“Employees engage with employers and brands when they’re treated as humans worthy of respect.” – Meghan Biro
The strongest brands rake in the moolah – right. They help a business to grow and generate huge volumes in sales and are popular despite being priced at a premium. Such brands enable better margins, profits, and attract some of the best talent and ‘partners’ in the market. However, no brand can afford to rest on its laurels and would need to retain consistently their best employees by giving them the best of work environments, compensation, rewards, and recognition – essential a top class employee experience. Such employees then serve to increase brand value and further the cause of the company they work with. When employee experience is great, they would work towards strengthening the brand, such that it soon becomes a market leader, has a sustainable competitive advantage, and even in times of duress lose less value than other brands.
One of the best ways for a company to increase brand value is through employee experience. Employees who are treated well and feel cared for by the company, are more likely to create a brand that is differentiated, unique, and accelerates growth for the company. The more a brand becomes ‘all these things’, the better the chances are for a company to increase brand value enough to influence, the emotions and buying choices of customers, in its favour. As a company is able to increase brand value, it would be able to establish that it can provide to customers what no other company / brand would be able to, thereby differentiating itself despite an overcrowded market. A brand that has this authority and market leadership, soon gains the ability to set trends, buying behaviour, and as such transcend traditional boundaries. It sets itself apart from all else and is easily noticeable in the melee. Given the enhanced visibility and popularity, a company can increase brand value through greater recognition and likeability with a growing customer base. The brand would be able to grab their attention and connect them emotionally to itself, thereby increasing its chances to command premium price. Statistics show that such brands are able to increase their pricing by at least 13% above the market and increase their value share by at least four times more.
Given the critical and immense importance of brand value, a company must understand that a brand’s success does lie with the experiences its employees have – the employees can make or break a brand. The primary focus of a company should therefore be to enhance its employee experience, since happy employees radiate happiness and are the reason for top class customer service, leading to customer satisfaction. To increase brand value, a company must enhance positive feelings in their employees, since the employees interact with customers directly. The employees would be the cornerstone of a successful brand and company, since their experiences with the company will dictate the manner in which customers would be treated. No customer would like to deal with unhappy, sullen, and slovenly representatives of a company – that is possibly one of the biggest contributors for customer churn.
We cannot emphasize enough that in the current world of digitization, there are huge amounts of information readily available for anyone. What is also known is that customers use the power of the online information and make sure to read reviews about a company. While customer reviews are definitely important, people interested in working with a company would want to know the views of current employees. The employee experience a company provides becomes the collective voice of employees – employees can either be brand ambassadors and increase brand value, or speak poorly of the company and its brand. The brand value then is determined by those sets of people who work with it daily and in turn, it is their decision to portray it well or bring it down.
With so much information readily available – transparency and understanding of how companies work internally, is becoming commonplace. A company is unlikely to make in-roads with customers and other stakeholders if its employees come across as unhappy, dissatisfied, and frustrated. The negative impression of a company internally, is unlikely to help the company, increase brand value or become a market leader, since not only will customers keep their distance, but also investors, vendors, and potential employees (some of whom could be the pick of the crop). Building relationships with other business ‘partners’ is hugely dependence on the kind of relationships a company has with those who work with it and are at the core of its business and brand.
As the number of companies increase, the best and brightest talent in the market is becoming choosier and more selective, in whom they would want to work with and tend to move towards those companies that instil a sense of trust, friendliness, and honesty. The current employees must seem happy and enthusiastic, ready and eager to contribute to their best ability, and be willing to go the extra mile for their company and its customers, thereby contributing to increase brand value and the status of the company. It must be noted that when employees start working with a company, their expectations usually are reasonable and well within the boundaries of accepted standards. However, what they expect in return is to feel empowered, respected, cared for, and given enough responsibility in their job roles to keep them energized. Every company would pay a salary to its employees – that is the most basic aspect of such an association. However, only those companies that treat their employees well, have robust reward and recognition structures in place, and provide the best work environments, would be able to retain their best talent, who in turn would act as its ambassadors and help to increase brand value. The customers of such companies receive VIP treatment and remain with the company for a very long time, spending huge sums on purchases and bringing in more business through other customers.
For employees to be energized enough to want to increase brand value and the reputation of the company, they must feel like an integral part of the company. A sense of belonging and cohesiveness enhances their desire to take their company and the brand to new heights of success. It is through happy employees that a company would be able to create happy and memorable experiences for its customers, which in turn leads to more business and higher profitability. An increase in brand value through employee experiences is possibly one of the more sustainable forms of growth and success. Employees must feel inspired and know that they work in a company known for empathy and care, which in turn would enable them to pass on these feelings to the customers.
There is possibly no company / brand that can claim that their success and popularity with customers, is not a factor of the way employees interact with customers and others in the market. Employees play a very crucial role in determining and solidifying a company’s image in the market, and are instrumental to increase brand value and emotional connection between the brand and customers. It is the onus of a company to ensure that it makes its employees the primary brand ambassadors, who send out positive messages to customers and the market about the brand, thereby increasing its value consistently.
