Eventing - engaging employees with your brand

Whether it's with the receptionist, support staff or the director of sales, these personal exchanges deliver a clear and unique message about your organisation and brand.

Furthermore, employees who buy into the company brand on both an intellectual and emotional level are more focused, productive and deliver greater customer value. They will champion your brand in every interaction. Research shows that employees are working for more than just the pay cheque they take home; they want to feel connected to the brand and something bigger than themselves.

Questions to ask

Questions to ask yourself include: What is the message that you want to communicate to your customers? What are your values? What does your brand stand for? If you don't know the answer, then it's unlikely your employees do either.

Even when a company decides that the time has come to address these questions, the process of getting the message across in a way that will be fully internalised by the workforce can be a long one and as with any sort or change, it is likely to be met with resistance or apathy. The clear question is how can you sell your brand internally in the most memorable way and ensure employees are as engaged as possible?

The message has to be put forward, explained and then emphasised over and over again until it becomes institutionalised. But as with everything in life, the most essential component of this process is the beginning, the foundation upon which everything else stands. Concepts and values that do not sink in the first time, at least partially, will be far harder to reinforce.

When putting your message forward initially, it makes sense to make a powerful impression and to do so within a context which allows for reaction, feedback and rigorous discussion. The process shouldn't feel like another task on your stressed employees' to-do lists.

Break their routine

The medium of an event allows you to take your staff out of their usual environment and break their routine, which immediately renders employees more receptive. Employees get to connect directly with the brand and interact with ideas within a multisensory environment, which is able to cut through the clutter of messages that they're bombarded with daily, and leave a lasting emotional impression. Events are able to show employees that your company is committed to values or change in a way that no amount of memos or posters in a tea room ever could. Employees also have the opportunity to challenge these ideas within an interactive framework.

The unique thing about an event is the extent it immerses participants. Expert event planners conceptualise every detail with your objective in mind, so that things such as décor and entertainment contribute to the message you wish to convey. Activities are often group ones, getting everyone involved and providing maximum impact. Whatever the activity though, an innovative event will undoubtedly leave employees motivated and on a high.

Companies simply can't afford not to engage their most valuable asset, their employees. Doing so within the structured, goal-oriented, and positive environment of an event is the way to go about building brand loyal staff, which will ultimately impact greatly on your bottom line.