Don’t be afraid to help your employee's when it comes to personal brand.

Just a few years ago, the concept of branding was limited mostly to businesses, and how companies promoted their image. The concept of building a strong Personal Brand has expanded to encompass individuals and your staff. Now it’s not a question of whether you have a brand, It’s what your personal brand says about you. Remember you can work as hard as you like on your business, but if your staff let you down and aren't promoting the right image then all your efforts are wasted!

For most companies, the concept of personal branding is one that has been left to employees to sort out themselves. The prevailing notion has been that it’s an individual’s responsibility to find ways to differentiate themselves from others and cultivate a particular perception. Never mind that employers consider a personal brand when making hiring decisions and may actively encourage candidates to demonstrate their personal brand when applying for a job to set them apart from others. Most companies still want to focus solely on the company brand.

The tide is now shifting and many companies are beginning to see the value in supporting employee efforts at personal branding. Strong personal brands help grow the business. Supporting personal development and growth among your employees can lead to a happier, more productive workforce.

Helping your employees establish and strengthen their own personal brand should be an extension of your business marketing strategy & HR process. I'm seeing many companies including my workshops in the induction process, this way they address any issues upfront.

The Benefits of Personal Branding

You may be asking yourself, “How can supporting an employee’s efforts to achieve a strong personal brand actually help my business? It’s really only going to benefit them – and eventually spur them to leave.” Wrong!

Consider these specific benefits of helping your employee build their personal brand:

• Supporting branding efforts can increase exposure for your business. When employees are allowed to represent your company at events, engage in learning opportunities, or attend conferences and networking meetings they are developing skills that can support their own personal growth. They are also getting your business’s name out there and giving you more exposure.
• Supporting a personal brand contributes to employee satisfaction. When employees feel supported by their employers, they tend to be happier.
• Supporting personal branding can improve customer outreach. When your employees are respected thought leaders, visible in the community, or simply viewed as knowledgeable and trustworthy experts in your industry, that positive perception can extend to your company. It can bring in new business and help keep existing business loyal. Not only that, when your employees have a strong online presence that you support and encourage, with social media profiles, blogs, and other content associated with your business it extends your marketing reach.
• Supporting personal branding strengthens your team. Giving your employees the opportunity to grow not only helps support their brand. it also expands their knowledge and skillsets. Obviously this can only benefit you as a company. My workshops are a great team building activity and highlight weaknesses & strengths so that you can manage your staff better.

How to Build Personal Brands

Encouraging and supporting employee personal brands does not have to be time consuming or expensive, two of the most common reasons given for not giving employees opportunities for personal growth.

Helping your employee build their personal brand can benefit your business.

Give your employees the opportunity to have their voices heard in your company’s brand to help support their personal brands. Ask employees from different departments to contribute blog posts or other content for your company social pages or website. This help keep your content fresh. It also helps your employees share new ideas and establish their perspective and can put them on the road to becoming a thought leader.

Finally, consider making your support of personal branding public by offering brand training, workshops or “ image makeovers.” Host a branding workshop to educate your employees in personal branding best practices, and help them brainstorm ideas and get started on their brand building efforts. You might even go so far as to hire a Personal Stylist & Professional Photographer to take headshots of employees that they can use for all their online profiles as well as on your corporate site to maintain consistency and a professional image.

Helping your employees with their personal brands can make them more attractive to other employers, it’s true. But it also supports a strong and positive company culture that keeps employees loyal. The other benefits of employee branding – the increased outreach and exposure, employee satisfaction, skill building – far outweigh any potential drawbacks in terms of employees being recruited or poached from your company.

Personal branding is not something that takes place overnight. It is much more than a Facebook page and a few blog posts. By aligning your company branding efforts with your employees’ personal branding efforts, you can create a mutually beneficial environment where everyone wins.

For more information on Personal Branding Workshops & Personal Styling Sessions please email me on [email protected]