
them talk about themselves, their roles and their
interests outside work. The communications
team does very little editing to keep the stories
genuine.
Make connections with executives. In addition
to executive blogs and webcasts, SAS uses
interactive games and profiles to make their
executives approachable.
Engagement Principles
Have fun. Quirky holidays, junk swaps, recipe
contests – it’s all in a day’s work at SAS. The
communications team constantly looks for new
ways to celebrate events and expand on fun
things employees are already doing rather than
forcing corporate mandates.
Ask employees what they think. SAS polls
employees on topics ranging from how they
shop for gas to what text message they would
send to Steve Jobs. They believe if employees
get comfortable sharing their opinions on silly
things, they’llbe more likely to give input when
you really need it.
Don’t take the social out of social networking. SAS launched The Hub, its social networking
platform, in February 2011. It now has almost
10,000 active accounts and more than 1,000
work and personal interest groups. It’s proven to
be great for peer to peer recognition, identifying
emerging leaders and influencers, and global
collaboration.
Leaders Get Engaged Click to Enter: opening new doors to Emplyee Engagement
Becky Graebe, SaS
19
SAS’ employee engagement success is
evident. The company continues to be a highly
rated employer by Fortune and other leading
indicators, internal communication survey
results are positive and employee participation
and use of communication tools are high. SAS
isn’t resting on its laurels, though. Next up are
more video, greater content syndication and
distribution, and mobile-ready apps and pages
to further tap the vast potential of employee
engagement. SAS knows the next big idea is
sitting in the mind of one of their employees.
The best they can do is provide the tools and
platforms that allow ideas to flourish.
Next Up
Becky Graebe, internal communications
manager at SAS, oversees traditional employee
communications efforts and the intranet and
internal social networking channels to ensure the
company’s 13,000 employees around the world are
well-informed and connected.
Leaders Get Engaged Click to Enter: opening new doors to Emplyee Engagement
Becky Graebe, SaS
( Becky Graebe talks about where the next big idea
will come from )
General Motors (GM) is one of the world’s largest
automakers. But as they celebrated their 100th
anniversary, they also faced one of the most
difficult periods in their history. After a financial
decline that led to a government bailout and
bankruptcy, GM emerged as a newly restructured
company that paid back its government loans
five years ahead of schedule and began the
journey back to leading edge status. Through it
all, employee communications and engagement
played crucial roles in keeping people focused
on making and selling cars and trucks.
Katie McBride, General Motors
Inside GM: Engaging Employees Before, During and After a Crisis
20 Leaders Get Engaged inside Gm: Engaging Emplyees Before, during and after a Crisis
Katle mcBride, General motors
21
As a company with more 217,000 employees and operations in 140 countries, GM has always had a potent
internal communications engine. During the bankruptcy, time-tested tools such as quarterly business update
broadcasts, town halls, an intranet and internal blogs were supplemented with CEO global web chats, regular
videos of the senior leadership team and a forum called, “Answer Me Now,” to quickly address what was on
employees’ minds in real language with no spin.
While the GM bankruptcy communication strategy was developed in response to a crisis, it is a solid approach
for any employee engagement program and focused on three key things:
On Solid Ground
1. Keep leaders visible and accessible. GM’s top messages to employees were: 1) the
company was not going away, 2) they were
building the best products in their history, 3)
they had the tools to rebuild the company and 4)
every employee played a role. They used internal
and external blogs, broadcast and written
messages, employee letters, FAQs and video
clips from town halls and press conferences
to keep employees informed of what was
happening and how they would be affected.
2. Reach global audiences in meaningful, relevant ways. Correctly timing communications to a worldwide
audience took a lot of coordination. The GM
team also had to interpret the meaning and
repercussions of bankruptcy in multiple
countries. Although many non-U.S. employees
were not significantly affected, they were hungry
for information about the mother ship and
what the crisis meant to them. GM provided
core information in 14 languages to global
communication partners who customized and
distributed it to their local audiences.
3. Use employees as ambassadors to help tell the story. After GM emerged from bankruptcy, the
communications team found pentup emotion
and fatigue among employees, as well as intense
pride and desire to prove they could come back
stronger than ever. They tapped into this positive
energy to rebuild relationships with stakeholders,
rejuvenate a very damaged reputation and
refocus on selling more cars and trucks.
Leaders Get Engaged inside Gm: Engaging Emplyees Before, during and after a Crisis
Katle mcBride, General motors
22
GM quickly realized that to capitalize on the
positive momentum of rebuilding, they had to
empower employees with tools and information
so they could serve as ambassadors for their
products, brands and the company. They also
saw the opportunity for employees to humanize
GM at a time when people were angry at them for
taking taxpayer money. They instituted a product
ambassador programthat allows people to take
vehicles home for a weekend and show themoff,
and employee ride and drives where employees
test drive GM and competitor cars and trucks at
their worksites to build product knowledge. An
employee journalist program encourages people
to volunteer to cover GM events in blogs, the
online newsletter and through word-of-mouth to
friends and co-workers.
No employee ambassador program works
if employees aren’t knowledgeable about
the company and products. GM developed
a number of training and information tools
including product microsites, sites and apps
for providing customer discounts or help with a
dealer or service issue, and opportunities to visit
dealerships and call centers to better understand
what customers need and value.
GM does a lot to engage employees through
social media tools, including clear guidelines
and training. They have a Facebook fanpage
where employees post news items, product
information, photos and stories; a Twitter
presence where employees engage with
87,000 followers and tweet about products and
positive things happening inside the company;
and a GM Google+ newsroom page with more
than one million followers. They encourage
employees to proactively reach out to auto,
business, mommy and environmental bloggers,
and maintain an active “Faces of GM” blog to
humanize the company with stories, video and
photos of employees and how their work benefits
customers. One of the newest and most popular
social media channels is OverDrive, a Web-based
chat tool that allows employees to ask questions
and get answers from their colleagues. About
40,000 employees participate and there are
around 1,200 conversations each week.
Engaging with the Brand
Social Media,GM Style
Leaders Get Engaged inside Gm: Engaging Emplyees Before, during and after a Crisis
Katle mcBride, General motors
23
GM has shifted its communications from
defensive bankruptcy education to proactive
product promotion – with big benefits. Internally,
it puts authority and responsibility in employees’
hands, strengthens pride and morale and ignites
passion and enthusiasm. It gets employees
out of the workplace so they can interact with
customers and each other while they learn about
products.Bottom line, it’s changing the culture.
Externally, GM employee engagement helps
build relationships with customers, makes
the brand vision personaland lets consumers
experience products outside the dealership.
When consumers can connect and relate to the
people and products behind the headlines, they
become supporters and even advocates.
GM’s journey was difficult, but along with
the pain came powerful lessons on using
communications and employee engagement to
weather a storm and emerge stronger.
1. Unleashing employees can be risky. There
will be missteps and mistakes, but the long-term
benefits are worth it.
2. Engagement takes time. Employees must
make engagement part of their daily routines for
it to pay dividends.
3. Perseverance is a must. Changing a culture
and image is a long process; every small win
should be celebrated.
4. Success requires leadership and support. Employees can’t change the climate alone.
Leaders must be committed and willing to do
their part.
GM saw the power of being transparent during a
crisis and they continue this philosophy as they
rebuild their company, brand and reputation.
When they know the whole story, employees get
behind it, understand where they were going and
take ownership in success.
Katie McBride was appointed executive director
of GM Community Connections in March 2011.
She had been executive director of GM Global
Product Operations and Environment and Energy
Communications, following key leadership roles
in Regional and Grassroots Communications and
Global Internal and Executive Communications.
Engagement Pays Off
Leaders Get Engaged inside Gm: Engaging Emplyees Before, during and after a Crisis
Katle mcBride, General motors
( Katie McBride shares the vital need for
transparency during a crisis )
24
People who work in good climates where there’s
a sense of purpose and job clarity outperform
those in average climates by up to 30%.
Leaders must focus on the narrative, not just the
numbers.
Leaders are the keepers of reality and must
continually ensure communications and actions
are aligned.
People need emotional connections to their work
to make it meaningful. A bold vision is key.
Smart leaders tap into the “wisdom of the
crowd.”
Good leaders communicate with employees
where they are instead of forcing them into
channels they don’t want to use.
Purpose- and values-driven organizations
outperform comparison companies by 16 to one.
Leader Engagement: The Big Ideas
Good leaders don’t just fan the flames of their
own constituencies. They convince people who
think differently than they do, find work that
needs to be done and bring people together to
do it.
Modeling internal communication platforms
after popular real-world channels almost
guarantees adoption and eliminates the need for
training.
Smart companies don’t take the social out of
social networking. They encourage personal
interest groups, peer to peer recognition and
global collaboration.
Employees who have the right tools and
information are great ambassadors for products,
brands and the company.
Employees can’t change the climate alone.
Leaders must be committed and willing to do
their part.
Leaders Get Engaged: the Big ideas
25
ChaptER 2ENGAGEMENT IS FOREvERSocial media communication is not “of the moment,” it is an ongoing engagement of people, ideas and actions. See how organizations of every size take a strategic approach to social media to drive consistency, deepen commitments and create cultural change.
Engaging the Social Workforce Engagement is Forever
Live events may be the ultimate employee
engagement opportunities. Done well, they
encompass everything from social media to
sensory experiences to live interactions. As a
leading creative agency and producer of live
events, PBJS has developed powerful principles
for engaging audiences before, during and after
the event.
Mike Standish, PBJS
Your Audience Never Leaves: Digital Tools to Support Live Interactions
26 Engagement is Forever mike Standish, pBJSYour audience never Leaves: digital tools to Support Live interactions
27
Event planning begins with the stories you want to share. With meaningful, inspiring content, you can use
communication and engagement tools to build a community or family around your brand and ideas. The next
step is to develop the event strategy. When does an event begin? When the audience first hears from you.When
does an event end? Never.An event is not just what happens on a given day. It’s a yearly calendar of nurturing
the community you want to build. Employees are part of that ongoing story and should be engaged long after
the physical event is over.
Events have five touch points, all of which are opportunities to engage and inspire employees using digital as
well as conventional tools.
1. Before: Establish your brand with a
consistent story, look and feel across all media
to build awareness and credibility. Choose the
communication channels most appropriate to
your audience. Does Facebook make sense?
How about a dedicated website? Use digital
tools only if they’re useful and inspiring, such as
gathering presentation ideas from employees
and letting them vote on what they want to see
and experience.
2. Entering: Set the tone as employees arrive
at your event, using the moment to preview
the story you want to tell. If appropriate, use
digital tools such as QR codes to communicate
schedules or make check-in easier.
3. During: Obviously, content is everything. If
a digital platform will enrich the experience, go
for it.Live interaction where employees can text
questions during the presentation, for example,
keeps content fresh and relevant. Just make sure
the technology works and is mixed with tried and
true tools.
It’s All About the Story
4. Downtime: Don’t overlook breaks and meals as
opportunities to extend your story or event brand
and further engage employees. An Instagram photo
booth is a fun way for people to interact and walk
away with physical and digital reminders of their
experiences. Device charging stations are not only
convenient, they show empathy for employees’
digital lifestyles and needs.
5. After: First, say thank you, then ask for feedback.
Make your evaluation fun and playful so people
will actually do it. Be smart about follow up; tell
people when they’ll hear from you again and invite
them to participate in the next event to maintain the
feeling of community. Don’t say goodbye; continue
conversations in meaningful ways.
Engagement is Forever mike Standish, pBJSYour audience never Leaves: digital tools to Support Live interactions
28
A live event seems like the perfect venue for
digital tools. They’re interactive, easy to use and
can raise an event’s hip factor a notch or two. But
just because something’s available doesn’t mean
it should be used. Whether you’re thinking about
using them before, during and/or after an event,
ask these questions before checking yes on the
digital tools box.
• Does it make the event easier to experience?
• Does it enrich the content? (Eye candy
doesn’t count.)
• Does it inspire employees to attend and/or
take action?
• Does it help build a community?
• Does it extend the event’s impact after it’s
over?
• Is it available to and accessible by all
employees, including those who may be new
to technology?
Big or small, frequent or rare, live events are
great employee engagement opportunities.
Digital tools can help extend the engagement
and make your events more productive and
worthwhile than ever before.
In the spirit of social engagement, we asked
Connect 13 attendees to tweet their questions
to Mike Standish during his presentation on live
events. Here are a few of their thought-provoking
questions and Mike’s inspired answers.
Q: Ever notice so many events feel like school? Just look at room layout. How can you make events participatory?
A: For so long, live employee events have been
executives on a stage talking to the audience.
That structure will not likely go away, but
surrounding it with participatory elements can
make it more enriching and inspiring. Use social
networks to poll the audience during a keynote,
for instance, to empower employees with partial
ownership of the presentation. Invite employees
to shape the content of the event. This takes
planning and executive trust, but satisfaction
scores increase when you turn the spotlight on
employees and invite them to participate.
Q: Thoughts around branding/promoting ongoing live events such as quarterly exec webcasts?
A: A quarterly webcast should get the same
treatment as any live event. Give it an identifiable
brand, name, look and feel that is easily
recognizable—because you’re not just shooting a
webcast. There should be a website. Promotional
emails. Motion graphics in the video. Use email
announcements, employee contests and user-
submitted content within the webcast to grow
viewership. Unify these assets with a style guide
for art directors and others developing collateral.
Here are three things to consider:
Digital Tools: Yes or No?
Live Events: What’s On Your Mind?
Engagement is Forever mike Standish, pBJSYour audience never Leaves: digital tools to Support Live interactions
( Mike Standish outlines his criteria for using digital
tools at live events )
29
Contact: Mike Standish
+1 (206) 399 1118
Mike Standish is senior director of content strategy
for PBJS Seattle. His 15-year career has spanned
a wide range of creative media, from print, film
and Web content production to online branded
entertainment and corporate communications.
Mike has directed campaigns for Microsoft,
Intel, The Walt Disney Company, AT&T, The Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation and many more.
As a content strategist and creative director, he
understands the importance of communicating an
effective brand narrative to a targeted audience and
serves client needs with engaging, eye-catching
content execution.
1. Without a brand of its own, an event can
disappear within your larger brand ecosystem.
2. Find an identity that stands out, yet makes sense
within the context of your brand as a whole.
3. Be creative within a brand without breaking its
rules. The event aesthetic must make sense when
seen side by side with your overall branding.
Q: Events on a budget? Advice for nonprofits?
A: There’s no magic bullet for doing live events on
a budget, but digital tools can help. Try a webinar or
Skype/Google Hangout-style meeting, promoted
with print collateral, signage and other branded
elements distributed to all your locations. This
extends the event brand to conference rooms and
common areas to turn it into something different
and exciting. When your print collateral matches
what’s onscreen, it brings it all together nicely. And
remember, no matter what your budget is, the real
heroes of any event are content and speakers.
Q: What are the top enterprise social networking tools today?
A: Companies that want Facebook-level social
networking including profile pages, commenting,
etc., often create those experiences from scratch
– a massive undertaking and not for everyone.
Solutions that cost practically nothing include:
• Base camp: Track project files and bring
teams together through custom task lists,
messages and more.
• Instant messaging: Use Microsoft’s Lync and
similar products for IM, video conferencing
and more.
• Existing social networks: Facebook and
Twitter are ubiquitous for a reason. Use them
for live events by creating a Facebook Group
just for the event. Hashtag like crazy. It’s
simple and underscores your event brand.
• Event brite: Organize live events and use
application partners to extend your reach to a
variety of devices for minimal cost.
29Engagement is Forever mike Standish, pBJSYour audience never Leaves: digital tools to Support Live interactions
Many companies assume employee engagement
affects financial performance; IBM knows it
for a fact. Surveys show the most important
factor in the IBM experience is the person you
interact with, not advertising and other marketing
vehicles where the most money is spent. The
IBM operating model says financial performance
is a function of the client experience, which in
turn is a function of employee engagement.
Ben Edwards, IBM
Drive Systemic Change Beyond Social Media
30 Engagement is Forever Ben Edwards, iBmdrive Systemic Change Beyond Social media
31
How does a giant like IBM engage 450,000
employees and influence the workflow to drive
financial success? The mission is simple: to
shape opinions by activating IBMers. At IBM, they
don’t talk about social media or computing, they
talk about social business. It’s not a channel or
platform or technology, it’s a transformation that
began back in 2005 with blogging guidelines.
Today, social business at IBM is how they
work and how they engage clients, prospects,
investors and communities. They’re redesigning
workflows to be transparent, accessible, client-
centric and responsive, and to encourage
expertise sharing. In short, the primary goal of
social media is to connect and do business.
Back in 2005, IBM employees were encouraged
to blog internally and externally for knowledge
management. The current approach is much
more intentional and focused on helping
The Business of Social
employees get better at using social tools
internally and externally. In the last few years,
the risk has shifted from brand and reputation
to cyber security. Social media has become
an important attack vector and social media
engineering is much more sophisticated. IBM
wants their people to understand the risk and be
experts at it.
Engagement is Forever Ben Edwards, iBmdrive Systemic Change Beyond Social media
32
Web services for partnersand sellers. IBM
makes external marketing support services
available on demand. Stock images on the
website have been replaced with authentic IBM
people, which increases trust and liftspage
performance by 15-20%.
Helping employees engage successfully in social business. IBM Select educates, enables,
measures and optimizes employees’ social
media participation for business. Employees take
an in-depth online behavioral assessment that
helps IBM understand individual social media
strengths and assign tasks based on experience
and preferences. IBM can also determine where
employees engage and what content or activities
would suit them best, thus increasing the chance
of conversion, or the desired action from the
audience.
Content aggregator. IBM Voices is a website that
aggregates and presents social business content
from IBMers from around the world in one spot.
Instead of striving to speak to stakeholders in
one voice, IBM wants clients, prospects and other
influencers to know what IBMers are thinking and
talking about.
Powerful Tools and Tenets
Learning and doing. The Digital IBMer Hub
offers broad education on social and security
topics, gives access to technologies and tools
and highlights social business resources.
Ben Edwards is vice president, digital strategy
and development at IBM. He leads the design and
development of branded IBM experiences across
digital media to connect and mobilize clients,
partners, employees and the communities in
which IBM does business. These experiences span
websites, Web applications, mobile applications,
social media and cloud computing interfaces.
Social business at IBM takes many forms, each with clearly defined objectives and guidelines. While these
programs are specific to IBM’s needs, their tenets can be adapted to build strong social business tools and
platforms in other environments where connectivity and collaboration are essential.
Engagement is Forever Ben Edwards, iBmdrive Systemic Change Beyond Social media
33
North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System
(NS-LIJ) is the largest employer in New York
State, with more than 43,000 employees and
100-200 more joining every week at dozens of
locations. One of the problems with such a large
workforce is managing new hires in the vast
network, especially in an industry where almost
all resources are spent on patient care. You have
to be savvy about using digital tools to capture
employees’ attention the moment they begin
interacting with you. You have to make sure your
employer brand is strong and consistent through
the onboarding process and beyond.
Allison Bunin, North Shore-LIJ Health System
Connecting with Candidates and Newly Hired Employees Before and After Day 1
Engagement is Forever allison Bunin, north Shore-LiJ health System
Connecting with Candidates and newly hired Emplyees Before and after day 1,
34
A few years ago, new employees joining NS-LIJ
were unimpressed with the recruiting website
and no one connected with them from the time
theywere hired until they started their jobs. For
many employees, the first two days of orientation
were clinically focused and not relevant to
the jobs they were hired for. Quite simply, the
company did not engage people when they took
the job, and treated them all the same once
they got it. NS-LIJ squandered a significant
opportunity to shape its corporate s with the
influx of new recruits.
In the healthcare business, it’s necessary to
communicate that the patient comes first.
Therefore, it can be a challenge to let employees
know where they stand, and do so with few
resources. Even more important is connecting
Looking Back
the dots from candidate to new hire to settled,
productive employee. After all, these people
are at a stage in their careers where they are
impressionable and crave connectivity and
purpose. The question becomes, how do you
engage, excite and inspire them on a regular
basis?
Engagement is Forever allison Bunin, north Shore-LiJ health System
Connecting with Candidates and newly hired Emplyees Before and after day 1,
35
Build an employer value proposition. To get
employees invested in the company’s success,
NS-LIJ created a mantra, a flag for employees
to follow. They asked their people what they
cared about most. The answer? “Transforming
Care, Transforming Careers.” NS-LIJ leveraged
this message as much as possible, embedding
it throughout the application and onboarding
processes and beyond.
Grab their attention at orientation. The NS-LIJ
CEO gives a powerful, “transforming careers”
speech every week during new hire orientation.
The employee communications department
created an emotional and inspiring video using
nothing but a Mac computer to show what the
healthcare system means to its patients – a far
cry from clinical-based training.
Build the right career portal. NS-LIJ focused
their resources on Career Compass, essentially a
“new hire portal on steroids.” It personally guides
each new hire through the critical first 90 days on
the job, beginning the moment they sign on to
their computer after orientation.
Follow up. Once employees are settled, a great
way to keep them connected to your brand is
through social media. Only do this if you can
keep up with it though, as your social media
channels are only as good as their content.
Changing the way NS-LIJ interacts with
applicants and employees is an ongoing journey
with many challenges, but the results have
been worth it. Not everything has worked, so it’s
important to constantly reevaluate what you are
doing and change course if need be.
Many programs did work, however. The new
hire portal now receives more than 200,000
applicants a year, more newly hired employees
sign up for benefits and the new hire e-mail open
rate is up more than 24%.
Allison Bunin is assistant vice president of internal communications at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, a $6.5 billion health system with 16 hospitals and hundreds of outpatient facilities across metropolitan New York. She oversees all employee communications for a workforce of more than 45,000 and is responsible for driving the “employer/employee experience” through integrated communications.
Time to Reengage
NS-LIJ knew that connecting with employees before, during and after they were hired would boost morale
and productivity. They implemented several programs to change the experience and engage employees in a
positive, relationship-building ways.
Engagement is Forever allison Bunin, north Shore-LiJ health System
Connecting with Candidates and newly hired Emplyees Before and after day 1,
36
Employee engagement can be labor-intensive,
especially in companies with thousands of
employees in multiple locations around
the country or around the world. Marketing
automation tools are one way to do more with
less while keeping engagement personal and
authentic.
Ellen Valentine, Silver Pop
Do It Like Marketers Do – Treating Employees as a Key Audience
Engagement is Forever Ellen valentine, Silver popdo it Like marketers do- treating Employees as a Key audience
37
1. Annual insurance or benefits opt-in: Tailor
messages and schedule them based on your
audience to avoid blasting everyone whether
they qualify or not. Build rules and let it run.
2. Happy birthday from the CEO:Personalize
messages with names and information such as
years of service.
3. Happy anniversary: Similar to birthdays, set
up special employee milestones as system rules
and implement automatically.
4. New employee onboarding: Drip-nurture new
hires with information on education, training,
orientation, etc. Track email opens to make sure
they’re accessing what they need.
5. Job applicants and inquiries:Capture contacts
and communicate with them over time to keep
your company in front of people who want to
work for you.
6. Facebook opt-ins: Nurture relationships with
people who show interest in your company.
7. Employee referral program: Send referral
rewards automatically as soon as employment
criteria are met.
8. Annual certifications: Schedule messages to
people when it’s time for training or certification
renewals.
Ten Steps to Engagement
9. Event opt-ins: Using a Web form on your
intranet, automate event registration and track
who has signed up. Schedule a second wave
reminder.
10. Influencer/outside recruiter updates: Use
automatic updates to communicate regularly
with the media, analysts and other influential
audiences. Content scraping lets you grab press
releases or product updates so you can create
new content.
Marketing automation is also valuable for
capturing social media activity such as white
paper downloads on Facebook and tracking
Twitter leads. All it takes are knowledge of what’s
possible, a vision of what you want to accomplish,
the skills to use the tools and a master
database that can be populated with employee
demographics, behaviors and interests. By
creating rules based on values in the database,
you ensure your audience gets communications
that are relevant, useful and interesting to them
as individuals.
Ellen Valentine is a product strategist for Silverpop,
the only digital marketing technology provider
that unifies marketing automation, email, mobile
and social. Ellen coaches and mentors clients to
adapt to new digital marketing practices to improve
business results, increase engagement and more
fully take advantage of Silverpop’s technology.
Here are 10 ways to reach employees, influencers, alumni and applicants using marketing automation.
Engagement is Forever Ellen valentine, Silver popdo it Like marketers do- treating Employees as a Key audience
38
Interface FLOR is the worldwide leader in the
design, production and sale of modular carpet
tile. The company has humble origins. Founded
in LaGrange, Georgia, in 1973, it has grown into
a complex global operation with 47 showrooms
and 3,300 employees who speak more than 40
languages and dialects. Interface services all
market segments, including corporate spaces,
hotels and homes. The founder’s mission,
however, was bigger than selling carpet. His
goal is as ambitious today as it was in the ‘70s:
to convert the product to one that’s completely
sustainable from an environmental perspective.
Bruce Brooks, Interface FLOR
The Digital Divide: Global Engagement at All Levels
Engagement is Forever Bruce Books, interface FLoR
the digital divide: Global Engagement at all Levels,
39
Mission Zero is Interface’s effort to eliminate
any negative impact the company has on the
environment by 2020. It requires cooperation,
input and buy-in from all Interface employees.
They are a company trying to change the world—
and they just happen to make carpet.
From the time he started Interface until his
death in 2011, founder Ray Andersen was
passionate about his vision and talked about it
at every opportunity. He worked hard to instill
that passion in his employees. Now, Interface
is working to honor his legacy and achieve his
Mission Zero goal by nurturing a passionate and
dedicated workforce. The company accomplishes
this in a number of ways:
• AsksfrontlineemployeeswhatMissionZero
means to them.
• Developedaconsistentonboardingprogram
so new employees around the word are aware
of the Mission Zero goal and its importance.
Part of this includes a video demonstrating
employee passion for Mission Zero.
• Buildsawareness,excitementandbelief
that the company will achieve its goal. For
instance, in Thailand, Interface is reclaiming
discarded fishing nets and turning them in
products.
• Adoptedanawardsprogramrecognizing
factory employees who live the mission.
• Implementedavisualfactorycampaignwith
posters and signs.
• Holdsquarterlymeetingstoassessprogress
and engage employees.
• Updatedtechnologyandtoolsforbetter
communication and collaboration.
Mission Zero
As the company talked to employees and
promoted Mission Zero, it discovered something
very important. Sustainability gives employees
something to believe in besides profit. The
program has inspired employees to bring
sustainability into their own lives, and has shown
how committed employees are to their founder’s
dream. The best news? The company is on track
to meet its Mission Zero goal.
Bruce Brooks is director of associate
communications for the Americas division of
Interface, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer
of modular carpet tiles and a global sustainability
leader. He oversees strategic communications
for associates in North America and Latin
America using a variety of channels to reach
both manufacturing and non-manufacturing
associates. Through a variety of communication
vehicles, he works to increase the level of employee
engagement in the company’s unique Mission
Zero brand promise – or its promise to eliminate
any negative impact the company’s operations
may have on the environment by 2020. Bruce has
led efforts to develop social media policies and
leverage social media tools for associates.
Engagement is Forever Bruce Books, interface FLoR
the digital divide: Global Engagement at all Levels,
40
With meaningful, inspiring content,
communication and engagement tools can build
a community or family around brands and ideas.
Social media conversations shouldn’t end; they
should continue in meaningful ways.
In many companies, financial performance is a
function of the client experience, which in turn is
a function of employee engagement.
Understanding employees’ social media
strengths can help determine where employees
engage and what content or activities would suit
them best, thus increasing the desired.
Instead of speaking to stakeholders in one voice,
smart companies let clients, prospects and other
influencers know what employees are thinking
and talking about.
Ongoing Engagement: The Big Ideas
Employer brands must strong and consistent
throughout the onboarding process and beyond.
A mantra or flag based on what employees care
most about gets them invested in company
success.
Creating database rules based on audience
values ensures communications are relevant,
useful and interesting to them as individuals.
Companies who give employees something to
believe in besides profit inspire them to bring the
goals into their own lives.
Engagement is Forever the Big ideas
41
ChaptER 3CREATING BRAND CHAMPIONSBranding no longer belongs to the marketing department or advertising agency; it’s every employee’s job to understand it, protect it and promote it. Whether they work in human resources, engineering or on the manufacturing line, employees can use social media to get the information and inspiration to become brand ambassadors.
Engaging the Social Workforce Creating Brand Champions
42
When you work in advertising, marketing or other
idea-pushing businesses, it’s easy to get caught
up in the work and lose interest in people. When
that happened at Brains on Fire, it was time for
a gut check. They decided they wanted their
brands to be voices and advocates for people,
and they started acting that way themselves.
A good example of the Brains on Fire philosophy
at work was when they accepted the challenge to
tackle the highest ever smoking rate amongU.S.
teens. They worked with teens who became
the voice of the message, talking about the
choice to smoke or not. They empowered
young people to become leaders and this very
successful program still exists today. Another
example was a fitness franchise client who
wanted to make fitness more real, more human.
Brains on Fire started conversations first with
employees. Then they engaged fitness “rebels:”
owners, trainers and employees who were using
different techniques to impact people’s lives.
Geno Church, Author, Brains on Fire
People-Powered Brands: Empowering a Tribe of Internal Advocates
They helped them form communities to connect
the unconnected. They made the brand real – and
customers took notice.
These stories illustrate the power of “tribal”
behavior, or people powered brands. According to
Seth Godin, a tribeisa group of people connected to
one another, connected to a leader and connected
to anidea. For millions of years, human beings have
been part of one tribe or an other. A group needs
only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and
away to communicate.
Encouraging tribal behavior is the perfect analogy
for empowering employees to be brand advocates.
For many of us, it also means unlearning what we’ve
learned and letting ourselves be guided by new
ways of thinking:
Creating Brand Champions Geno Church, Brains on Firepeople-powered Brands: Empowering a tribe of internal advocates
43
A powerful identity is a must. Be a little loose
with brand rules. Let your tribe fly their flag.
Don’t pick the advocates you want; let them
emerge.
Make your brand more human. Find your hand
raisers. Start the conversation locally and work
out from there.
Put people in the story and let them have ownership.Being part of a great story compels
us to share.
Build relationships. Love the people in your
tribe, warts and all.
Most of all, be real.
Geno Church, Brains on Fire’s word-of-mouth
inspiration officer, is responsible for developing
word-of-mouth, buzz, viral and evangelism
strategies for the agency’s clients. In his 14+ years
with Brains On Fire, he has helped build word-
of-mouth into the identities of brands including
Fiskars Brands, the American Booksellers
Association, Rawlings Sporting Goods and Rage
Against the Haze (South Carolina’s youth-led anti-
tobacco movement).
Creating Brand Champions Geno Church, Brains on Firepeople-powered Brands: Empowering a tribe of internal advocates
( Geno Church talks about tribal behavior )
44
American Express is one of the world’s most
recognized brands, but they faced a unique
brand challenge. New technology platforms
and services require them to hire developers,
programmers and other types of talent who may
not think of American Express as an employer
of choice. To attract these candidates, the
company had to reengineer its recruiting model,
infrastructure and employee brand story to
define American Express as a great place to work
for a new kind of employee.
Cameron Batten, American Express
Becoming an Employer of Choice from the Inside Out
Creating Brand Champions Cameron Batten, american Express
Becoming an Emplyeer of Choice from the inside out
45
As a global, high-profile company, American
Express has a lot of product and service brands.
Their talent brand had to be consistent with the
global brand while telling a story that would
appeal to the candidates they wanted to target.
American Express’ first steps in developing a
talent brand were to research targets, interview
stakeholders, assess employee survey results
and look at competitors to identify what
differentiates American Express as an employer.
Using these insights, the team developed and
tested a talent brand position and narrative
centered on, “challenging work with a purpose.”
They also defined the traits they would look for in
potential employees.
Talent BrandPositioning
Mapping Talent Touch Points
The candidate decision cycle is not linear. People
experience and form impressions of American
Express and other potential employers at many
touch points, including YouTube, LinkedIn and
consumer advertising. Once they start engaging
as employment candidates on career sites, with
applications and during interviews, the brand
experience must be the same and the narrative
consistent.
American Express ensured this consistency
by 1) communicating the talent brand position
and recruiting strategy to senior leaders and
global recruitment teams, 2) launching talent
brand training and communications to hiring
leaders and human resources employees and
3) communicating recruitment campaigns
internally to all American Express employees.
Online tools and platforms including Webinars,
a recruiter community, a refreshed careers site,
a talent brand training site and an online talent
requisition process gave everyone easy access to
information and kept the conversations real.
Creating Brand Champions Cameron Batten, american Express
Becoming an Emplyeer of Choice from the inside out
46
American Express diligently measures talent
experiencesthroughout the recruiting and hiring
lifecycle. Since revamping its talent brand
and recruiting strategy, they have seen vast
improvements in career site visits, applicants and
conversions; social media visits, applicants and
conversions; and mobile visits.
Illustrations by dScribe - dScribe.ca
Measuring Results
Cameron Batten is vice president of
communications at American Express.
He is a trusted advisor in global corporate
communications, brand management and digital/
new media. Cameron is recognized for producing
award-winning communications and employee
engagement programs that move businesses
forward.
Creating Brand Champions Cameron Batten, american Express
Becoming an Emplyeer of Choice from the inside out
47
Marsh is the world’s leading insurance broker and
risk adviser with 25,000 employees around the
globe. After a disastrous decade marked by tragic
losses on 9/11, multiple leadership changes,
poor financial results and painful cost cuts,
the organization realized they had to declare
a new future and create a great place to work
for outstanding people. Many things changed,
but it was commitments such as rewards linked
to performance, career development and
performance enabling tools that helped change
the conversation inside Marsh and put the
organization back on track
Unleashing Employee PotentialBen Brooks, Former Marsh
Creating Brand Champions Ben Brooks, Former marsh
Unleashing Employee potential,
48
Marsh has always been a great company full of
great people – but like San Francisco hidden
under a blanket of fog, the assetshad to be
rediscovered. It didn’t take outside experts to
find them. It took identifying and communicating
inspiring stories about how Marsh products are
used and the people who are passionate about
selling them
Burn Off the Fog
Like many companies, Marsh traditionally
thought of learning as a few smart people who
teach everyone else what they need to know.
Part of burning off the fog was to abandon that
notion, find a lot of smart people inside the
company who wanted to share their expertise
and create an environment where people could
meet and connect.
Research shows adults learn and develop in
three ways. Ten percent comes from formal
training, 20% from mentoring and coaching,
and 70% from informal, social and on-the-job
experiences. Marsh set out to exploit the 70%
with Marsh University, an online community
where, “everyone is a teacher.”
Online communitieshave a unique engagement
dynamic. Ninety percent of users are lurkers;
they look but don’t do anything. Nine percent
are passive contributors who like, comment
and share. The last 1% are active contributors.
Marsh focused on the small number of
contributors,knowing thatbefore long, the rest of
the crowd would follow.
To make sure Marsh University got off the ground
unencumbered by the complexities of a huge
IT initiative, the communications team decided
to build a classroom instead of a campus. They
recruited teachers, let them sign up for what they
wanted to teach, built content and encouraged
conversations in a flexible Word Press content
management system. They found 50 people
who wanted to be ambassadors for the program
and hosted fun programs like photo contests to
generate excitement and momentum.
Everyone is a Teacher
Creating Brand Champions Ben Brooks, Former marsh
Unleashing Employee potential,
49
Culture and values are key parts of creating
a great place to work for outstanding people.
To more clearly define what Marsh stood for
and how they wanted people to behave, the
leadership team engaged managers from
all parts of the company to develop six new
operating principles forming the acronym,
IGNITE. Employees loved it, and even though
they didn’t always adhere to brand standards
in the way they applied IGNITE to their own
divisions or programs, Marketing let them run
with it to encourage adoption of the principles
themselves.
As with the operating principles, unleashing
employee potential means finding out what’s
important to people and letting them create their
own experiences. The social aspects of Marsh
Make It Happen
University allow employees to learn, participate
in executive updates, converse with their peers
and share ideas all year. No longer does a less
than stellar quarter mean the end of employee
events and programs. Social media allows Marsh
to keep the momentum going.
Ben Brooks is the former senior vice president and
global director of Enterprise Communications &
Colleague Engagement at Marsh Inc., the world
leader in risk and insurance services and solutions.
Ben was responsible for the firm’s global internal
communications, strategic change management,
social media adoption, corporate culture and
employee engagement for 24,500 colleagues
globally. He was named 2011 “Rising Star” by HR
Executive Magazine.
Creating Brand Champions Ben Brooks, Former marsh
Unleashing Employee potential,
50
ITT is a $12.5 billion, highly diversified
manufacturer of engineered components
and customized technology for the energy,
transportation and industrial markets. It was
founded in the 1840s, went on an acquisition
binge in the 1960s, and in 2011 split into three
separate companies, including ITT Industrial
Process. In short, two years ago, ITT was a
century-old startup. And when the dust settled,
the workforce found itself asking, “What now?”
Internal and External Rebranding: Connecting the Dots and the People
Anthony D’Angelo, ITT
Creating Brand Champions anthony d’angelo, ittinternal and External Rebranding: Connecting the dots and the people
51
The process of untangling something this large
and complex into three separate entities had the
potential to seriously disruptthe workforce, not to
mention create a lot of external chatter. People
wondered if ITT Industrial Process had enough
resources to survive the surgery, so to speak.
One of the biggest problems they faced was the
need to create a whole new internal and external
brand—and they had 10 months to do it.
To approach the challenge, the leadership team
devised a series of internal questions.
• Does the company have a plan?
• Do employees understand the competitive
situation?
• Does leadership understand employee
perception of the company?
• Is the change of company structure a
campaign or an operating model? After all, it
must be about the business at its core.
• What do we want people to know, feel
and do? What will they experience that’s
different?
Most importantly, ITT Industrial Process set
out to find its competitive advantage in the
marketplace while isolating its internal strengths:
what do we build on and what do we change?
They did research to find authentic things about
the brand. During a listening tour, the research
kept returning to a key message: what’s cool
about ITT Industrial Process is that the stuff they
make lasts forever and their people take pride in
the fact they are in an essential industry. These
points were developed further into the working
mantra, “The ITT Way,” and a DNA that says:
A New Brand Beginning
• We have highly engineered products.
• We are a global company.
• We are leaders in the industry.
• We are a long-standing brand.
• The workforce is the core of the company.
ITT Industrial Process took what the employees said
were the most important things about the company
and used it to increase engagement with partners
and potential customers in a series of innovative
ways:
• Its most legendary product is the Gould pump,
a water pump developed in the 19th century. The
company established Pump Appreciation Day, a
holiday to celebrate its original product.
• It formed a sponsorship with the American
Heart Association. After all, the heart is the most
important pump.
• It established an online contest and awards
program, a photo contest and an online quiz,
knowing engineers love knowledge-based
games and activities.
As a result of the initiatives, de-merger sales went
up 20% and brand awareness rose 3%. Employee
engagement with the Pump Appreciation Day site
was huge!
Anthony D’Angelo, APR, Fellow PRSA, is senior
manager, communications for ITT Industrial
Process and responsible for internal and external
communications strategies and programs. With more
than 20 years of corporate and agency experience,
he joined ITT in 2011, following service in lead
communications roles for Carrier Corporation and
Magna International. He is an adjunct professor of
public relations at Syracuse University’s Newhouse
School of Public Communications.
Creating Brand Champions anthony d’angelo, ittinternal and External Rebranding: Connecting the dots and the people
A powerful brand identity is a must. Smart
companies are a little loose with brand rules and
let their tribe fly the flag.
The best brand advocates aren’t selected; they
emerge on their own.
A good talent brand is consistent with the
global brand while telling a story that appeals to
targeted candidates.
The candidate decision cycle is not linear.
Because people experience and form
impressions of potential employers at many
touch points including social media and
consumer advertising, all messages must be
consistent.
Sometimes improving the brand means rewriting
the company rulebook.
Positive customer experiences begin with a
combination of exceptional leadership and
highly engaged employees.
Big Ideas: Brand Champion
A company’s culture is defined by the human
connection with each employee and how well
management engages them.
It doesn’t take outside experts to find a
company’s hidden assets. It takes identifying and
communicating inspiring stories about products
and the people who are passionate about them.
Great companies know everyone’s a teacher.
They find smart employees who want to share
their expertise and create an environment where
people can connect.
Unleashing employee potential means finding
out what’s important to people and letting them
create their own experiences.
Brand standards are necessary in most cases, but
there are times when it’s best to let people run
with their ideas.
Engaging employees before they’re employed is
the way to build shareholder value.
Everyone in a company is responsible for
communicating the employer brand.
52 Creating Brand Champions Brand Champion
Brian L. BurgessPractice Director, Brand and Talent MSLGROUP North America 646.500.7635 [email protected]
mike RussellSVP, Sales & Business DevelopmentMSLGROUP [email protected] d
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