Practice makes perfect, they sayMany companies rightly invest heavily in their brand. Yet alongside marketing and advertising, the role employees play in representing the brand should not be underestimated. How they act and talk about the company when they are out of the office can have a big impact on its reputation.
So how can you ensure that your employees are good ambassadors for the company when they are out of the office? Here we take a brief look at five ways you can be confident that staff will stay ‘on message’ and be happy to talk positively about the company they work for when out in public.
1. Allow for Flexibility of Language
Not everybody talks in the same way, and expecting staff to be able to trot out the same message in a robotic fashion will sound insincere and lacking in authenticity. Employees can much better represent a company if they are given the freedom to use their own words and anecdotes to describe the brand.
2. Create Opportunities for Employees to Practise Talking About the Brand
Practice makes perfect, they say. So the more opportunities employees have to talk about the company story, mission and brand in a controlled setting, the more likely it is that they will feel comfortable talking about the brand positively when they are out of the office too, and their words will flow naturally.
3. Include Employees in Shaping the Company Identity
Employees and organisational culture play a large part in the creation of any company’s brand identity. The people who make the company what it is are the lifeblood of any organisation, so it is essential they are on-board with the brand image by helping to shape it and ensure it runs through the core of everything the company does.
4. Don’t Neglect the Importance of Internal Communications
Ensure employees are comfortable being asked about who they work for and what they do in any setting by creating opportunities to talk internally as well as externally. As ambassadors for the brand, the more practice employees can get talking about the company positively in an internal setting, the more likely they are to continue this mantra when they are out of the office.
5. Encourage Confidence and Competence
Encountering individuals who have expert industry knowledge and can talk confidently and competently about their field never fails to be impressive. Companies should encourage this across their workforce by engaging individuals to stay abreast of industry trends by attending conferences and training sessions and writing blogs and other articles about what is topical in their industry. Not only does this build vital resources for the company, but it also empowers employees to become knowledgeable ambassadors who can represent themselves and their company exceptionally well.
It is clear that investing in employees and encouraging them to become involved in establishing and shaping a company’s brand is essential for helping to ensure they stay on-message when off-site.
Recruiters love this COMPLETE set of Accredited Recruitment & HR Training – View Training Brochure
