Strong Cultures Create Strong Brands
June 11th, 2009How well organizations link brand on the outside with the brand on the inside will ultimately determine how strong their corporate brand will become. There are many implications to this important notion; in particular it is becoming imperative that marketing and human resources executives need to learn to collaborate on an internal brand-building process. The objective of a robust internal brand-building program is to create a culture that is passionate about the difference it makes for its customers. Internal brand building is customer-centric culture building.
Most management gurus agree on one thing – the companies that have achieved the most sustainable growth have a strong, focused corporate culture. Peter Drucker, Peter Senge, and Jim Collins all point to the importance of corporate culture as a key contributor to long-term success. In fact Collins, in his new book How the Mighty Fail, suggests that weak or underdeveloped corporate cultures is one of the main causes of failure in many companies. Conversely, he shares that a strong culture often prevents great companies from suffering through extended downturns.
Building and maintaining a strong culture is unarguably important to every organization. The value of a strong customer-centric corporate culture cannot be overstated. But knowing how to proactively build one is a real challenge. If a strong culture is important to success, why are the tools needed to build one in such short supply? There are several good reasons.
- Corporate culture is difficult to define.
Culture is often described as the psychology, attitudes, experiences and beliefs of a company. It is the specific collection of strong values and norms that are shared by people and groups within an organization. Culture greatly influences the way people interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization. Defining the culture in terms of how it is relevant to delivering value to customers can begin to add clarity defining a business culture.
- Corporate culture is intangible.
Most leaders believe that you will know the culture of an organization when you feel it. Ask many companies who are known to have a strong culture and they describe their culture as “the organization’s way” – e.g. the IBM Way, the Apple Way, or the McKinsey Way.
- Corporate culture is self-sustaining.
Culture is not a by-product of a single event or situation. It develops over time but can’t be mandated. Corporate culture relies on each individual’s commitment to change. Because when you change people you change cultures. Once established, it can be counted on to manage change brought on by external factors or internal failures.
- Strong cultures are built on a strong set of shared values.
At the core of every strong corporate culture is a long-standing commitment to a set of values. Values are not intellectual or passive in organizations with strong cultures. The values must be perceived to be authentic, consistently applied and durable. The values of the most successful organizations are admired by employees and customers.
- Corporate culture must impact customers.
Successful cultures have one thing in common – there is a clear understanding of how the distinctive nature of the organization makes a substantial difference for customers. Strong cultures are admired by customers, as well as employees.
Here are a couple of examples of how well known organizations have linked their cultures to delivering distinctive value to customers:
Since its inception in 1998, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have worked hard to maintain a small company feel. At lunchtime, almost everyone eats in the office café, sitting at whatever table has an opening and enjoying conversations with “Googlers” from all different departments. This is critical since Google is committed to innovation, and innovation requires that everyone feel comfortable in sharing ideas and opinions. Moreover the egalitarian nature of their culture resonates and connects with the democratic nature of the Internet itself.
Another example of a strong culture is Southwest Airlines. – the only major airline in the U.S. that is consistently profitable and has a great reputation as an employer. This is no coincidence. In an article written by Herb Kelleher, Southwest’s former CEO, he shared how Southwest maintains its culture as a strategic imperative:
“We are looking for attitudes that are positive and for people who can lend themselves to causes. We want folks who have a good sense of humor and people who are interested in performing as a team and take joy in team results instead of individual accomplishments.”
Delivering a differentiated traveling experience for customers is a high stress, complex business. Without a positive culture with a sense of humor, and teamwork it would be difficult for Southwest to succeed with employees and travelers to the degree they have.
I believe that every organization has the ability to build a strong culture and it doesn’t have to be complex. There are just a few key principles to understand and ultimately apply on a consistent basis.
- Everyone in the corporate culture must believe in the clear connection between the distinctive values of the culture and how it makes a substantial difference for customers.
- The way the organization leverages its culture, starting with its values, to make a distinctive difference for customers, establishes its “brand” of doing business.
- One of the largest untapped opportunities for building a stronger culture is helping each employee discover their personal brand (attitude, skills, beliefs, and values) and fostering alignment of their personal brand and the brand of the company.
- Customer-centric employee engagement must be embraced as a sustainable corporate strategy. Employee engagement and customer engagement are two fundamental long-term strategies of every sustainable, successful organization.
In both the examples mentioned, the top management of the companies are vigilant about aligning their employees with their organization’s values and their “brand” of making a difference for a customer. Although organizations may have unique cultures, few consciously understand how to create the alignment required to successfully leverage the full potential of their value with customers. The health and vibrancy of a corporate culture is predictive of their strength in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Building a strong culture can be achieved by any organization willing to make the commitment. Strong cultures don’t happen by accident or are only achievable by organizations with exceptional leaders or extraordinary products. If more companies had access to the practical tools to build and sustain a strong customer-centric culture, it’s likely they would. Internal brand building is a set of process tools that will build the foundation for creating and sustaining a customer-centric culture. Is your organization ready for internal brand building?
