Most businesses—almost 90 percent—understand that their brand “persona” is an important part of their recruitment and marketing goals, according to a new report, “Making the Workplace a Brand-Defining Space,” from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and human resources firm Executive Networks. However, only 62 percent of those it surveyed report having a formal brand platform that defines shared values, ethics, and collective buy-in to a singular value proposition.
The report examines companies’ ability to engage their organization to deliver a unified, authentic and consistent customer experience that supports their brand’s message. It looked at social media strategies and techniques used by consumer brands to recruit and retain Millennial workers, build customer-centric cultures, recognize and reward innovation and output, and to “gamify” the workplace in order to drive productivity, performance and motivation.
An online survey of more than 230 senior marketing and HR leaders across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, sponsored by social branding platform CultureSphere, found that that while just 37 percent of participants say they have a well-defined corporate culture that is universally embraced by the organization, more than half consider their brand personality to be fully embodied or very well reflected in their people and workplace.
While traditional internal communications practices were common, the study found limited adoption of digital technologies, including private social media networks, instant messaging systems, online learning and certification, mobile social branding platforms, and internal TV or video streaming networks. It also found that most enterprises lagged in the adoption and use of digital channels for real-time engagement with employees and partners. Most are not taking full advantage of social media platforms, mobile devices and instant messaging technologies to crowdsource and share employee-inspired content.
“Organizations have long struggled to instill shared values, behaviors and ethics that embody and validate brand platforms, personalities and promises,” says Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. “A tighter linkage between the CMO and the CHRO should be strongly centered on organizational branding and creating cultures that radiate and reinforce core brand attributes and aspirations.”
An executive summary and the full report are available for download here.