How defined is your brand?
"I have always believed that great brands are built on improving the lives of the people they serve; I wanted to prove that maximum profit and high ideals aren't incompatible but, in fact, inseparable," said Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of Proctor & Gamble and author of GROW.
While reading a recent issue of Advertising Age, I came across an interesting article about branding — not from a qualitative state but from an analytical and quantitative approach. The article was based on work done by Stengel (along with Millward Brown) identifying the 50 fastest growing brands in terms of value and consumer preference.
They designed an analytical, rigorous method that tested corporate ideals as the core of an organization's success. Their findings were called the Stengel 50 — brands that built the deepest relationships with customers and achieved the greatest financial growth from 2001-2011.
Superior growth for businesses built on ideals
"We define ideal as the higher-order benefit a brand or a business gives to the world," said Stengel. "Some companies are very explicit about their ideals, like Zappos – their ideal of delivering happiness is on their boxes, all over their offices, even on t-shirts employees wear. Other brands, like Louis Vuitton, are more implicit about it. But all their actions – throughout their products, stores and communications – amplify their ideal to luxuriously accentuate the journey of life."
I have always admired marketing professionals and how they have almost seamlessly transitioned from a communications endeavor to research-based methodology to provide strategic value that can make their organization more successful over time.
After reading more about the study, what I realized was that this study demonstrated how brand ideals aren't simply about altruism. Those who centered their businesses on ideals had a growth rate triple that of competitors in their categories.
Human Resources disguised as Marketing
Marketing has a way of slicing and dicing customers in such a way that shows a profound analytical understanding of their customers. The successful companies leave no stone unturned in taking that information and building an airtight relationship that is constantly being monitored.
I think that Human Resources can learn a lot from the ways of the marketing industry. The relationship between organization and their employees must be strengthened, now more so than ever.
If organizations would spend time and resources getting to know their employees as well as they know their customers, there would be no hand ringing in trying to come up with solutions based on qualitative findings. But finding an engagement score and turning that into a successful intervention will take a further look.
So many of HR metrics are "after the fact," where the numbers represent what has happened. I have often thought of what behaviors or drivers caused the actual number. What is the reason behind the number? Is it the organizational structure that dictates or drives a major component? Is the leadership culture at the front of the equation? Is the culture too rigid or faceless?
Pulling the curtain back on the numbers could yield a treasure trove of information. This finding allows us to frame a narrative and tell a credible story.
Managing talent and organization as a portfolio
Thoroughly understanding the talent within the confines of an organization would allow us to manage it as if it is a portfolio: high potentials, high performing, executive leadership, critical skills. There are special needs for all.
Managing this involves deciding what resources to include in the portfolio based on the goals of the business and the ever-changing economic conditions. This approach allows for maximum return on limited resources
Our field of endeavor is going through so much change that we must try much as we can to look into every nook and cranny to stay abreast of new techniques. But in a lot of cases, we do not need to necessarily reinvent the wheel. The methodology is out there, and what better way is there to examine than the relationship between your organization and its customers and use what you do there to better manage your talent?
The model is there, and with a little tweaking, we can raise it to another level.
Ron Thomas is a Principal at StrategyFocusedHR StrategyFocusedHR, a strategic human resources consultancy based in New York. He is certified by the Human Capital Institute as a Master Human Capital Strategist (MHCS) and Strategic Workforce Planner (SWP). He's worked in senior level HR roles with Martha Stewart Living and IBM. Ron serves on the Expert Advisory Council on Talent Management Strategy at the Human Capital Institute, is a member of McKinsey's Quarterly Online Executive Panel, and was named to the HR Hall of Fame by HR Network of New York.
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