EMPLOYEE - THE NEW AGE CUSTOMER

Brand building. Brand stickiness. Brand resonation.?

Customer Relationship. Customer Rewards. Customer First.

Working in an era of fast-paced generational fervour and employees with a gumption to outdo the next, one wonders what lies in the crux of satisfying them. How do you enable performance and loyalty without compromise? The customer is always right. Is not the employee a customer for people and culture teams? And are they always right? It’s elementary, so to say. People teams deem themselves as steadfast pillars for employee satisfaction, building employee relationships and weaving employee-first experiences; many of which are akin to customer-centric approaches. Safe to say, employer branding begins with the same school of thought - Employees are your customers. Now, what do these words entail…

1. Employees: Gatekeepers of the Brand

Essentially, the first focal point of understanding what plays out behind the scenes of a brand curtain is the workforce. They have front-row tickets to managerial conundrums and strategic foreplay. This makes them the perfect customer to be kept happy, satisfied and well-paid. Hence, Employees are your first clients, your brand ambassadors and your new media evangelists.?

One must understand how important leveraging these ambassadors is for the goodwill and eventual growth of the brand. With a paradigm shift to well-being, organisations are now taking pride in being the “Best employers” rather than mere “Top Brands of the Century”. It all boils down to this - Are you treating me right? Employees have Power. Prowess. Persistence. Ensuring they are given platforms to speak, the truth works.?

1. Go-To-Market Employee Framework?(Image above)

Understanding the market and segments of candidates needed, starting conversations online and tapping niche labour markets are vital to creating the right frameworks. Employer Branding starts at identification. You know your candidate target group, you’ve identified the perfect fit, and it's time to leverage their capacity. Ground zero. Begin by asking have you overcome introspection gaps within an organisation? Is your plan foolproof enough to enable impact? Let me break it down for you:

• Segmentation entails ensuring that your candidate feels accepted and invited. Have them bear the baton willingly instead of jotting down a To-Do list because just like customers, the employee must come first
• Enable your employees to be aware of their rights, needs and responsibilities of upholding the organisation’s broader message without consequences
• Investing for future returns works both ways. You give and you receive. Invest in customer experience for loyalty, invest in employee experience for a “shrouded Yes-Man attitude”?