Corporate Benefits For Strong Personal Brands

Posted by Rahna on January 5, 2009 under Personal Branding | Be the First to Comment

I was discussing my Signature for Success program with a corporate Vice President recently, and he asked me what would be the benefit to his company for having people on his team go through the program and have strong personal brands.  I told him that there are many benefits.  Here are some of the ones we discussed:

 

Highly Motivated Self-starters

The company gets highly motivated employees that are actively looking for ways to “evolve their brand.”  The way to build their brand is to add skills, become more professional, and contribute more.  This program is set up is to light a fire within each person so that the boss is not telling them how they need to grow; they are eagerly, actively yearning for more growth,  managing themselves—seeking out what areas they can add more value.  What could be better than an employee saying to himself,  “How can I add more value at work?  What can I do to contribute more?”  I know that leadership is important to any company, and this program is meant to inspire self-leadership at all levels, whether we’re talking about the mailroom or the boardroom. 

 

Clarified Roles & Responsibilities

 There is strong benefit to be realized from a session that would focus on understanding how the various members of the team can “blend” into a holistic team that leverages the skills the team currently has, and identifies the skills they need to evolve their brands in a way that benefits everyone—meeting the company’s needs and adding to their individual competencies. 

 

Strengthened External Perceptions of the company 

Every time department team members talk with someone outside the  department, they are creating an impression of that department.  When they talk to folks in Purchasing or Operations, they create an impression.  When they talk to a client or a vendor, they create an impression.  By having them focus on what they do well and what the department wants to be known for, it can create a stronger impression of the group –either within the company or within the industry.  That will have long-term implications for recruiting efforts, for selling ideas, or for garnering respect with other departments.

 

Boost Morale

Employees will see this as very personally-focused.  They will see that management cares about their growth, their potential and feel that you are putting them first. 

 

Provide a Framework for Career Development

By conducting this program in advance of annual Individual Development Plan (or Performance Management) sessions, it is easy to segue into those discussions about how to build their personal brands in the areas that the company needs them to focus on.  With everyone having gone through this session, there will be a common “language” for these discussions that will have been served up within a familiar framework of “marketing” language.