Does Your Culture Support Your Brand?

About three years ago, I was introduced to InStride through a brilliant suggestion from one of my employees. She had a vision of increasing the talent pipeline by enhancing community engagement. As we laid the groundwork for this vision, we intentionally structured the program to reflect the company's community focus. It was important to us to ensure we built something that supported this aspect of our brand.

Attending InStride's annual impact summit last week reminded me of the crucial role culture plays in shaping brands. One such reminder came from Adria King, who delivered an inspiring speech about how Chick-fil-A's employee experience shapes the company's community focus. She illustrated the delicate balance of honoring a company's history, understanding its present, and envisioning its future, all while staying true to the brand. King emphasized that the way leaders treat their employees profoundly influences how those employees treat customers. Chick-fil-A even has an internal tagline that encapsulates this idea perfectly: “Cared for people, care for people.” She went on to illustrate how leadership lives out this motto in profound ways that influence how their employees show up for customers.

This concept got me reflecting on the essence of a company’s brand. As leaders, we hold the keys to shaping our organization's brand. Our interactions with employees influence the culture, which affects operations, ultimately defining the brand.

In business, we often prioritize the external aspects of the brand—advertisements, logos, colors, and taglines—to communicate our identity to the world. However, the true essence of the brand is cultivated from the inside out. When we promote our company as flexible but implement rigid policies, we diminish our brand. When we project a community-focused image but fall short of caring for our internal community (our employees), we send mixed messages that affect how employees interact with customers.

To truly understand and shape your company’s brand, start by examining your culture. Look closely at how work is actually done, observe the leadership, and evaluate which policies, procedures, and benefits do not align with your brand. Engage in conversations with your employees and listen to their expressed needs. In these ways, you will be able to identify ways to adjust operations to better reflect the image you wish to project.

And as for that team member who proposed the idea of expanding the talent pipeline to create a significant community impact? In one market alone, this initiative has enabled nearly 200 employees to access life-changing education while also staffing a key revenue-generating department. This is culture shaping the brand at its finest!

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Ellen is an executive thought leader, business strategist and coach who is optimistic, energetic, and committed to serving and connecting others. She believes human resources is the business of people and the core of the company. The most successful organizations are those that align their talent strategies with their business strategies to ensure an organization’s people and culture are championed. HR’s primary function is to advocate for the total wellbeing of the company, the employee and the consumer - and not always in that order!

As a passion project, she runs a theatre company that performs live theatre in site-specific spaces with a mission to reimagine live theatre with innovative artistic experiences that bring our community together.?