Every company wants raving fans who love their product, service, or cause. But beyond our customers and target audience, most of us also want to be a part of something bigger too. We desire to work with, or to lead those who also have similar goals – those who are aligned with us in a common purpose.

While most organizations do a pretty good job of understanding their external customers, far too many fall short when it comes to connecting with their internal ones. I often see companies invest huge sums of money in the “branding process” only to miss the critical step of really understanding their internal audience.

One organization I met with not long ago had just spent tens of thousands of dollars creating an entirely new brand identity, but less than six months later was desperately seeking help because most of their staff (and half the board) “just didn’t get it”.

The Problem: They hired a company to craft a beautiful visual. It looked good. Even had the right elements based on the objectives given, but the message didn’t resonate with the staff in the field. What the home office thought the organization was all about, and what the staff in the field thought they were about, were two completely different things. Even the CEO and the EVP didn’t really see eye-to-eye on the vision when I pressed them (yikes).

This organization made a critical, but all to common, mistake of not properly engaging their internal customers during the development of their new brand. This ultimately created a far more complex (and potentially damaging) situation than they originally had on their hands with just an outdated visual.

Success happens from the inside out

For an organization to be successful, every member of the organization must understand and embrace, the brand story (click to tweet). Team members need to “get it”. They need to understand what they are trying to achieve every day.

Employees want to know why you are asking them to get out of bed in the morning. They don’t need to become “Kool-Aid drinkers,” but everyone in the organization should be able to articulate who and what the company is all about, and what it is you (the company) wants to achieve. Without that, you can spend as much money on marketing and advertising as you want – there will be no long-term success.

…on average, 95% of a company’s employees are unaware of, or do not understand, its strategy. If the employees who are closest to customers and who operate processes that create value are unaware of the strategy, they surely cannot help the organization implement it effectively.

– Harvard Business Review

For the example company, and for many others, a simple dialogue about what the internal customers believe the organization’s mission to be, and how it applies to them, may have eliminated this issue all together.

Alignment involves the entire organization

While any successful brand or alignment initiative begins as a C-Level activity, as leaders we have to remember it touches everyone on the org chart.

The entire team needs to be on the same page about the direction you are headed. Does everyone understand the goals and objectives of the organization? If you have confusion or disagreement – address it.

If you want to harness the power of an aligned brand, start by addressing these seven components of creating internal brand advocates:

1. Share the Vision – Create and/or articulate a compelling vision that inspires both your target audience, and the members of your team.
2. Identify the Mission – Give people a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Layout what problem are you asking them to solve.
3. Establish Values – Outline the guidelines or the ethical framework your team is being asked to operate within. Make sure everyone is on the same page about how to engage customers and each other.
4. Articulate the Personality – Articulate what the company would sound like if it were a person. What is the style, voice, tone of the messages the company offers? Tell staff how you are asking them to communicate with the outside world, don’t leave it up to interpretation.
5. Cohesive Offerings – The complexity, or the simplicity, with which you craft company offerings says a lot about your brand. Help your staff understand why you offer the things you do, and why you have the packages or options you do. They can’t communicate to the outside world if they don’t understand.
6. Outline Processes – Are your processes complex and detailed, or simple and streamlined? Does everyone understand why you are asking them to create the reports they create? Do the things they do? Help them understand these things and you’ll eliminate frustration and increase compliance.
7. Consistent Leadership – From the top down, creating a leadership structure that fits the brand essence of the organization is important. Make sure that middle managers understand what you want to accomplish and how to go about it. Creating consistency and coherence is a key to managerial success.

Remember, researching and understanding what is really taking place in the minds of your internal customers is the key to creating the kinds of raving fans you want for your organization. Don’t skimp on the effort because you think you know what they believe. Engage your most important resource and empower them to become the raving fans you want. Then watch them go out make more.

Question: How have you seen organizations successfully engage their internal customers and create raving fans out of their employees?

Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm is the key to getting your brand’s posts seen by followers. Understanding it’s simple, yet often misunderstood principles, can dramatically increase the amount of visibility for your organization on Facebook.

The folks over at Postrocket put together a series of infographics on how to understand Facebook’s EdgeRank and how to make the most of it. Here’s the quick overview:

What is EdgeRank?

EdgeRank is the algorithm that Facebook uses to determine what posts appear on each individual user’s newsfeed page in order to give users relevant and wanted content. The three variables that make up this algorithm are:

1. Affinity – Measures the relationship between the viewing user and the creator of the story. The closer the relationship, the higher the score.
2. Weight – Different types of posts carry different weights. The higher the weight, the higher the score. In order they rank:
   1. Photos / Videos
   2. Links
   3. Plain Text Updates
3. Time Decay – How old is the post? As a post ages, it continually loses value. This way your newsfeed will always remain fresh with recent news. How quickly the post loses value, or “decays” is also dependent on the Facebook user. For example, if you only log in once a week, stories that are a few days old still have a chance of appearing in your newsfeed.

Why does EdgeRank Matter?

Facebook’s EdgeRank matters because 96% of fans DON’T go back to a brand’s Facebook page after initial engagement (if they even go to the page in the first place). Also your post is 40–150 times more likely to reach your fans in the newsfeed than your page.

The newsfeed has been the most popular feature since it was introduced in 2006 and it’s only becoming more popular. In 2011, 27% of all time on Facebook was spent in the Newsfeed; compared with 2012 where that number was up to 40% of all time spent on Facebook.

All that said, only 16% of your fans will see your post on average. So, what can you do to improve your page’s EdgeRank?

Here are 6 tips (with statistics straight from Facebook) on how to improve your EdgeRank and gain visibility in Facebook’s Newsfeed:

1. Keep it Short – Posts between 100 and 250 characters get 60% more likes, comments, and shares than posts over 250 characters.
2. Be Visual – Posting photo albums, photos, and videos get 180%, 120%, and 100% more engagement respectively. (Tip: Post a link as a photo with the article title and URL in the caption to increase reach)
3. Ask For What You Want – Asking simple opinion-driven questions or “fill-in-the-blanks” will bring in 90% more engagement than the average post.
4. Post Daily – 96% of your fans aren’t coming back to your page, so posting frequently is the only way to consistently reach them.
5. Be Relevant, But Not Pushy – Posts related to, but not directly about your brand, perform best. Example: If you are a muffin shop, your posts should be about more recipes and baking tips – not politics, religion, or cats.
6. Be Timely – Test out different times to find the best times for your audience and then stick with them. (Tip: Overall, people engage most with pages from 9m to 10pm, with the 18–24 year old demographic most active at that time).

Sources: PostRocket, comScore, Facebook stats via PostRocket

In a timely post by Ros Hodgekiss, of our friends at Campaign Monitor, she asks the question: “Will Mailbox change how your subscribers respond to their email?”

The short answer is we just don’t know yet.  It’s simply too soon to tell.  With a 6-figure wait-list for an account, we’ll be waiting for a while to see what happens “Mailbox-mainia” shakes down to the masses.

What I find to be a more interesting question is related to send time.  Over the years as a marketer, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with clients who can track down to the hour the most effective and impacting time to send their emails out.  They know (or believe they know) what time of the month and day of the week is best.  Most even identify the best time of day to send, within a few hours.

Over the last year or two, we’ve seen a pattern of decreasing effectiveness with some of these “tried-and-true” methods as the way people communicate has changed – and the number of messages in their inboxes has skyrocketed.  We’ve never really considered send time to be that much of a factor when you have great content – especially to an opted-in recipient, but with the advent of an inbox-based “snooze” button, things will surely be a changin’…

… it’s an unstoppable shift – now email clients have grown from being humble message buckets, into fully-fledged productivity and collaboration tools too, it’s increasingly likely that email recipients will choose to read email on their terms, not when senders personally feel they have the best chance of getting their messages read.

So, have you given Mailbox a try?  What did you think?  Has it changed – or do you think it will change – the way you consume your email-based content?  I’d love to hear your thoughts…

The first step in creating any outstanding culture is simply being intentional about it. When it comes to new hires, your first impression of each other likely took place on Interview Day – but your new hire’s first impression of the company culture takes place on their first day in the office.

To maximize this first impression and put your culture’s best foot forward, consider creating a Team Member Welcome Kit. Welcoming new hires with open arms and energizing them about the new place they will call home is an essential part of getting them settled and laying the foundation to become productive members of the team. I personally prefer using the language of “Team Member” as opposed to “Employee” because it accounts for Contractor and Vendor relationships, and I think the word “employee” can have some negative connotations in our culture. Use whatever you feel most comfortable with and that fits your organization’s nomenclature.

Providing a defined framework and establishing good boundaries at the outset of any engagement is always a good idea, but when you do this in employee (or contractor) relationships you will:

• have the first chance to define what the company culture is all about
• set proper expectations about what work together looks like
• ensure a more productive long-term relationship
• help reduce, and in some cases eliminate the dripping interruption of questions and answers over the first few weeks a new person is on the job
• establish a pattern for how you want the team member to engage you and others
• communicate that you have a vision for the future

The first step in creating any outstanding culture is simply being intentional about it. (click to tweet)

Keep in mind, this Team Member Welcome Kit is in addition to any Employee or Human Resources Manual you may have in place. The Team Member Welcome Kit should be seen as a tool to help facilitate and inform the new team member, much in the same way you would provide a new client with a Client Orientation Kit. Usually it is reviewed with the new team member by a direct supervisor. It should communicate cultural information, but be informative. If it’s all fluff (e.g.: rainbows and unicorns about how great it is to work here) – no one will care about it. If it’s all information or policy, it will be seen as something that should be folded into the Employee Manual.

What Items to Include:

When it comes to content, I prefer to think about and include protocols as opposed to policies. Where protocols focus on “etiquette” and/or “customs” – policies feel very dictatorial and rigid. Not the tone you are attempting to set with this document. Let the HR department draw the hard lines, it is expected of them (and accepted by employees).

Here is a list of 24 items (or protocols) that should be included in any good Team Member Welcome Kit:

1. How to greet and treat visitors (or guests)
2. Entering and exiting the building
3. How to arm/disarm security system, plus what to do in the event you trigger an alarm
4. Emergency situations (What to do in the event of a fire, tornado, earthquake, etc.)
5. Working remotely
6. How to book the conference rooms or meeting spaces
7. Details on amenities (staff refreshments, food, guest refreshments)
8. Wi-Fi access (public or guest access, and private access)
9. How to access the company intranet
10. How to access the company phone / email directory
11. How to access the company calendar
12. How to use the phone system and fax machine
13. How to use the copy machine
14. How to answer the phone (if applicable)
15. Cleaning, janitorial, and maintenance requests
16. Restrooms – locations if large facility
17. How to request IT or network access assistance
18. How to access email and instant message services
19. Physical mailing address and shipping (FedEx, UPS drop-off locations)
20. Standard Email Signatures
21. Information about online applications and/or team tools for group use
22. Lunch and break room details
23. Office attire (dress code expectations)
24. Office protocols (free example below)
25. Office supplies location and use

Remember, your Team Member Welcome Kit is not intended to be an exhaustive manual of do’s and don’ts. Rather, it should be designed to facilitate answers to frequently asked questions that new employees ask while infusing a sense of the company culture.

Office Space Protocols – Example:

Here is an example of a few office space protocols I like to use in any workplace. Feel free to take these and use them yourself. We’ve had them in place for years and they work great.

Get Started on Your Team Member Welcome Kit

Most of this information is likely at your fingertips. It won’t take you long to create, so why not get started and help your next hire feel better about their new home while you enjoy the freedom of never having to answer the same question again!

Question: What other items have you included in your Team Member Welcome Kit? I’d love to hear from you!

… Our experiences shows that many senior leaders lack clarity, primarily because companies tend to put too much emphasis on comparing their present selves with their past selves and too often declare victory if they’ve improved. What they forget is that you compete only with your current rivals. (click to tweet) Benchmarking may help, but in many instances it devolves into a comparison of single dimensions – Is our product more durable? Is our R&D higher?–rather than a sophisticated daily analysis of the interplay of all performance dimensions and their relationship to the sometimes subtle trade-offs among the many drivers of profitability.

From “Three Rules for Making a Company Truly Great“
by Michael E. Raynor & Mumtaz Ahmed
Harvard Business Review, April 2013

As with all communication mediums, there are a couple of rules everyone should follow to be seen as a courteous coworker when it comes to instant messaging. By developing good habits with your IM, you can bring new consideration to using this tool in the workplace.

1. Be Unassuming and Respect Availability Settings.  When using Instant Messaging, remember that your colleagues have their own schedules and deadlines.  Don’t assume a coworker is available just because the person’s IM status indicates he or she is logged on. Your colleague may have forgotten to change the status to “busy” or could simply prefer to concentrate on a different task for the time being.  Use your availability settings to let others know your status.  This is also a great tip if you work in an open work environment – setting your status to “unavailable” let’s others know that you are busy and not to disturb you at the moment.
2. Seek Permission to Enter. Just as you would over the telephone or in the doorway of an office, always ask whether it is a good time to IM with the user on the receiving end. Try, “Jason, do you have a moment? I would like to ask a question about last month’s finance report.” Not only are you asking for availability, you also drop the subject of the query.  If they are busy, ask them when a good time to follow-up would be.
3. Be Brief.  A good rule of thumb is to consider the length of a “tweet” for your instant messages. IMs are best for quick back-and-forth conversations; many IM programs even limit the amount of text. If you’re approaching that limit, it’s a sign that you are trying to cram too much in to one message. Avoid long conversations – if your IM session begins to drag into overtime, suggest a face-to-face meeting so you can maintain an efficient work environment.
4. Exercise Caution.  People frequently use IM at work, but it’s easy to send a message to someone you didn’t intend to contact — particularly when chatting with multiple people at once.  If the subject matter is sensitive, be extra careful.
5. Watch your tone, and don’t take it personally.  Attempts at humor or sarcasm can fall flat or be misinterpreted in an IM.  Make sure you are familiar with the recipient’s sense of humor before attempting to be funny.  Using emoticons can indicate a more lighthearted message, but when used excessively, they can come off as unprofessional.  When in doubt, be straightforward and don’t get offended if the person on the other end is direct.  The purpose of IM is fast, direct answers, not flowery prose.
6. Go with the Flow.  After a 10-minute IM exchange with your manager, she writes, “Back to my work” and ends the conversation. Don’t take offense at her brevity or perceived tone.  Because IM involves quick volleys of conversation, it’s easy to appear abrupt or rude when no offense is meant.
7. Be responsive, not dormant.  When chatting in IM, return your reply in a timely fashion. Try to respond to the other person within a few minutes and generally not longer than five minutes. If you are going to be away from your computer but wish to continue your IM exchange, tell the other person you will BRB (be right back).
8. Keep it in Proper English. When sending instant messages regarding work, keep slang and IM acronyms at bay and use proper English instead. Not only is it more professional, it helps avoid the distraction of a “What is IMO?” conversation with a less-than-net-savvy IM user. Don’t forget the punctuation, either.
9. Business-Friendly IMs. Remember, your communications to other associates, your boss or outside clients and vendors should always boast professionalism, even when instant messaging.  Therefore, put away the political IM icons, the bright orange text and the pop culture wallpapers in lieu of Arial or Times New Roman (10 to 12 pt. font).
10. Avoid Pop-ups.  There’s a time and place for IMs, but not during meetings. Remember to log out of your chat feature before presenting a meeting using your computer or laptop. Constant IMs popping up, especially if they aren’t business-related, can be distracting.
11. Sign off properly.  There’s nothing more frustrating than having a five-minute IM conversation that ends with someone waiting for a final response. Let the person on the other end know if you must curtail a chat session. It’s nice to offer a short reason why you are signing off, such as a scheduled call, or simply a “TTYL” (talk to you later).
12. Know when NOT to use IM.  Sometimes its best to just pick up the phone, or walk down the hall and have a quick face-to-face chat.  Be smart about what topics you IM and what things you do in person, or on the phone.

Interested in implementing an instant messaging system in your organization, or want to learn more about the risks associated with IM platforms at work?  Check out our article on the topic here.

When crafting any new internal communications platform or policy, there are guidelines that everyone should follow to ensure a successful implementation and practice adoption by coworkers.

While IM is on the decline by most accounts, it is still being actively used in the marketplace and requires inclusion into your communications plan by developing good guidelines for acceptable use.  A well-defined structure can help coworkers streamline work habits and improve independent problem solving.

Protocols for implementing an instant messaging system in your organization:

Everyone should have a work-based IM.
Organizations should choose a IM platform to use and expect staff to use that tool for work-based communications.  Usernames should be issued in a standard and consistent format so if a coworker doesn’t know a user’s IM they can figure it out intuitively (example: using work-based email addresses as the user’s IM handle).  Organizations should issue a username to each team member and insist that they use that platform when communicating.  While your buddies might think your IM moniker is cute or funny, your work contacts might be offended or form a less-than-stellar image of you after seeing your screen name, so insist that users maintain a professional image as well.

Save the transcript of an IM conversation. 
Just like email it is important that users maintain a archive, or transcript, of  past IM conversations.  These transcripts are typically manages and maintained within the users’ IM application and can be managed in the preference pane.

Follow Office Policies.
Most IT departments are leery of allowing associates free reign to download software to their computers.  It is best to have one IM platform that is supported by the IT department that all coworkers will use.

Risks associated with instant messaging:

Like any tool, there are risks associated with the use of Instant Messaging in the workplace.  Be aware of the risks associated with implementing an instant messaging platform within your organization:

1. Not enough oversight – Be sure your staff can handle it and won’t chat up their friends all day rather than focusing on their work.
2. Diminished employee productivity – Sometimes staff can get lost in conversation and interruptions from IM.  Be sure that staff understand it’s OK to set their status to “unavailable” and make time to get work done.
3. Vulnerability to malware and viruses – Not that much more than email, but it is a valid concern.  If you’re up-to-date on on your anti-virus software (as you should be) you’ve really got nothing to worry about.
4. Accidental transfer of sensitive documents – Common sense would suggest this would be no more of an issue than email, but people can sometimes make mistakes.  Ensure staff knows the risks associated with your particular organization.
5. Disregard of compliance/legal issues - Harassment and other compliance issues are potential issues with frequent use of IM because it creates a perceived “private” area to talk.  Reiterate any compliance or legal policies to ensure staff is aware of the risks.
6. Pain due to the number of conversations that a person can handle - If one person is getting too many IMs at once, it can be stressful.  The person needs to feel empowered to manage and respond to IMs just as they would email, by sorting and prioritizing.  If they need to take a break, they can always change their status and step away for a moment.
7. Seen as a permanent work interruption – If not managed and used properly, like any piece of technology, IM can be interruptive.  Setting strong policies and procedures will help ensure that this isn’t the case for your organization.
8. DON’T use instant messaging to deal with conflicts – seems like this should go without saying, but people like to hide behind technology sometimes.  If there is a conflict, steer as far away from technology as possible.  Pick up the phone, or go see the person if you can.  Deal with the issue, don’t use technology as a crutch.

Going Deeper: Read our 12 Tips for Using Instant Messaging in the Workplace…

A bi-monthly survey of current workplace topics from the Center for Workplace Innovation. The Center is a workplace strategy studio with the mission to combine real estate, technology and business processes to create exceptional spaces that empower people to do their best work. This survey report focuses on the importance of brand in the workplace and how it supports company culture.

Remember, physical spaces should be seen as a reflection of the company culture, not the other way around (click to tweet). Just because another brand is doing it doesn’t mean you should (even if it’s your primary competitor).

Craft a culture and environment based on your organization’s marketplace differentiators and unique brand positioning – not what’s trendy today. Otherwise, you’ll just be in reactionary mode every time some new workplace “innovation” comes along.

Since the introduction of this approach, Atos has reduced the number of internal emails by 20 percent in six months.  Strategies and tools helping Atos achieve this goal include an “internal wiki”, allowing employees to communicate by contributing  or modifying content online, and a “office communicator”, an online chat system that allows video conferencing, and file and application sharing.

The concept of reducing the number of internal emails that clog our inbox like arterial plaque, may seem like a goal that is out of reach for some, but Atos’ plan is a smart one that we can glean a few lessons from.

Look at what Atos is really doing:

1. Encouraging employees to keep it brief and to find their own answers rather than pester others.

Suggestion: Implement a wiki or intranet solution within your organization.  

2. Cutting out unnecessary back-and-forth communication that requires long response times.

Suggestion: I hate IM – but if you have to use it, make sure you know your boundaries.

3. Putting in place systems that allow people to share information and project details in real time.

Suggestion: Implement a project management software solution.

What are some other ways you apply this strategy to your businesses?

© Matt D. Simpson

The most successful people in business approach their work differently than the rest of us. An article published on Inc.com listed the following as 9 common beliefs of remarkably successful people:

1. Time doesn’t fill me. I fill time.
2. The people around me are the people I chose.
3. I have never paid my dues. Dues are paid each day.
4. Experience is irrelevant. Accomplishments are everything.
5. I own my failures.
6. Volunteers always win.
7. As long as I’m paid well, it’s all good.
8. People who pay me have the right to tell me what to do.
9. The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.

Adapted from a list by Jeff Haden published on Inc.com

Question: What do you think about this list? How are the items on this list different from what you believe?