Soderquist.org - The Soderquist Center for Leadership & Ethics

Posted by Les Gleaves
Wednesday, October 31 11:34 AM

I had the opportunity to attend an Organizational Development and Renewal Conference in New York last week sponsored by the Conference Board. It was an enlightening experience with many applications to our customers. One speaker in particular sparked my imagination as he addressed the issue of how employees relate to and support a company’s brand.

Thomas Waldron is the Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Brand for ING. ING is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is a world leader in financial products who has enjoyed a remarkable growth over the past few years.

He said he thought he had the longest and most perplexing title among HR professionals. The title, EVP of HR and Brand, represents ING’s perception that you cannot separate employee engagement from the company’s brand. Mr. Waldron made a powerful statement. He said, “A Brand Promise which cannot be delivered from the inside is hollow.”

As I reflected on his comments, I recalled another advocate for employee engagement who made a similar statement 20 years ago. In 1987, Jan Carlzon, president of Scandinavian Airlines, published Moments of Truth. In it he described his efforts to make SAS customer-driven. At the time, leaders lavished praise on the book and the author's transformation of the airline. A Moment of Truth occurs when a customer comes in contact with your company and experiences your level of quality. When the ticket agent interacts with a customer, when the teller helps a customer, when a manager talks with a employee, all are moments of truth.

Employee Engagement takes organizational commitment, focus and intentionality. Quoting Mr. Waldron again, “I assure you that there is always some other priority that pushes people to the bottom of the list” – It is odd that even though we know the moments of truth are real and our employees impact on the brand is real, we still play down the area as “soft skills.”

Employee Engagement with the brand and with delivery of that brand is essential. In all the studies I’ve seen, Customer Satisfaction is directly linked to Employee Engagement.

Let’s be committed to not let all the other priorities push the employees to the bottom our priority list….it is certainly not at the bottom of our customer’s list!

Ultimately, every company has to commit its best plans, boldest ideas and greatest strategies into the hands of its employees who speak louder and clearer about true values and true intentions than all the words a company can produce. Is the promise hollow?

Category: General

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