CONTRIBUTIONS OF INTERNAL BRANDING PRACTICES TO CORPORATE BRAND SUCCESS

IN

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the work, which is being presented in this project, entitled Contributions of Internal Branding Practices to the corporate success in Mafoi Randstad is an authentic record of my own work carried out by me under the supervision and guidance of This project was undertaken as a part of the Research Project as per the curriculum of I have not submitted the matter embodied here in this project for the award of any other degree/diploma.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to my respected invaluable support. The successful progression of this project also gives me the opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate my friends and library staff who provided me much needed stimulating suggestions and encouragement in order to steer this project towards completion. Last but not least I would like to acknowledge my respondents for the constant support and help in the successful completion of my project. of my institute, for his continued guidance and

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter No.

Subject
Declaration by the candidate Certificate of Guidance Acknowledgement Executive Summary Objective of the Research Undertaken Literature review

Page
(i) (ii) (iii) 1 3 4 9 10 37 43 43 46 48 55 57 58 59

Chapter 1

About the Research topic Introduction to the Topic Case study

Chapter 2

Report of Research Objective of Research Research Methodology

Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Results and Analysis Conclusion and Suggestions Findings References Annexure

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background
Internal branding provides the foundation through which HR professionals and workforce can contribute to the organizations success. In a rapidly changing business environment, organizations are recognizing the value of a workforce that is not only highly skilled & technically adept, but more importantly a workforce that can learn quickly, adapt to change, communicate effectively, and foster interpersonal relationships. Internal Branding is the set of strategic processes that align and empower employees to deliver the appropriate customer experience in a consistent fashion.

Objective
The main objective of this study is to investigate how internal branding practices can contribute to successful corporate brand building.

Summary of findings
Internal branding is a multi-disciplinary practice requiring cross-functional teams for both programme design and institutionalisation. It is a key factor in business and brand success, being the bridge between business strategy and implementation. A substantial component of the bridge is the employee. It is necessary to understand what is important to employees i.e. the drivers of employees engagement - pride/confidence, reward/recognition, and consistency - as well as methodologies for developing and sustaining internal branding initiatives. The root from which all brand initiatives spring, is the set of values associated with the brand. Best practice companies devote a lot of energy developing and promulgating their brand values. Implementing and sustaining internal brand initiatives requires the application of a wide variety of techniques. A key to implementation is encouraging appropriate employee behaviours therefore Human Resources plays a strong role in ensuring effective implementation.

In the future, internal branding will become both increasingly important and more all encompassing.

Implications
The successful implementation of the Internal Branding Best Practices Study can build the bridge between strategy and execution. Significant improvements to customer experience and loyalty ratings can be achieved once this connection is made, assuming that an organizations brand promise is well researched and meets current customer needs.

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

Primary objective
The purpose of this study is to investigate how internal branding practices can contribute to corporate success.

Secondary objective
To know whether the employees have imbibed the vision and core values of the organization. To drive the desired behaviour of the employees to deliver on brand promise. To know whether to involve HR functional in internal branding. To know whether the corporate culture contribute to corporate and internal brand building.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A brand is not an icon, a slogan, or a mission statement. It is a promise a promise your company can keep. First you find out, using research, what promises your customers want companies like yours to make and keep, using the products, processes and people in your company. Then you look at your competition and decide which promise would give you the best competitive advantage. This is the promise you make and keep in every marketing activity, every action, every corporate decision, and every customer interaction. You promote it internally and externally. The promise drives budgets and stops arguments. If everyone in the company knows what the promise is, and knows that they will be rewarded or punished depending on the personal commitment to the promise, politics and personal turf issues start to disappear.

CORPORATE BRANDING
Core values The importance of focusing inwards when building corporate brands has been highlighted in recent work by Urde, which focuses on core values as the main building blocks of corporate branding (Urde, 2003). According to Urde (2003), successful corporate brands are built when there is a strong relationship between the organization, its members, and the brand. There are three different types of values which should be identified and developed and corporations should focus on internal value creating processes in brand building: Values that are related to the organization (what it is and stands for) Values that summarize the brand identity (core values) Values that are experienced by customers (added value)

Organizational identity -Organizational values

Brand identity -Core values

Identity of consumer -Added values

Source: Urde, Urde (2003) claims that organizational values and core values do not have to be the same and that organizational values can be more internally focused. In the initial stages of the branding process, organizational values should be translated into core values which guide the organizations efforts. In a second step, core values should be translated into added value for customers. Importantly, Urde (2003) states that core values are central to internal brand building as the goal for the organization is to live these values. Therefore, it is important that employees understand the core values and are in agreement about them. If this is achieved, the common values converge to give the corporate culture its character (Urde, 2003).

Vision-Culture-Image model
Hatch and Schultz (2003; 2001) share Urdes (2003) belief that brands should be built from within the company as they declare that nothing is more powerful in forming brand images than external stakeholders direct and personal encounter with the organization. The strategic importance of corporate branding therefore lies not only in its positioning of the company, but in creating internal arrangements (e.g. organizational structure, physical design and culture) that support the meaning of the corporate brand (Hatch & Schultz, 2003). Managers should analyze and build the corporate brand by using the concepts strategic vision, organizational culture and corporate image (Hatch & Schultz, 2003; Hatch & Schultz, 2001):

VISION

IMAGE

CORPORA TE BRANDIN G

CULTURE

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Successful corporate brands build their vision from redefinitions and reinventions of core values rather than revolutionary shifts from one set of values to another. Such successful brands also assure that their internal culture supports the vision and that the vision and culture are aligned with stakeholders image of the corporation. In particular, the gaps between vision, culture and image should be evaluated to better align them (Hatch & Schultz, 2001): Vision - Culture gap: how are managers and employees aligned? Culture - Image gap: how are employee attitudes and behaviors aligned with outside perceptions? Vision - Image gap: is management taking the firm in a direction that stakeholders support? A vision-culture gap may build up if senior management moves the company in a strategic direction that employees do not understand and support. A vision-image gap may develop when there is a conflict between outsiders images and wants and senior managements strategic vision. And a culture-image gap may grow if external images of the company are not supported when stakeholders are directly in contact with the organization.

Brand identity
When conducting a study within the field of corporate branding, it is important to mention that certain authors argue that identity is the central concept in corporate brand building (see e.g. Balmer & Gray, 2003; Balmer, 2001; Harris & de Chernatony, 2001; de Chernatony, 1999; Ind, 1997). However, Balmer (2001) argues that there is a fog surrounding the concept of corporate identity as there is no consensus concerning which elements identity comprises of. For example, corporate identity is explained as how a company expresses and differentiates itself in relation to its internal and external stakeholders (Balmer, 2001; Hatch & Schultz, 2000) whereas organizational identity refers to how organizational members perceive and understand who they are and what they stand for as an organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2000). Due to this theoretical ambiguity, models which focus explicitly on identity have not been directly included when formulating the research questions. Balmer (2001) proposes that identity may be 11

divided into a mix comprising of: strategy, structure, communication and culture. The author has included all of these elements in the study by applying frameworks presented by Hatch and Schultz, 2003; 2001 (strategy and culture), Vallaster and de Chernatony, 2006, Burmann and Zeplin, 2005 (structure, culture, communication) and Bergstrom et al, 2002 (culture and communication). Therefore, although not directly referring to identity, the author implicitly acknowledges this concept.

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CHAPTER 1 ABOUT THE RESEARCH TOPIC

ABOUT THE RESEARCH TOPIC

WHAT IS INTERNAL BRANDING? THE DEFINITION
Internal branding is the set of strategic processes that align and empower employees to deliver the appropriate customer experience in a consistent fashion. These processes include, but are not limited to, internal communications, training support, leadership practices, reward & recognition programs, recruitment practices and sustainability factors. 13

While many companies do not use the words internal branding, they describe the activities that build the bridge between strategy and execution. They used expressions such as: Living the corporate values. Leveraging the corporate brand strategy to reinforce brand requirements internally and reach out to potential recruits externally. Activities, processes and communication involved in empowering associates. Create and demonstrate consistent brand experience at all touch points. According to Bergstrom et al (2002) the core elements of internal branding are effective brand communication to all employees, convincing employees of the brands value and relevance and linking every job in the organization to delivery of the brand essence. Bergstrom et al (2002) claim that these core elements should be implemented through an approach labelled the 5 Cs (below). Commitment, culture and communication are included in this study.

Internal Branding: Delivering Solutions through Employees

The aim of marketing has long been to carry the brand message to the public. This is not done for altruistic reasons but to simply entice them to buy the product or service that you sell. But did you know that your brand is carried by your people as much as by your marketing? A few years ago, the management mantra ""If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers" appeared out of the customer service function leading to new development in internal branding. Interestingly, the marketing function did not 14

follow-suit straight away and has only recently started to engineer internal marketing strategies to ensure that employees are well versed in the brand attributes and values.

Internal Branding: What is it?

Internal branding, internal marketing, internal communicationscall it what you will. In the end, it's all about making sure your employees are brand advocates. Brand advocacy goes beyond being courteous to the first customer in the morning. It's about being fanatic about the brand, otherwise, it's just a job. And that's where the problem lies, for many of your employees, it's just a job. One they could easily give-up for another offering them a 5% salary increase. Internal branding is not about building loyalty even though it's one of the side benefits. It's not about managing to retain your best employees, it's about developing a 15

marketing story so compelling that people want to work for you and those who do, carry themselves with pride and honor. Now, your marketing story can never be a lie. Building your business on a promise you can't deliver is the surest way to fail. It has to be real and believable by both your customers and employees. And the latter can be more difficult than the former. Most marketing stories are written for customers often making the company's employees smile and joke about the story.' Is yours written in a way that your employees believe? And would they tell you if they did not? So your brand is a story. A story you tell both your internal and external public.

CULTURE FIT
BRAND-CENTERED HR ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYEE KNOW- HOW

BRAND COMMUNICATION

BRAND
COMMIT MENT

BRAND
CITIZENSHIP

BEHAVIOR

BRAND STRENGT H

BRAND LEADERSHIP

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STRUCTURE FIT

DISPOSABLE RESOURCES

WHY IS INTERNAL BRANDING IMPORTANT?

The more we have studied internal branding the more convinced we have become of the crucial role internal branding plays in the successful implementation of business strategy. A companys most powerful means of delivering a defined brand experience is through the intermediation of its employees and by effectively delivering on the brand promise. Only in this way can business strategy successfully be executed, enabling business plans to be achieved. Or put more succinctly - ignore internal branding and you are likely to imperil your business. Given that brand has moved towards being a customer experience concept, the ability of employees to deliver that experience has become increasingly salient. The importance of the role of employees in service and service-related industries is immutable. It is initially counter intuitive that, at a time when technology and virtual communication would appear to be creating greater impediments to direct human contact between business and customer, that when those contacts do occur, they are of increasing importance to both sides. This is a notable point in our findings. This is not restricted to the realm of business-to-customer; it is just as relevant in the realm of business-tobusiness. One of the primary reasons given by a steel company for its ability to continue to make money while the majority of its competitors went bankrupt is because its employees from the shop floor up to senior management clearly understood and were able to deliver on the brand promise.

Furthermore, it is not just management that recognizes the importance of internal branding. In 2006s quantitative survey, over 70% of marketers not involved in internal 17

branding said Yes to the question Is internal branding important to you as an employee?, with a remaining 25% saying Sometimes. The successful implementation of internal branding can build a bridge between strategy and execution. The most important component of that bridge is employees; hence the importance of the human resources perspective.

If employees are important to internal branding, what is important to employees in this context? From the discussion with human resource professionals it became apparent that three elements are fundamental to the success of an employee internal branding strategy and implementation. These are: (a) Pride/confidence - Engendering and sustaining pride/ confidence in the company. (b) Reward/recognition - Having appropriate employee reward and recognition systems connected to the brand promise. (c) Consistency - Consistency in practice of supporting human resources programs and processes over time. These three can be grouped together into the loosely defined concept of employee engagement (often measured by myriad attributes in employee satisfaction surveys). All the best practice companies in our research had a methodology for estimating employee engagement and considered it a critical component of continued successful business implementation.

How are pride /confidence in the company engendered? The Importance of Values The centrepiece of brand from which everything else stems is the set of values with which it is associated. Without exception, all of the companies that participated in this research emphasized the paramount importance of the role that values played in their internal brand. 18

In order to illustrate the nature of these values, a list of values taken from half a dozen of respondents is provided below. (The number in parentheses represents the number of respondents who referred to that particular value.) Client passion Creativity Accountability (x 2) Enthusiasm (x 2) Excellence (x 2) Caring Team work (x 3) Service (x 3) Quality Innovation Integrity (x 5) Spirit Insight Respect (x 2) Commitment Responsibility Diversity It is immediately apparent that the subject of brand values is not as straightforward as might initially be thought. In particular some of these values can only be comfortably applied to internal branding; team work, or diversity while others have a greater application to the external brand promise, i.e., service or responsibility as examples. There was a mixed response to this dichotomy amongst the companies being interviewed. Some explicitly acknowledged it, and had two separate lists of values; one for application internally and one associated with the public corporate brand. Others deliberately chose values that had both internal and external application so that they could have just one list and yet others tended to fudge the issue by including both types in one list and relying 19

on appropriate interpretation. Most companies lists of values were short; almost all had fewer than six encapsulating words. It is clear that it is not just the words themselves that are important but also the meaning and nuances ascribed to them in the context of the company. For example responsible in one context means we obey the law and in another means we will ensure our customer uses our products in a careful manner. In a third it means we must make a sound profit for our stockholders. Furthermore, for the international companies in our research, there were translations that were adapted to fit the local environments. The manner in which the values are developed is important. Amongst the respondents there was a strong degree of agreement as to how values should be developed. All subscribed to the view that the process was extensive, expensive and time consuming. Overall, some four or five stages to the process can be identified and those involved in the core development team include not only the very senior management but also good cross-functional representation. Most of our respondents used the services of an outside consultant as either a facilitator or an expert in the process.

How are the values developed? The first stage (the quest for meaning): Generally involves a large amount of analysis and research. Competitive analysis, external research or best practices, re-visiting internal research, mapping employees experiences, focus groups with employees and on occasion with clients, non-clients and suppliers too. In many cases local teams represented different geographic functions and specialties. The questions being asked in all these inquiries are deceptively simple: Who are we? What do we do? How do we operate? What do we want to be when we are successful? 20

 How are we different from our competition? Clarity of response to these questions is crucial and difficult to achieve. The second stage (placement relative to the ideal): Involves the development of key drivers and metrics and the identification of gaps between best practices and internal practices. Often this stage is also interactive with different attributes and interpretations being taken back to constituent groups for applicability and accuracy testing. The third stage (relationship to the brand and corporation): Develops and aligns the values into themes, putting them through the corporate brand filter. The thorny question of should they be the same, the same but a little different, or different from the values associated with the corporate brand is tackled here. The fourth stage (prioritization & communication): The final polishing and the development of concrete behaviour to be associated with the values, the on-going communication messaging and channels, the implementation of measurement process, the rollout plan. The fifth stage (going forward): The development of maintenance programs and ways to keep the values fresh and relevant . Motivation in general Although the values alone do not make the internal brand, all aspects of employees engagement needs to be addressed, including work environment and climate; growth and learning; relationship to immediate supervisor; the senior leadership, recognition and compensation, etc. These are not addressed here being broader human resources topics, except to the extent that they directly influence internal branding. Senior leadership There was unanimity amongst all respondents that without the direct and intimate involvement of the President/CEO in the development of the internal brand the initiative 21

would be unlikely meet with much success. Simultaneously, the requirement for cross functional involvement needs to be recognized. Budget Most internal branding initiatives, both in terms of development or maintenance, came from some other budget; general human resources, marketing or public relations. Thus resources were often carved from other initiatives. All respondents said a nice to have would be a dedicated and secure internal branding budget. Advertising Some of the respondents use their own external advertising as a means for engendering pride and confidence in the company, i.e., external advertising is deliberately created to appeal to the work force within the company, so that the employee can identify with the values being espoused. How to sustain pride and confidence Even companies where internal branding has been a way of life for over thirty years still faced this challenge. From this most recent set of interviews it would appear that many of the initiatives put in place to maintain the vibrancy of the internal brand have been initiated from human resources. Employee intake Prior to the commencement of employment, some human resource departments have instigated an interview process whereby prospective employees are measured against their ability to align themselves with the brand values. Specific skills and attitudes are tested as part of the recruitment process in order to improve the chances that future employees will be able to deliver on the brand promise and client experience determined by the business strategy. One company goes as far as recruiting most employees as part time casual initially in order to enable human resources to evaluate their suitability for the corporate culture before they become full-time.

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Orientation The prevalence of having new employees go through orientation programs is increasing and this is often due to a desire to introduce them directly to internal brand values and behavioural expectations. Furthermore, these orientation programs are becoming more formal and in-depth rather than the normal floating between departments. One of our respondents has a full two day off-site program for all employees included in their orientation program. Another has a full one-year orientation program for all employees from the shop floor up and yet another has a series of web-based training modules specifically on brand values that have to be completed by all new entrants. Training Apart from training programs specifically designed around imparting internal brand values and desired behaviours, the companies we interviewed included an element of brand application in all their training courses even if the course is meant as a pure product training course.

Structural Alignment Several of our respondents re-distributed the allocation of resources within the company to make them more aligned to the declared brand values. For example, one respondent who had a strong customer service value cut a large number of head-office and administrative positions and reallocated them to the front line and store front positions. Another two companies re-structured their compensation and career path tracks to encourage promotions from the existing employee pool. The purpose of these shifts was to increase the sustainability of the internal brand values and behaviours and inculcate them more intensely into the corporate culture. Appreciation of the power and benefit of consistency over time is manifest to them.

Implementation: requires identifying, recognizing and rewarding the desired brand behaviours
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Behaviour identification All the respondents had some form of description of the desired behaviours necessary to deliver the brand that were in direct alignment with the brand values. However, these varied considerably in descriptive style, detail and length. For example one list included the following Hand raiser not finger pointer, Radiator not drain, We not me. Whereas others had the more formal Everyone must be considered an individual, We must constantly strive to reduce our costs and We act in an efficient and pragmatic way. All agreed that the behaviours had to be absolutely clear and preferably simple. One company that had a high immigrant intake in the workforce even used pictures by way of explanation. Some had their behaviours limited to customer treatment protocols designed to deliver a consistent quality customer experience, while others had more general descriptions of behaviours which could be applied to relationships both internally and externally. There was uniform agreement that one of the most effective ways of communicating the desired behaviours was through stories, whether they were case studies displayed in videos or print or communicating the circumstances around a particular award. Stories provided tangible evidence and context for behaviours that could be easily illustrated and remembered. Also mentioned was the need for a multitude of communication tactics in order to consider the internal constituents ages and ethnic backgrounds. Recognizing and celebrating the right behaviours Most of our respondents have a formal system of recognising behaviours that demonstrate the brand values. These take the form of an internal nomination process where usually the brand value being demonstrated has to be identified. This is often a tiered process whereby an initial small award is given and recognised in the local group of employees that is then entered into a quarterly bigger award, which in turn is eligible to be entered into the annual award. The top award, usually given a name like The Chairmans Club, is awarded to those employees who consistently or significantly

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demonstrated behaviours aligned with the brand. Again, stories play a pivotal role here and the inspirational draw is a powerful motivator. Leading edge organizations are now not only focusing on the end results of the behaviour, i.e., the what, but also the how; is the thinking and process involved in achieving the result aligned with the values too? For example, good customer service at the expense of mistreating other employees is not acceptable.

Rewarding the right behaviours Almost all of the respondents have the brand values and associated behaviours embedded in their employee performance evaluation systems. In the more sophisticated organizations this was in the form of part of a balanced score card approach. In one organisation all employees performance review criteria are linked to the achievement of the internal brand values and thus all their salaries and raises are tied to their commitment and recognition of the internal brand. Another organisation expressed a more cautious view that linking too much compensation to internal brand behaviours exposed employees to the possibility of being punished for non-compliance which might be counter-productive. Nothing works better than example Everyone agreed that it is vital for senior management to walk the talk and demonstrate the behaviours associated with the brand values. However, as our 2006 survey found, only 22% strongly agree with the statement management walks the talk with respect to brand values. There is room for improvement! MEASUREMENT Two aspects of measurement were considered: the resources devoted to internal branding and the return on those resources; and, the measures of how effective internal brand initiatives are in changing behaviour and the customer impact. Measuring the resources devoted to internal branding 25

Not one of the respondents directly measured the dollar value of resources devoted to internal branding. As noted earlier, most would prefer a dedicated budget rather than having to carve off slices of other budgets, as is the present practice. All agreed that the process of developing internal brand values is expensive and at the same time there is a strong gut-feeling that the payback in business terms is considerable. However, isolating the returns directly attributable to internal branding is considered by most organizations as a non-starter. Measurement of the effects of internal branding initiatives The whole question of the best method for evaluating employee engagement is a hot topic and too big a subject to be tackled here. All participants use some form of employee survey to measure the effects of their internal branding initiatives. Some ask very explicitly linked questions such as Are you aware of the values?, Did you understand the values?, Can you implement the values into your daily activity?, How? Some also use a survey to evaluate senior managements compliance: Do managers follow the corporate values? They take corrective actions for those who score poorly. Some companies have undertaken research to establish the qualities and values that exist in comparable high performing organisations and then track these in their own employee opinion survey. Most use some attribute of desirability as an employer either in external rankings of best employers, or in the form of monitoring their position in internal questionnaires as a key metric. One organization monitors how often their values are directly associated with their name in external media, i.e., every time the company name appears in the media, the surrounding text is searched to see if any of their brand values are also mentioned or linked.

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Why does One Need to Focus on Internal Branding?

Seen in this light, it's easy to understand why you should develop your internal branding strategy. The benefits are tremendous: better informed employees potentially becoming happier with their jobs, their lives, etc. resulting in happier customers coming back for more. As most companies are not built on altruistic grounds, no business is truly a democracy, the focus on your employees is a real business strategy aimed at increasing your revenue and controlling your costs in a non-manipulative manner. How's is that for benefits? It's often easier to identify the negative than the positive (ask any executive who has gone through a SWOT analysis.) And in the case of internal branding, the result of not doing is simple: Your company could fail. The problems you face today are often due to a lack of proper communication or understanding which can be addressed by explaining your values in details (an internal branding tactic) allowing your employees to make a daily decisions with customers based on a sound principles. 27

Formal vs. Informal Internal Branding Building your brand to ensure that your employees buy-in the story is often more difficult than to create one for consumers. Why is that? It seems that the internal knowledge employees have of the company prevents them from believing what is often referred to as the marketing message' (pronounce this with a derogatory tone.) A brand message that is at odd with the real culture top management stands for is a sure way to fail. So the marketing story' starts at the top. If your top management doesn't believe in it or even live it every single day, how can you expect your employees to do so? There are two ways to go about building your brand internally. The first one is to simply match what you say to what you do. It's a simple strategy but often difficult to implement as it requires a real connection between who you are as CEO, your actions and your brand. SMEs are at an advantage as the CEOs are closer to the operations and can therefore oversee the brand story and its implementation throughout the organization (and don't be fooled, branding is the CEO's problem, not the marketing department.) It's harder for bigger corporations and this case a formal approach might be the best approach. A Five Step Recipe: 1. Define your brand/marketing story (and get your employees involved) 2. Align your brand and your culture 3. Understand the employee touch points where your brand is playing a part 4. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate and Communicate some more 5. Your brand evolves, don't let it go stiff It's a simple enough process but matching your brand to your culture, and vice-versa is often easier said than done and you might be wise to ask for external help. Once done, it's

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all about implementing it day-in, day-out without fail, discouragement or doubt. Remember, there is a direct link between what you do everyday and your brand. Point 5. is important. The traditional logic is that a brand, once defined, should remain unchanged until it's accepted by your target markets. This still stand true in many cases but you'll soon find out that peripherals attributes, such as products, will change overtime, sometimes even redefining your brand in the process. It's all in the Tactics The development of any strategy should always start with a deep definition of the target markets. In this case, the employees. Do you truly know them? What are their characteristics? Aspirations ? You need to define your internal market thoroughly just as would an external target market. Once done, you can properly identify your objective (including ROI), the most appropriate strategy, tactics, schedule and budget. The planning part is important but it's all in the tactics. In internal branding, what you do is more important that what you say. Here are a few examples of standard tactics that will help you develop your internal branding:

Brand Benefit Communications Company Celebrations Internal Branding Campaigns Intranet Communications New Employee Orientations Newletters/E-Newsletters Organizational Development Rewards & Recognition Events Team Building

Which one should you choose? It depends on three factors: time, labor and money. Your strategy and tactics will depend on which one you have most of (and who has time these days?) 29

Should HR be involved? Before proceeding further, the answer is yes. If you look at the list of tactics above you could quickly decide that this the responsibility of human resources, and many marketing manager would quickly agree. I disagree. As a marketer, if you are lucky to have a progressive HR Director, you will reap tremendous benefits by developing an internal branding strategy with him or her and work together in the implementation. Going further, internal branding is a company exercise and your employees should be involved. While the idea of creating an internal branding committee could quickly defeat the purpose, having people from different functions involved throughout the year is certainly a good idea.

Can you Measure Internal Branding? Like all branding related activities, measuring it is as difficult as measuring advertising effectiveness. Short of putting your employees to a test, conducting regular checks on their brand awareness, support, etc. is useful. Doing an internal brand audit on a yearly basis could be considered as part of your internal branding strategy anyway. Conducted yearly, the Internal Brand audit can become your measuring yardstick. Covering the different angles your brand offer, it is a helpful tool and can be as simple as a survey or as complex as you want it to be. The simpler the better though as its aims is to both reinforce the value of the branding message and identify areas of improvement.

Leadership
Who is in charge of internal branding?

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In the research, there was not one company that had expressly dedicated one individual's responsibilities to internal branding". More often than not, it was one of a laundry list of responsibilities in a marketing executive's mandate, parked alongside the responsibilities of advertising, branding, direct marketing, merchandising, etc. One of the reasons for this lack of clear responsibility is the cross functional nature of the task. This responsibility was usually delegated to the marketing department in general. The logic for it being part of the marketing department's role is that the marketing department is the most involved in the interaction between company and customers. Thus, following on from the definition, it is this functional unit that needs to join company brand with customer experience. The CMA Internal Branding Research Survey of 2005 confirms that the responsibility for internal branding resides within the purview of marketing: Development of internal branding strategies tends to be shared by the marketing group and executive team with more than one-quarter mentioning internal branding as a marketing responsibility and 72% stating that the executive team holds some responsibility. External agencies are utilized by one in five of the companies surveyed.

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AREAS WITHIN ORGANIZ ATION RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING INTERNAL BRANDING STRATEGIES
77 Marketing Executive team 41 Human Resources 28 Public relations 21 External agency 11 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Percentage Other

When asked if these were the same groups responsible for external branding strategies, almost six in ten companies (59%) suggested that the same groups build internal and external branding strategies. Even if internal branding is nominally anchored in the marketing function, it is clear that both human resources and the executive team need to be intimately involved with internal branding initiatives. Notwithstanding the fact that the leadership for internal branding might be anchored in one functional unit, it is vital to note the importance of the role of all management to "walk the talk" and the apparent lack of them actually doing so. Only 22% of respondents in the CMA survey strongly agree with the statement "management walks the talk with respect to brand values." Clearly there is a need for senior executives to demonstrate that it is they who are in charge, i.e. Leadership. The Implementation Table demonstrates that this critical component of senior management should be formalized and rewarded in best practice organizations. Overall, as a best practice, responsibility for strategic development and implementation for internal branding should be vested clearly with one senior level individual or group of individuals who have wide reach and access across functions. They also should be measured and rewarded for their success in this key area of brand management. 32

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Key Challenges What are the challenges for internal branding? There was a consensus amongst several of the companies participating in the research that the overarching challenge for internal branding is how to translate the company's brand values into physical employee behaviours. In order to achieve this objective, companies employ a plethora of implementation techniques. The breakdown of the key challenges from the CMA survey is as follows: One of the major challenges inhibiting the success of this translation is that internal branding touches marketing, human resources, brand management, operations, front line management and strategy. Several of the best practice companies have come close to overcoming these functional silos in their internal branding efforts. Nevertheless, for most companies, the inability to cross the boundaries between divisions fluidly in internal branding efforts presents a major challenge. The lack of alignment between employees values and company values emerged as a challenge from the CMA survey: "The low proportion (7%) of respondents who think their brand values provide guidance as to how to treat other employees suggests that brand values do not address human interrelationships in a meaningful way."

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KEY CHALLENGES OF INTERNAL BRANDING

Communication Consistency Getting Buy-In Getting Executive Commitment Time Availability Culture Organizational Structure Articulating Relevance of Internal Branding Prioritizing Internal Branding Budget Measuring Effectiveness Defining Brand Values Other Did not answer 0 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 1 1 3 9 8

Interestingly, several companies that have found "keeping the momentum going" to be a real challenge were identified in the qualitative research. Since involving themselves in a variety of communication and employee involvement initiatives, their challenge is "what next?" Finally, and not surprisingly, measurement is a challenge.

15 12 32 10 15 20 25 30 35

Implementation Internal Branding Techniques and Tools 34

There is a range of internal branding techniques and tools in alignment with the range of requirements of leading organizations. The newness of this field of brand management has engendered a wide variety of practices. The following presents an inventory of current practices, serving as a summary of implementation methods captured through the most recent CMA qualitative study of Internal Branding Practices.

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Additional observations Several organizations did not identify specific internal branding practices as such, stating that it is part of human resources or that branding is part of everything they do. In particular, not-for-profits stated that the passion of their cause fuelled employee connection to organization and brand values. Internal branding appears to be subject to the requirement of continual evolution; the key challenge is keeping it fresh and relevant to both the employee and customer. Measurement What is measured? Measurement emerged as one of the challenges for internal branding efforts as is clearly demonstrated by the CMA survey: Only 28% of those involved in internal branding actually measure the effectiveness of their efforts. Without spending information and some sort of effectiveness measure, it is difficult to even approximate a ROI, something that is often needed to justify ongoing internal branding programs.

DO Y MEAS E THE EF EC ENES OFINTER OU UR F TIV S NAL BR ANDING INITIATIV ES

Yes

28 58

No

Not sure

13

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

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Measurement of the effects of internal branding is still in its infancy. In the research, there was a consensus that an external measurement of a brands impact on consumers was the easiest method of having some form of measurement. This starts from the pure business metrics of retention, un-aided awareness and such, up to client satisfaction. Identified in CMA's 2004 study on brand measurement, the best practice method is to have comprehensive metrics around "customer experience." None of the research participants had reached this plateau with confidence. There was also consensus that appropriate internal measures were more difficult and at the same time more desirable than external measures. How do you measure the effectiveness of front line and internal staff living the brand? At present, employee surveys are the main tool used. A corollary question is how do you recognize and reward such behaviours? Again, surveys and 360 feedback programmes are the main tools used. None of the research participants were satisfied that they had the measurement of internal branding initiatives at a satisfactory level. Tools like balanced scorecard and peer ratings/reward programmes are steps in the right direction. Internal Branding Measurements From the findings, the following table summarises present practices in measuring the effectiveness of internal branding initiatives:

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39

How brand promise is delivered - internal branding the reality

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CASE STUDY
CONTRIBUTIONS OF INTERNAL BRANDING PRACTICES TO CORPORATE SUCCESS IN MAFOI
COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Finding skilled resources and retaining them is a challenge that many companies face. Ma Foi Randstad has over two decades of experience in Human Resource Management and Consulting helps find the right candidates for different companies, partner with them in maximizing potential of their human capital and optimizing HR processes. Over the years, it has built up strong partnerships with companies in India and abroad; helped build successful companies by identifying the best candidates for them, many of whom have gone on to create their own success stories. With human capital being the most valuable asset for your company today, Ma Foi Randstad make sure that companies get the best in the business. Its wide suite of services lets companies leverage their human capital and optimize the performance of their employees. Its services have developed based on international best practices and learning from thousands of assignments executed by it over the years, and are adapted to suit its clients businesses. Be it the right talent for different organization, or a cost-effective consulting solution, or a training program, or solutions for enhancing HR processes, its services are customized. PRESENCE IN INDIA Ma Foi Randstad is a part of Randstad, the worlds second largest HR services company. Started in 1992, it has grown into a full spectrum HR services provider for clients worldwide. It has helped shape the careers of more than 2,80,000 individuals. It has provided a variety of HR services to thousands of organizations that include more than 250 organizations in Fortune-500 list. 41

Ma Foi Randstad, offers one of the finest HR services portfolios ranging from Executive Search, Temporary Staffing, Recruitment, Specialists-on-Contract, Consulting, Outsourcing, Training and HR Automation. Its vast network of offices across the country helps it to serve its customers better. It continues to focus on developing customized and innovative HR services, leveraging on its unique strengths of geographical presence, providing the full spectrum of HR services and the experience of working with the largest number of customers, candidates and flexi-employees.

PRESENCE ACROSS THE GLOBE Randstad was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Diemen, the Netherlands. Randstad Holding NV is listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam, where options for stocks in Randstad are also traded. Randstad specializes in solutions in the field of flexible work and human resources services. Services offered include: regular temporary staffing and permanent placement to in-house, professionals, search & selection, and HR Solutions. The acquisition of Vedior, by the Randstad Group in 2008 has made us the second-largest HR services provider in the world. It is ranked among the top-three HR services providers in Argentina, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. It is also becoming a force to reckon within Australia and the United States of America. At the end of the year 2009, Randstad had approximately 25,500 employees working from over 4,100 branches and in-house locations in 44 countries across the world. Randstad generated revenue of 12.4 billion in 2009.

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THE INDUSTRIES IT CATERS TO: Banking, Financial Services & Insurance Consumer, Retail & Services Energy & Infrastructure Information & Communication Technology IT Enabled Services Manufacturing Pharmaceutical, Healthcare & Life Sciences Media, Entertainment & Hospitality BELIEVES IN BEST HIRING As a company setting up a base in India, anyone would want only the best people working in the organization. Ma Foi Randstad looks at things in the same way and hence helps to confront challenges in understanding the availability of talent pool, attracting the right talent, understanding compensation levels and creating a platform for growth. It helps in: Identifying the talent pool where availability is high. Doing a feasibility check on the location for establishing an office. Compensation survey, recommending the right salary range. Framing a HR policy manual. Staffing the complete organization across levels and functions on a turnkey model. Every potential candidate undergoes an in-depth interview process in order to determine their personality, motivation and long term goals. Skills, experience and references are thoroughly checked. While looking for the ideal candidates it typically cast the net wide open by an advertisement to assist candidate search process and build your employer brand.

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Secondly, it has designed an assessment centre comprising of various selection tools. This helps to zero down on the ideal candidate. For critical hires in such scenario, it tends to expand scope of the matching process it looks at matching amongst the potential boss, potential employee and overall culture of the organization. It is called Job Fit, Boss Fit and Company Fit. This helps in putting the best candidates forward and raises process efficiencies.

INTERNAL BRANDING AT MAFOI

Consistent Messaging. Measuring Stakeholder Connect Critical for Creating Sustainable Brand Experience. More Relevant in Turbulent Times Develop a deep emotional connect between the brand and the employees Business Philosophy, Value System & CRM Policy to contribute to it. Brand Personality & Values Aligned with Corporate Vision & Business Philosophy Inculcate BRAND VALUES amongst all INTERNAL STAKE HOLDERS

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Objectives & Reasons for conducting internal branding at MAFOI:

Employees were unable to understand and identify the Corporate Vision, they were not satisfied with the companys remuneration. Communication channel was complex. This had a major impact on the productivity of the company, it was not growing at the pace it was supposed to be.

Here are some of the problems that organization encountered when trying to implement new brand management programs: Senior management was not focused on the brand Senior management had a short attention span how do we garner their support and resources over time? Some senior leaders did not seem to be bought into the brand management concept at all The organization is highly fragmented and resistant to change The organization is internally focused How to shift people's focus from their functional "silos" to cross-functional ownership of the brand? The organization's culture did not reinforce the brand The organization's operations and systems did not support the brand The brand message was only one of many among all the corporate messages

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How to get from brand promise to brand

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REPORT OF THE RESEARCH

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
Primary objective The purpose of this study is to investigate how internal branding practices can contribute to corporate success. Secondary objective To know whether the employees imbibed the vision and core values of the organization. To drive the desired behaviour of the employees to deliver on brand promise. To know whether to involve HR functional in internal branding. To know whether the corporate culture contribute to corporate and internal brand building.

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SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the research survey is to know the strengths and the areas needing improvements (possible blind spots) at various executive levels. The study then goes on to evaluate and analyze the findings so as to present a clear picture of different factors of internal branding contributing to the productivity of the company.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Significance to the hr professionals/executives: This is a limited study which takes into consideration the responses of 20 people. This data can be explorated to take in the trends in different organization. The significance to the HR Professionals lies in studying these trends that emerge from the study.

Significance for the researcher: To facilitate and provide all the useful information of the study and also provide an indepth knowledge about the different factors contributing to the corporate and internal brand building.

Implications for practitioners : As an interesting implication, Corporate Brand Managers may have to accept that the notion of one corporate culture may be difficult to achieve in large corporations or corporations with spread-out workforces. Instead, it is likely that recognizing various subcultures within the organization and utilizing their respective strengths in brand building (although within a main cultural framework) would increase the brands strength 48

internally, and thus also increase its external strength. Interestingly, the study seems to reflect that best-practice corporate brand building is carried out more and more on employees terms. Practitioners may therefore further strengthen their corporate brands if employees are viewed both as part of the corporate brand and as internal audiences which should be informed of the brands value and how this value can be affected. This may be specifically important in the development of internal communication methods as well as in the acknowledgment and involvement of employees in brand building. Corporate brand building should be carried out by appointing leaders throughout the company who deliver brand related messages directly to employees, acknowledge their contributions to the organization and brand and directly involve them in everyday brand building activities. Concerning the contributions of HR-practices to corporate branding, practitioners may benefit from involving the HR-function not only in more traditional areas such as recruitment and phasing in of new employees, but also in more explicit brand building activities such as internalization of core values among current employees and in internal brand auditing. In this way, internal branding practices are likely to be rendered more effective and the corporate brand strengthened.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is considered as the nerve of the project. Without a proper wellorganized research plan, it is impossible to complete the project and reach to any conclusion. The project was based on the survey plan. The main objective of survey was to collect appropriate data, which work as a base for drawing conclusion and getting result. Therefore, research methodology is the way to systematically solve the research problem. Research methodology not only talks of the methods but also logic behind the methods used in the context of a research study and it explains why a particular method has been used in the preference of the other methods.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Exploratory & descriptive experimental research

The research is primarily both exploratory as well as descriptive in nature. The sources of information are both primary & secondary. A survey was carried out among different employees working at all the levels working in the organization in order to assess the importance of various factors contributing to the corporate and internal brand building.

SAMPLING METHODOLOGY

Sampling Technique:

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Initially, a rough draft was prepared keeping in mind the objective of the research. A pilot study was done in order to know the accuracy of the Questionnaire. The final Questionnaire was arrived only after certain important changes were done. Thus the sampling came out to be judgmental and convenient.

Sampling Unit: The respondents who were asked to fill out questionnaires are the sampling units. These comprise of employees working at different levels in the organization.

Sample size: The sample size was restricted to 20.

Sampling Area : The region of research is organization in New Delhi.

LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

1. The research is confined to only Delhi and does not necessarily shows a pattern applicable to all of Country. 2. Some respondents were reluctant to divulge personal information which can affect the validity of all responses. 3. The sample size was restricted to 20 only. This was because of paucity of time. 4. In a rapidly changing industry, analysis on one day or in one segment can change very quickly. The environmental changes are vital to be considered in order to assimilate the findings. 51

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

RESEARCH QUESTIONS It is believed that a study of these concepts offer the greatest potential to develop current knowledge of the ways in which internal branding practices can contribute to corporate brand success. Core values as well as vision have been argued as building blocks which lay the foundation of corporate branding. Furthermore, corporate culture has been highlighted as an essential building block in corporate and internal branding which guides employee behaviour. Internal communication is also proposed as a vital element in internal branding, which influences brand commitment and strengthens the brand internally. HR involvement in brand building has been argued to influence brand commitment as well as increase the incorporation of the brand into work activities and increase employee brand attitude. In relation to these researchers works it is of value to identify how the four presented branding concepts as well as HR-practices, when implemented as internal branding practices, can contribute to corporate brand success:

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The following five research questions have thus guided the study (RQ1-5): 1. How can core values contribute to corporate and internal branding? 2. How can vision contribute to corporate and internal branding? 3. How can corporate culture contribute to corporate and internal branding? 4. How can different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding? 5. How can HR-practices contribute to corporate and internal branding? METHOD The study was initiated by reviewing current literature within corporate and internal branding in order to develop appropriate research questions. The research questions guided the selection of cases and directed the design of interview questions used in data collection consisting of interviews. They also influenced the collection of documents and web based information. Cases were studied individually in order to write individual case reports. This facilitated data analysis and assured greater validity and reliability. Importantly, data analysis was guided by the research questions. 53

DATA ANALYSIS 1) Do core values contribute to the corporate and internal brand building? Yes 20% No 80%

20%

80%

ANALYSIS According to the above pie chart 80% out of the total interviewed people are of the belief that they have imbibed the core values of the organization and understand its significance in corporate and internal brand building. 2) According to you what kind of function the internal brand building is? 54

Simple 5%

Little bit complex 30%

Complex 65%

5% 30% 65%

ANALYSIS In the above pie chart only 5% out of the total interviewed people find that internal brand building is a simple process, the another 30% respondents find that it is a little bit complex process where as 65% of the respondents find to a great extent that internal brand building is a very complex procedure.

3) Is it true to say that corporate culture contribute to internal brand building ?

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YES 100%

NO 0%

100%

ANALYSIS As the above pie chart shows that all the respondents are of the belief that corporate culture contributes to corporate and internal brand building. Corporate culture is seeded by the CEOs of the company. 4) Does different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding?

56

Yes 50%

No 0%

Some extent 20%

Large extent 30%

30% 50% 20%

ANALYSIS In the above pie chart, 50% out of total respondents are of the belief that different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding ,0% believe that it has no connection with corporate and internal branding, 20% of the respondents believe that to some extent different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding whereas 30% of the respondents believe that to large extent the different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding. 5) Do the HR-practices contribute to the corporate and internal brand building? Yes 20% No 20% Some extent 40% 57 Large extent 20%

20%

20% 20%

40%

ANALYSIS According to the above pie chart, 20% out of total respondents are of the belief that the HR-practices contribute to the corporate and internal brand building , 20% of the respondents believe that the HR-practices do not contribute to the corporate and internal brand building , 40% of the respondents believe that to some extent the HR-practices contribute to the corporate and internal brand building where as 20% of the respondents believe that to large extent the HR-practices contribute to the corporate and internal brand building.

CONCLUSION
Internal branding is truly a cross-functional practice. Having now spoken to Human Resource professionals we can confirm that internal branding is not just the purview of marketing departments. However, it is not unexpected that there is some specialisation. 58

The marketing executives we spoke to tend to be more involved in the development of brand strategy particularly as it relates to the business. For example, they are more deeply immersed in questions relating to customer experience, corporate image, business development and design, and collateral materials that support brand values. Human Resource professionals tend to be more concerned with tactics and implementation. They are mostly immersed in matter of compensation, employee attributes and behaviours and recruitment. Success requires both! Core values can strengthen corporate brands if they are united with cultural values. Core values contribute to external corporate brand building by adding value to customers. Core values contribute to corporate and internal branding by acting as an organizational structure or cultural element which guides employee behaviour. Core values contribute to corporate and internal branding by internally indicating how the vision is to be achieved. An abstractly formulated vision contributes to corporate branding more as a management tool which sets the strategic direction for the company than an internal branding tool which can guide brand-related employee behaviour. Corporate culture contributes to corporate and internal branding by acting as a self-sustaining organizational structure which transmits brand-related values and behaviours to employees. Corporate culture can strengthen corporate brands if the main cultural framework allows cultural interpretations within subcultures. Corporate culture can strengthen corporate brands if subcultures co-exist in harmony. Central communication methods which apply a pull-principle contribute to corporate and internal branding by motivating employees to search for and apply brand related information in their work.

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Forums for personal interaction contribute to corporate and internal branding by enabling employees to develop and deepen their brand understanding and commitment.

Internal communication can greater contribute to corporate and internal branding if corporations evaluate how employees prefer to search for and process information and design communication channels accordingly.

HR-practices can contribute to corporate and internal branding through: Brand-related recruitment Phasing in of new employees Brand training or brand internalization among current employees Internal brand auditing

FINDINGS
Three trends are becoming stronger in the immediate future

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(i) More walk the talk As employees who have grown up with internal branding as a way of life and understand its power and importance enter senior management, so the large gap between senior managers actually walking the talk and not, will be closed. Also there is a proliferation in the number of stories surrounding senior management walking the talk, often as iconic figures, and successful companies. West Jet is a good Canadian example of this. (ii) Suffusion into all parts of the company As those involved in internal branding increasingly have success with front line employees and directly with customer experience, so they will begin to extend their expertise and methods back into the corporation and involve those employees who do not have direct customer experience but have influence nonetheless. The non-frontline employees will become touched by internal branding. (iii) Social Responsibility

A Bank of Nova Scotia study discovered that 61% of Canadians would change their job if their employer demonstrated poor corporate social responsibility practices. This is an indicator of our third trend for the future; internal branding values are going to become increasingly influential. Furthermore, they will have to include a stronger sensitivity to environmental and social responsibility concerns as well as community involvement.

REFERENCES

The handbook of brand management-Arnold, D. 61

Building brand commitment: a behavioral approach to internal brand management- burmann, c. And zeplin, s. (2005

Marketing management. 9th edition. New york: prentice hall- kotler, p. (1997).

Vision, values, and courage: leadership for quality management- snyder, n. H., dowd, j. B., jr., & houghton, d. M. (1994).

http://www.instituteforbrandleadership.org/internalbranding.pdf.

http://www.mafoirandstad.com http://www.google.com http://www.hrcite.com

ANNEXURE( QUESTIONNAIRE)
1) Do core values contribute to the corporate and internal brand building? 62

2) According to you what kind of function the internal brand building is? 3) Is it true to say that corporate culture contribute to internal brand building ? 4) Does different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding? 5) Do the HR-practices contribute to the corporate and internal brand building?

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QUESTIONNAIRE

Name Objective

Designation..

Organization.

This is sent to you as a part of my MBA project I am undertaking on the topic contribution of internal brand practices to corporate success. From the organizational point of view this questionnaire is a part of development exercise to know the strength and the areas needing improvements (possible blind spots) in terms of different factors contributing to the internal brand building.

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each factor of internal brand building contributing to the corporate success Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale Do core values contribute to the corporate and internal brand building? According to you what kind of function the internal brand building is? Is it true to say that corporate culture contribute to internal brand building ? Does different internal communication methods contribute to corporate and internal branding? Do the HR-practices contribute to the corporate and internal brand building? 5 4 3 2 1

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PROJECT SUMMARY

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Working Title Purpose of Study Objective of Study Hypothesis for Study(if any) Methodology Research Design Data Collection Approach Sampling Method Measuremet Technique Proposed Table of Contents of the : : : : :

: : : :

Project Report

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EVALUATION SHEET FOR RESEARCH STUDY PROJECT

Students Name Roll No. Evaluators Feedback

: _____________________________________________ : _____________________________________________ : _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Did the student contact you regularly for discussion? : Marks Awarded (Out of 40)

YES/NO (please tick)

: ______________________________________________

Signature of Evaluator Name : Date :

ATTENDENCE FOR FINAL PROJECT REPORT

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Name of the Student : Course : Roll No. : Name of the Supervisor :

S.No. Date Time Progress of Report (Remarks)

Signature of Student

Signature of Supervisor

67