Employer branding: Developing your people
Section four of the Personnel Today Management Resources one stop guide to employer branding, covering people development as a component of employer branding, including retention, development and coaching issues. Other sections .
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A critical component of employer branding is people development. People provide the lifeblood that brings a transaction with an organisation to life. Even if there is not a physical presence, the sense and tone of an interaction needs to appear human, helpful and approachable.
This feeling needs to emanate from the CEO and the board through to the newest recruit.
Kevin Roberts, chief executive worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, presents a compelling picture of the future beyond brands in his book Lovemarks (see Resources ):
"For great brands to survive, they must create 'loyalty beyond reason' in consumers. This is the only way they can differentiate themselves from the millions of going nowhere brands. The secret is the use of Mystery, Sensuality and Intimacy. A passionate commitment to three powerful concepts creates Lovemarks - the future beyond brands'."
Roberts also quotes Alan Webber, founding editor of Fast Company, who endorses the same view: "One of the things we've always believed at Fast Company is that there is a higher road for business to take. That when you combine the notion that work is personal and that outcomes and performance matter, and you hook those two values up to the same energy source, then you actually get the best of all possible worlds. You get a workforce and a team of people who are totally committed to what they are doing. You get better results in their performance and in their sense of what is possible."
In the case studies there are a number of examples where organisations are actively working to achieve this.
What is the impact of leadership style on the retention of talent?
In Goleman's earlier book, Working with Emotional Intelligence (see Resources ), he quotes a landmark study of top executives that have derailed. According to Goleman, the two most common traits of those who failed were:
Rigidity: They were unable to adapt their style to changes in the organisational culture, or they were unable to take in or respond to feedback about traits they needed to change, or improve. They couldn't listen or learn.
Poor relationships. The single most frequently mentioned factor is being too harshly critical, insensitive, or demanding, so that they alienated those they worked with.
He further develops this theme in The New Leaders, suggesting that the singular talent that set the most successful CEOs apart from others turned out to be a critical mass of emotional intelligence competencies.
Goleman suggests the most successful CEOs spent more time coaching their senior executives, developing them as collaborators, and cultivating personal relationships with them. From a business perspective, he suggests that those companies where the CEO exhibited emotional intelligence strengths, profits and sustained growth were significantly higher than for companies where the CEOs lacked those strengths.
In the research for an earlier book, Managing the Mavericks, I asked the question: 'If you could change one aspect of organisations that would encourage the nurturing of talent, what would you recommend?'
Here is a sample of the responses:
Trust people
Senior managers being prepared to step outside their conventional modus operandi and/or being prepared to tolerate and/or support others to do so
Leadership needs to drive the harnessing of human talent - most companies don't have leaders that understand how to do this
Flexibility - understanding that following the 'way we do things here' is a recipe for stagnation
Recognition (not necessarily reward) for the value they deliver
More honest feedback on a regular basis, to encourage and reinforce positive risk-taking
Let people work when and where they think they can offer the greatest potential, it always amazes me that more companies do not let their staff work from home now and again, so much more can be achieved and when they are away from the office and the confines of 'its' thinking, they can open their mind to thinking in other ways
The one thing that the organisation must do to nurture talent is to provide challenge to the individual. Continuous challenge of the individual that stretches them to their wits end is the best 'mantra' to nurture talent in the organisation.' Keep management systems simple - the flow chart should fit on one side of A4 in a minimum 12-point font.
Reward on the basis of contribution to ideas and results, rather than on grade/project profile/targets alone
Values. Which is a form of belief. If you believe your people are creative, then guess what? You act that way. Then guess what? They act that way
Not overloading people with routine or administrative work. Giving them time to dream.
In Talent Management - another Personnel Today One Stop Guide - when respondents were asked what support they wanted from a line manager, there was remarkable similarity in their responses.
Open and honest feedback was high on the agenda, and there was an important link between freedom to operate and clear goals and expectations. Building of relationships between the individual and their manager is also important, particularly the nature of that relationship. Phrases used were 'ability to listen, to coach, to offer support coupled with loyalty, trust and integrity'. Alignment of values was also important. One very evocative statement summed up the thoughts of many:
'Foster an environment in which individuals are valued, talent is exposed, nurtured and allowed to fly.'
What is interesting is the balance between freedom and systems. One of the very real issues in large organisations is tracking people. Very often individuals feel their talents go unnoticed. Equally, there are very real concerns that the middle management layer hides and diffuses the impact of real talent. This frustrates both senior management despairing of the lack of initiative and potential within their organisation, and those new and embryonic talents, which get held back because their views may be different from the accepted norm.
This was echoed by one of respondents who recognised that perhaps he hadn't shouted loud enough: "My reluctance to shout about my talents means that nobody notices". What he was looking for was "real appreciation of my worth by people who are interested in me."
Equally, the importance of ongoing conversations was highlighted:
'Clarity around understanding expectations of individuals and matching these to organisational requirements and having a 'real' conversation about this.'
Leaders who coach naturally have an immense contribution to make, not just in their day-to-day interaction with others, but the more senior they are the more influence they will have on the climate and culture of the overall organisation.
Advice for CEOs
Another question asked as part of the research for Managing the Mavericks was: 'What advice would you have for CEOs in terms of nurturing talent?
Their common advice to CEOs was:
'Get close to your people, give commitment, follow through, don't give out mixed messages, allow communication to come up through middle management, but actively seek it, don't allow it to be changed and modified by those who do not want others to hear.'
Use your people, they are your greatest asset, they are the lifeblood of your organisation. Much innovation can be generated within - encourage the 'speak-up' culture for good or bad. Encourage honest feedback, develop real action from their views, don't ever just take it and do nothing, be seen to respond. This area is covered in more detail in Section 5 .
The job descriptions for today's CEOs make very interesting reading:
'Wanted charismatic, entrepreneurial, free spirit, able to inspire our workforce, confidence from our stakeholders, our investors, build our corporate social responsibility. In order to achieve the above, we also want you to sort out our middle managers, the rest of the board, our supply chain, our IT system and spend as much time as possible talking to our employees.'
Some CEOs find it easier to stick with what is known, rather than attempt to convince long-serving people of the need to change. Some executives are daunted by the size of the task, and the speed of change. Some simply hope that if they ignore it, by some miracle, the market will change and the problem will go away. Initially, it may seem difficult to measure the return on investment (ROI) of the CEO spending time with individuals. It may feel difficult to measure developing a coaching environment, but eventually the results will translate to the bottom line.
What is the best way of developing people?
Increasingly, organisations are recognising the importance of setting aspirational standards. Equally, organisations are developing competencies that are based more on the 'softer' aspects of management and the values and ethos of an organisation.
Senior management is recognising that its talent bank will be greatly depleted if it does not help people fulfil their potential.
Fundamentally, employer branding needs attention to make it happen. It also needs a holistic approach. Like customer service, quality standards and health and safety, you cannot just give the responsibility to one person. There has to be a belief and a commitment from the CEO and the executive right through the line management to the newest recruit.
Individuals joining an organisation need to feel that they are valued and that their contribution will make a difference. It is easy to say that this is happening, but far harder to have concrete evidence.
In any discussion about employer branding, talent management, or management of high potential, it is important first to emphasise the development of all individuals. No organisation should focus all its attention on developing only part of its human capital. What is important, however, is recognising the needs of different individuals within its community.
Employer branding is not about a special few people, it is about playing to everyone's strengths. It is also about championing diversity, encouraging creativity and innovation. But above all, it is working to create an environment where the organisation buzzes with energy and people have a sparkle of anticipation when they enter their workplace.
Being responsible for creative and innovative ways of managing and growing people can be exhilarating. Individuals need nurturing. Like plants, they should be free to grow, but they need nourishment and daily watering with positive feedback if they are to thrive.
Employees who suggest ways of doing things differently are often seen as 'difficult'. Inventors are often described as 'eccentric'. There is a slow growing realisation of the need to recognise diversity in terms of gender, race, or disability. But we haven't even reached the starting blocks for people who have a different perspective on life. Organisations often struggle with people who ask the question 'why are we doing this?,' or who challenge the status quo.
Yet, when we examine today's great inventions - the Dyson vacuum cleaner or Bayliss' radio - they are produced by people who challenge the system, not in a destructive but in a curious way.
What is interesting is how many people leave traditional forms of employment to either work by themselves, or to create working environments that foster innovation and creativity.
The whole dotcom industry was fuelled by people attracted by the opportunity to work differently. The salutary lesson in the dot coms, however, is that as well as having the creativity and innovation to identify a good idea, there was still a need to underpin this with sound commercial and managerial expertise.
The better the manager understands how creative people think and the creative process, the better able they are to manage them. This may sound like indulgence, but developing innovation is important in any organisation and recognising the differences in how people learn and the needs of individual employees is an important management competency. Often it only takes a small adjustment in the process to allow the degree of flexibility that creative people crave.
The really excellent leaders are those who assemble teams where creative and innovative people are supported by others who can help them explore their ideas and those who can take the idea to the next stage of making it happen. Within this environment, high trust develops, allowing ideas to be challenged, modified and implemented, while remaining true to the original concept. This therefore enables the creative and innovative people to move on to generating the next good idea.
What do employees really want from an employer? Research, talk, listen and benchmark. Times change and today's employees have very different motivations. Work-life balance is increasingly important, such as job share, part-time working and opportunities to take time off.
Employers who are flexible attract the more creative employees, who are prepared to share intellectual property in return for recognition of their contribution. How can you encourage the natural behaviours, particularly in a call centre environment?
It's not just about understanding the culture, but it is more about the ability to engage and build a relationship with a customer in a very short space of time to brand a product onto a customer's consciousness. First Direct, one of our case studies , are also referenced in Customer Care by Sarah Cook:
"Managers at First Direct model the behaviours many organisations are aspiring to. First Direct's culture is designed to release the potential of the people who work in direct contact with customers."
First Direct's ex-chief executive, Kevin Newman, explains: "Our managers are trying to move away from a hierarchical form of management to one in which people at all levels understand their roles, and managers perform more of a coaching role than a supervisory one."
First Direct also recognised the importance of motivational factors, how well the service is provided, how helpful, how knowledgeable and efficient employees are and how much trouble they take to get it right.
Strategic Dimensions, another case study in Section 8 , has a similar view:
"We recognised that the way candidates and clients were treated would make a difference and to do that we had to recruit the right people and then create the right context for them. We believe that it is important for individuals to feel motivated about the work that they do. We want them to want to grow with us and to be intrinsically interested in what we do and how our organisation is developing. People tend to stay with us because they like the way we work."
This is an example of right people doing the right things at the right time. Such a simple statement, but think about your own organisation and ask: how often does this happen?
As all the case study examples in Section 8 show, where there is individual and organisational attunement, as Goleman described it, the development of an employer brand will be much more enduring.
In developing the people strategy behind an employer brand, it is likely that there will be three core groups. It is also likely that these broad definitions will run from the top to the bottom of the organisation. (Adapted from Coaching for Change, see Resources ).
Individually and organisationally attuned
When you identify individuals who are attuned, it will be important to nurture them, as they can become the sponsors of others.
Ideally, they should also be encouraged to take responsibility for making things happen. Take time to ensure they are supported in what they are trying to achieve. From an organisation or a team perspective, they should not be held back because of petty bureaucracy.
Organisationally, or in a team, this may cause real tension if it is perceived that certain groups or individuals are receiving special attention. However, if you're looking to really transform performance, there has to be real change. Just because processes have worked in the past doesn't mean they will in the future.
As well as sponsoring this group, they may also need real support to stay motivated as they may become frustrated with the speed of change. For those that can see the way ahead, they may feel that others are deliberately holding them back. Team leaders need to be sensitive to the needs of the whole team, but also recognise the needs of this group. Acting as a sounding board, they should encourage them to air their frustrations, helping them to develop personal action plans.
To manage the challenges they are facing is an important role that a team leader can provide. Encourage them to support others - being seen as a star can be a great personal motivator but helping them to act as a guide for others can also be important. It is a delicate balance between giving them a free reign and asking them to act as a role model to help others develop.
Attuned but needing development
With this group, it is important to help them recognise where they need to develop. One of the first tasks is to think about the role and to identify if they need to change roles or whether they need to develop new competencies or behaviours.
Using profiling tools and competence mapping can be vitally important to identify where the elements of mismatch are occurring. Although this will take time, it is an important part of the employer branding process - it is important to the individual as well as the organisation.
If the role specification has been clearly defined then this could be a good starting point. If this is coupled with an accurate assessment of an individual's competence then as a team leader you can work with them to help them identify the growth areas.
For some, this will mean they need to develop new competencies. For others, it may mean that they need coaching to identify the new behaviours they need to develop. Goleman's work has been mentioned a number of times, but using his model of emotional and social competencies can be a valuable starting point.
The people in this development category need to identify where the gaps exist and to assess their willingness and motivation to change. This group will need ongoing support. Very little in a process of employer brand transformation can be based on the assumption that once it is set up, it will happen. Regular coaching sessions, support from team leaders and sponsorship from the champions will all help this group continue to grow.
All progress needs to be reinforced. This category may turn out to be the largest grouping in your workforce, and therefore they will need constant reassurance and confirmation about the overall direction and progress. When something isn't working out, you need to make sure that this group understands what's happening.
Changes in direction need to be carefully communicated so that they continue to believe that the change is worthwhile. When this group is neglected, this is often the reason for a growth of discontent or negativity, or disbelief that change is really happening. Lack of motivation and the feeling of a loss of direction and momentum can easily spread.
They will also need assurance that the journey is worth making; although it may take time, they will need support to make the transformation. As well as making a valuable contribution to the team, or the organisation, their motivation will be highest when they can see that the employer branding is worthwhile for them.
Discord
This is the biggest challenge to any team, organisation or leader. As with group two, a thorough assessment needs to be undertaken. Unfortunately, some organisations lose good people because of mismanagement, or lack of identification of real talent. So when addressing this group, the team leader has a very important role to play in helping both the individual and the organisation explore the reality of the discord.
If we look back at the original statement 'right people, right role, right time' with this group, one or more of these will be out of step. Therefore, the first assessment has to be about the individual and helping them to identify where they are in their career, what they achieved before they entered the organisation, what they have achieved since entering, and what they believe their potential to be.
When organisations change or downsize, individuals often leave without a real understanding of why they are without a job. There is often an underlying feeling of 'why me?'. As an organisation transforms towards an employer brand approach, there may be genuine mismatches. In this context, there will be occasions when an individual recognises that their personal aspirations and the overall direction of the organisation may not be attuned. There may also be a real difference between the skills and competencies of an individual and the needs and opportunities within an organisation.
Unhappily, there may be a behavioural mismatch, and this is often the hardest element of all. In some industries, there will be managers, senior as well as junior, who were recruited and encouraged to demonstrate particular behaviours that now do not fit with the new direction of the business. The way people are managed is often one of the main reasons why talented people leave organisations. If your organisation is losing talented individuals, this is another important reason to address individual behaviours.
From a coaching perspective, working with people who were unable to see the impact of their behaviour on others can be a real challenge, particularly if they are senior players. Organisationally, there has to be an assessment of how much time to invest in this area of development.
Equally as important is the impact on the individual. Do they have the motivation to change their behaviour? What is the personal impact on them? One of the most important aspects of working with this group is respect and integrity. Whatever decision is taken, either by the individual or by the organisation, will send out signals to the rest of the workforce. Careful planning, support and acting in the best interests of all employees are critical measures of the success of any employer brand transformation process - not just for the internal audience but for the wider community too.
There is a need to see people as individuals able to exercise personal choice. Asking simple questions like 'What are you really good at?', 'Given a free choice what would you really like to do?', or 'If you could develop a new skill, what would you like to do?'. The overall aim should be to create the right job, for the right person in the right place.
Supporting employer branding through coaching
Traditionally, coaching was something that might have only been offered to senior executives, or fast-track employees. However, as more people become aware of the benefits of one-to-one support, coaches may be found operating at a number of levels within an organisation. Another major advantage is that if people really begin to adopt coaching behaviours, the organisation becomes much more of a learning environment.
People start to learn from each other, but it needs attention to survive, and this is one of the major challenges. In any large organisation, it takes constant attention to maintain any initiative. Too many are introduced to an idea, process, and way of working, only to find that it is not sustained.
Coaching, if it is to be successful, has to fit into the broader context of business development within an organisation. Importantly, it should not be seen in isolation. It represents one of the most naturally evolving process of developing your human capital.
In today's working society, individuals are often absorbed into an existing culture rather than creating their own working environment. Therefore, any strategy to introduce or extend a coaching culture needs to be considered carefully and positioned within the broader context of not just attracting, retraining and motivating talent, but also addressing the business requirements of ROI and cost savings.
An important part of your consideration could also be based on answers to the following:
How could coaching enhance the development of employer branding within this organisation?
What benefits could it bring to our overall business strategy?
How could it help us attract retain and motivate talent?
How can it help us to transform our performance?
What other tangible benefits could itbring us?
How far have we adopted a coaching culture?
Ask the following questions:
What do we need to work on as a team?
Do my team members know what their roles are, and what is expected of them?
What can I do to help build a positive working environment?
What positive actions can I take to build effectiveworking relationships within our team and with other teams?
How does the performance of my team impact on others?
Do my team members trust me as their coach? Do they come to me when they need help?
What can I do to help build a team that is special, where people value each other and want to work together to share in each other's success?
A coach guides rather than manages. Throughout history there have been instances of guidance being given by 'elders'. What if instead of creating managers, we created guides? What if we gave respect to the wisdom of our experienced workers?
The very best supervisors and managers are those who share their wisdom and give guidance to new employees. The very worst managers are those who play it by the rules with no flexibility, or explanation.
What is interesting is that if you examine the development programmes in many organisations, it is very likely that you will see references to coaching.
However, if you probed further and looked at job descriptions for senior managers, members of the board or looked at the performance measures, how often is coaching included? How much real coaching takes place on a day-to-day basis? How is knowledge transferred within an organisation? How much real scope is there to create a coaching environment? How much real opportunity is there to reshape the landscape to become more focused on individual development?
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Do I set stretch goals around the implementation of innovative ideas?
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Take time to listen, share and care for each other.
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What are the core behaviours that organisations need to maximise in order to succeed?
Desire to survive.
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Recording and following up all actions agreed.
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Section one: What it is and why it matters Section three: Creating a framework for branding your organisation Section four: Developing your people Section five: How to communicate the employer brand message internally Section six: Using employer branding to gain competitive advantage Section seven: What is the future for employer branding?
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