From uncovering values, to communicating them out to employees, this is an area where HR can add value
Denise Broady, Chief Marketing Officer/Chief Operating Officer for WorkForce Software, talks to HRD about the importance of core brand values and how HR can put them to work.
Why should HR care about core brand values?
Your employees are already some of your best brand advocates. When they love your brand, and they’re passionate about where they work, then you know they’ll be out there amplifying that message to the market. This is why defining strong, clear brand values is so important.
When I first came on board, WorkForce Software was a 16-year-old company without defined core values. Now, two years later, we have three core values that drive everything we do as a brand: put customers first, make it happen, and celebrate our success.
From uncovering your values, to communicating them out to your employees, this is an area where HR can add value and rally the team.
How do you get employees to embrace core brand values?
The challenge is moving your core values from a pamphlet or piece of paper to the point where your employees are embracing them in their day-to-day actions. To enable that shift, you have to get them involved.
At WorkForce Software, we came up with the concept as a management team, and then we asked 25 team members from various areas of the business to weigh in. This process helped us arrive at the final three. And when we launched them at a company meeting, we created an internal campaign to get everyone excited.
This included a short video with employee testimonials about what our core values mean to them, as well as a booklet with graphics that tell the story. Documenting our values in this way was about more than creating collateral; it also helped to increase buy-in across the business. To this day, it’s common for our employees to reference our core brand values when they’re speaking about projects they’ve contributed to.
Whether they’re pointing out what they did to ‘make it happen,’ or sharing how they put our customers first, they’re proud to speak about their contributions using this new brand vernacular. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
You have to live it and push adoption from grassroots efforts. For us, the 25 initial folks that were involved really became evangelists for our core brand values, combined with our leadership team setting the example from the top down. That’s really the only way a core value rollout can work.
What about distributed and remote teams? How do you get them involved?
We have regional offices on three continents, and a large part of our workforce is remote – working from home offices or dedicated co-working spaces. What we found is that the exercise of defining and communicating our core brand values served to bring these folks closer to the business.
It’s an opportunity to reinforce who we are, collectively, and what we’re doing together for our customers. As with all aspects of managing distributed and remote teams, it’s an intentional effort. Especially with a core value like ‘celebrate our success.’
You don’t want to leave people out when you’re demonstrating a work-hard-play-hard philosophy. So we’re intentional about including our entire workforce, even if that means we’re sending the remote folks a voucher for ice cream so they can participate locally in a company-wide celebration.
To learn more, listen to Denise Broady speak about Redefining Core Brand Values on the podcast Renegade Thinkers Unite.
Related stories:
Is your workforce ‘digital ready’?
Should HR professionals embrace automation?
What does the future hold for HR directors?
Why should HR care about core brand values?
Your employees are already some of your best brand advocates. When they love your brand, and they’re passionate about where they work, then you know they’ll be out there amplifying that message to the market. This is why defining strong, clear brand values is so important.
When I first came on board, WorkForce Software was a 16-year-old company without defined core values. Now, two years later, we have three core values that drive everything we do as a brand: put customers first, make it happen, and celebrate our success.
From uncovering your values, to communicating them out to your employees, this is an area where HR can add value and rally the team.
How do you get employees to embrace core brand values?
The challenge is moving your core values from a pamphlet or piece of paper to the point where your employees are embracing them in their day-to-day actions. To enable that shift, you have to get them involved.
At WorkForce Software, we came up with the concept as a management team, and then we asked 25 team members from various areas of the business to weigh in. This process helped us arrive at the final three. And when we launched them at a company meeting, we created an internal campaign to get everyone excited.
This included a short video with employee testimonials about what our core values mean to them, as well as a booklet with graphics that tell the story. Documenting our values in this way was about more than creating collateral; it also helped to increase buy-in across the business. To this day, it’s common for our employees to reference our core brand values when they’re speaking about projects they’ve contributed to.
Whether they’re pointing out what they did to ‘make it happen,’ or sharing how they put our customers first, they’re proud to speak about their contributions using this new brand vernacular. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
You have to live it and push adoption from grassroots efforts. For us, the 25 initial folks that were involved really became evangelists for our core brand values, combined with our leadership team setting the example from the top down. That’s really the only way a core value rollout can work.
What about distributed and remote teams? How do you get them involved?
We have regional offices on three continents, and a large part of our workforce is remote – working from home offices or dedicated co-working spaces. What we found is that the exercise of defining and communicating our core brand values served to bring these folks closer to the business.
It’s an opportunity to reinforce who we are, collectively, and what we’re doing together for our customers. As with all aspects of managing distributed and remote teams, it’s an intentional effort. Especially with a core value like ‘celebrate our success.’
You don’t want to leave people out when you’re demonstrating a work-hard-play-hard philosophy. So we’re intentional about including our entire workforce, even if that means we’re sending the remote folks a voucher for ice cream so they can participate locally in a company-wide celebration.
To learn more, listen to Denise Broady speak about Redefining Core Brand Values on the podcast Renegade Thinkers Unite.
Related stories:
Is your workforce ‘digital ready’?
Should HR professionals embrace automation?
What does the future hold for HR directors?
