Growing Global:Talent

Aligning Brand, Purpose and Culture

Interbrand CanadaJanuary 2017

Carolyn Ray Managing Director / Global Practice Leader, Internal Brand Engagement

In her role as the leader of Interbrand’s Canadian business, Carolyn strives to foster a workplace that embraces collaboration and creativity, and works with clients to challenge status quo thinking. She also leads Interbrand’s global internal brand engagement practice, which helps organizations adapt to change and transform cultures and processes. She has led global mandates for a broad range of progressive organizations such as Celestica, John Deere, Ford, Hatch, and Thomson Reuters. In 2013, Carolyn was ranked as one of Canada’s top 100 female entrepreneurs on the PROFIT/Chatelaine W100 list and is in the process of becoming a certified leadership coach.

(647) 213-3450

@thecarolynray

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www.interbrand.com/canada

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A company’s purpose is the driving force that enables a company to define its brand and create its desired culture. At Interbrand, we believe that the highest-performing organizations must take an integrated approach to creating and sustaining purpose, one that is tightly connected with their brand and fulfilled through an engaging experience.

Consider these statistics;• Only 13$% of employees are engaged globally;• The majority of millennials don’t understand their organization’s

purpose—in fact, only 1 in 3 agree that the purpose of their organization makes them feel important;

• Only 29% of millennials are engaged in the jobs, and only 27% believe in their companies’ values; and

• 60% of millennials are open to a new opportunity.

Now, more than ever before, organizations must focus on purpose, brand and culture to retain and engage highly skilled talent and put intentional processes in place to sustain momentum over the long term.

This requires vision, leadership and collaboration—and challenging status quo thinking. We’re up for it, are you?

(All statistics from Gallup.com)

Carolyn RayManaging DirectorInterbrand Canada

Aligning Brand, Purpose and Culture

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It is always exhilarating to see what can happen when leaders embrace authenticity.

Last spring, I attended Innovation Uncensored, Fast Company’s flagship innovation conference in New York City. In an open, intimate setting, almost 20 CEOs and leaders partnered with Fast Company editors to candidly examine the authenticity of brands, leadership, and new paths to innovation.

I found this conference incredibly refreshing—not just because I was 10 feet from Pixar’s Ed Catmull, Chelsea Clinton and PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi—but because it was clear these leaders were not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. They were passionate about their purpose, putting their values into practice, and showing they knew how to lead with their heart—and their head.

Six Signs You’re an Authentic Leaderby Carolyn Ray

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Below are my six takeaways from that event. Which one resonates the most with you? Which is the most challenging for us as leaders? And which one do we need to focus on the most in 2015?

1. Be Your Own Trip (aka Be Yourself)One of the standout speakers was Sophia Amoruso, CEO of Nasty Gal, called “fashion’s new phenom” by Forbes magazine. She started her online vintage clothing site when she was 22, and today, eight years later, it generates $100 million and has more than 350 employees. Refreshingly honest, Amoruso celebrates her “inner freak,” which she openly shares in her new book #GIRLBOSS. “I’m kind of on my own trip,” she readily admitted, and stressed that there is “no gap” between who she is and what’s reflected externally to her millions of fans. Her advice: be authentic, and surround yourself with people who believe in your brand values. Then learn to trust them and empower them—become a flock.

2. Ride With Your TribeTough Mudder CEO Will Dean spoke on a panel about the “inexplicable loyalty” of cult brands. Dean believes that experiences are the new luxury good—but it all starts with a shared set of beliefs and values. He stressed that Tough Mudder, which is an extreme endurance event, is not a race; it’s a challenge. Being a MudderSM is about the enormous sense of accomplishment that you feel when you overcome an obstacle—in this case, fire, mud, or electroshock therapy while racing through 10-12 miles of terrain designed by British Special Forces. “We think of ourselves as a tribe,” he said. Thousands of orange headband-wearing Tough Mudders have even tattooed their bodies with the logo. Mudder up.

3. Burst Your Own BubbleTroy Carter, CEO of Atom Factory, provided some provocative thoughts on the need to maintain “brand integrity,” in a world of constant reinvention. Best known in the entertainment industry as Lady Gaga’s former manager, the entertainment executive said it’s critical to “get outside your bubble—your industry, your job—ask questions.” A man who embraces disruption, Carter said, “I love companies that infringe on other people’s boundaries,” and cited Uber and Warby Parker as two prime examples of brands that are doing just that.

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4. Get Your Team RightPromoting his new book, Creativity, Inc., Ed Catmull, president of the Walt Disney and Pixar animation studios, said that everyone—and every organization—has the potential to be creative, but that leaders need to make it safe for people to fail. Mistakes are an indication that you’re innovating and trying something new. He shared his stories about the process of making blockbuster movies like Up and the Toy Story franchise—dissecting the mistakes along the way. In the case of Toy Story 2, the team had a total restart nine months before the delivery date. His advice: find a team that works well together: “Give a good idea to a mediocre team and they will screw it up. A great team will fix it or make it better.”

5. Seek Connected AutonomyPepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi began her remarks by emphasizing the need for businesses to create an authentic working environment that aligns with people’s “whole selves.” Speaking of her leadership style, she commented, “A CEO is not a part-time job. You have to be passionate. You have to love what you do.” She also spoke of community values and a “connected autonomy,” that encourages employees to engage emotionally with the PepsiCo corporate brand, but gives them the local autonomy to perform their roles in a way that suits them.

6. Create the Change You Want to SeeA recurring theme was how a more authentic form of leadership is taking root—one that has the potential to not only accelerate positive change, but also create more meaningful brand experiences for customers and employees. Translating that impression of “big things to come” into words, Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia—whose pending U.S. Supreme Court decision hasn’t slowed down plans to expand his streaming video company – wrapped up the events of the day with a simple, yet powerful message: “As leaders, we have a strong sense of obligation to create change. We sense the market, we sense the opportunity.” How do we lead the way forward with authenticity? By following our instincts, cultivating empathy, and “living” our brands with passion, purpose, and creativity.

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With global M&A activity expected to rise in 2016, it’s important to remember that people and culture are the keys to success, and they need to be addressed early and strategically. Low employee engagement and a misaligned culture can pose a serious threat to the success of mergers, holding back or even derailing growth plans.

We’ve all heard the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” While culture is often misinterpreted as a fluffy component of business that belongs to HR, it’s actually one of the most important drivers that a business has to be aligned for long-term, sustainable success.

Culture Eats Strategy. Feed Your M&Aby Carolyn Ray

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Deloitte’s 2016 Human Capital study states that culture and engagement are THE most important issues companies face around the world—virtually exploding to the top of its ranking. Gallup research shows that just 13 percent of employees are “highly engaged” globally. This means that only one in eight workers are psychologically committed to their jobs.

During a transition, it’s even more important for an organization to align the brand, people, and culture with the vision for the new business. Your brand is the red thread that connects employees to customers, and the one thing that will differentiate you over time. When the people inside an organization understand who they are and what they stand for, they can nurture, evolve, invigorate, and truly bring the brand—and the business—to life.

In an M&A situation, you need to protect the equity you have in the current culture and examine existing strengths. You want to bring those forward to create something completely new and inspiring that will help employees as they grow through a period of tremendous change.

So what is the role of brand in this?

1. The brand can provide clarity and sense of purpose. Research shows that high-performance businesses have a stronger sense of purpose. As we consider changing demographics in the workforce—for example, the influx of millennials who seek stimulation and authenticity—as well as the escalating “war for talent,” an M&A presents an opportunity for employees to understand the answer to the question, “Why am I here?” This can be a powerful method for attracting and retaining younger employees, particularly during times of change. With a shared purpose, leaders can unite a new and diverse organization with a single, global rallying cry.

2. Your brand can help align the dots across the organization. As the business changes, its people must adapt. With an M&A, you have a rich opportunity to connect the dots for your employees, helping them to understand the bigger picture. This means investing in those everyday moments, like informal recognition, that are aligned with business strategy. Employee engagement needs to be a priority for the entire organization, not just the HR department.

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3. Your brand can give leadership a fresh platform for storytelling—one that is inspiring and helps employees to understand their roles in the new organization. It’s the leader’s role as chief storyteller to bring people together and capture their hearts and minds. Communications is often noted as a barrier to change; In fact, Dr. John Kotter, business and management thought leader, estimates that most companies under-communicate during change by a factor of ten, with the communications market share at only 0.58 percent. Ultimately, senior leadership must “walk the talk” and become credible examples of the behavior they are seeking.

In an M&A situation, culture needs to become an inseparable part of your business strategy. Those firms that develop a well-informed and brand-led approach to culture will gain a crucial competitive edge. While a merger or acquisition changes the status quo by definition, it’s also an opportunity to create a new culture that is strongly aligned to business growth and strategy.

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Across all industry sectors, talent has emerged as the top issue for business leaders. Deloitte’s 2015 Human Capital study states that culture and engagement have ‘virtually exploded’ to become the top issue companies face around the world. With talent as the key factor in future profitability and success, there has never been a better opportunity for HR and marketing to become the best of friends.

How so, you ask? Aren’t culture, values, and behaviour the responsibility of human resources? And isn’t marketing focused on the external brand and customer loyalty? Why yes! And that is precisely why we believe this could be the perfect relationship—a friendship of true collaboration—built on the inherent, complementary strengths of each function.

After 41 years of experience, one of the truths those of us at Interbrand know is that strong brands are built from the inside. When it comes to attracting talent, research shows the most successful and cost-effective way to recruit new employees is to have existing employees refer them. Employee referrals have the highest applicant to hire conversion rate— accounting for 40% of all hires.

In a service-based economy, where businesses will compete on talent first, it is imperative that organizations focus on building a culture that attracts and retains talented people who support business growth. Poor employee engagement poses a serious threat to organizations, holding back or even derailing growth plans. Those firms that break down internal silos to develop a well-informed and brand-led approach to finding and retaining talent will gain a much-needed competitive edge.

Below are four ways that HR and marketing can begin this beautiful friendship:

Create an inspiring employer value proposition: Research shows us that just 13% of employees are “highly engaged” globally. This means that only one in eight workers is psychologically committed

Organizations that band together, brand togetherby Carolyn Ray

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to his/her job. This is an enormous problem for organizations that rely heavily on employee engagement to enhance customer service, innovation and creativity—all intangible measures that affect business performance. HR’s understanding of employee needs and behaviours, coupled with marketing’s understanding of the brand, present the perfect opportunity to cut through the clutter and create an EVP that is embedded in the everyday, or connected to the customer experience.

Instill a sense of purpose that connects with the next generation: An organization’s purpose is essential to retaining the new generation of talent and explaining ‘why are you here.’ Not only does the purpose of an organization help clarify roles, but it also signifies their intrinsic value to the organization. Purpose requires breakthrough communications and who better to engage millennials than marketing? By connecting purpose to brand, HR and marketing can create inspiring communications to help current employees find purpose in what they do and, more importantly, show why what they do matters to their colleagues, customers, the business and the world.

Dial up the employee experience: Far too often orientation, reward and recognition programs, corporate values, and training are siloed within the HR department. By working together, HR and marketing can create highly innovative programs that connect the employee to the customer, whether that employee is customer-facing or not. With great knowledge of segmentation, millennials and social media, marketing can revitalize the employee experience in new and exciting ways.

Create a unique customer experience: In any customer experience, employee behaviour is the gating factor. In fact, research tells us that only 14% of customers defect because of product quality. The majority of customer defections—68%—occur because of staff indifference. We need only look at social media to see examples captured for all time. By identifying appropriate brand-driven behaviours, HR can collaborate with marketing to provide the right training, coaching, and mentoring to create a memorable and positive customer experience. But, it’s more than just training—the right reward and recognition, metrics, and communications need to be in place too.

By working together, HR and marketing can break down the silos and take a holistic approach across departmental boundaries to improve reputation, growth and market value. This is the time to explore a new model of brand-driven collaboration and it needs to start with the talented people inside an organization.

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Marketing Starts with Your Own Employeesby Carolyn Ray

The strength of your brand relies on your workforce, because engaged workers are creative and productive workers.

As we look into the future of branding, it is clear that the world’s most valuable brands are creating “mecosystems”—fully integrated networks organized around individuals. We need only look at Apple, valued at over $100 billion this year, to confirm this reality. By connecting businesses to people, people to each other, and even brands to other brands, Apple serves as an enabler of both business and personal value creation.

With the recognition of brands as valuable, strategic assets, we now have a deeper appreciation of the role brands play in delivering satisfying and differentiated experiences to consumers. As we shift into the Age of You, brands that seek to lead need to recognize the human in the data, uncover genuine insights, and create a truly personalized and curated experience.

To truly and authentically deliver on this experience, we need to look within, because brands are built from the inside. Employee engagement is a vital part of the puzzle. This was validated by Interbrand’s recent Global CMO Study, which showed that Canadian marketing leaders view employee engagement as a top challenge, even above innovation and go-to-market strategies.

Employee engagement is no small feat, particularly as levels of disengaged employees reach new lows of 13% globally. Witness Gallup’s recent workplace report, which reveals that only one in eight workers is psychologically committed to their jobs.

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As we evaluate strategic business priorities for 2015—driving sales, embracing innovation and retaining talent—perhaps it’s time to ask: do we need to expand our definition of, and accountability for, employee engagement?

There are three things that marketers can do to prepare employees—and the businesses they support—for change.

First, help employees understand their vital role by clarifying the specific behaviours and actions that support the customer experience. The connection between customer loyalty and employee engagement began over 20 years ago with the Service Profit Chain. The model stipulates that profit and growth are stimulated primarily by customer loyalty. Value is created by engaged, loyal and productive employees. And it’s not just rhetoric. Research from Boston Consulting Group shows that raising employee productivity 10-15% can translate into increases in shareholder value of 30-40%.

Second, we need to integrate employee engagement into the marketing mix. The 2014 Global Workforce and Global Talent Management and Rewards Studies by Towers Watson reveals that employers who want to increase employee engagement should start by creating a more consumer-oriented experience for staff. In fact, the report states that “70% of employees say their organization should understand them to the same degree they are expected to understand customers.” Other research tells us that the majority of customer defections—68%—occur because of staff indifference, not product quality.

Third, within organizations, we must embrace a new model of collaboration and bring different skill sets together from different functional areas. As a brand consultancy, we often act as the integrator because we view the business from a holistic perspective. The brand is a filter for business and internal decisions, and empowers us to decide what is on or off brand. Ideally, brand should simplify and accelerate decision-making.

The rules are changing and bring forward new opportunities. For business leaders, this is the time to explore a new model of employee-driven brands, starting with the people inside the organization. As 2015 approaches, CMOs have an opportunity to put employee engagement at the top of their agenda, ultimately enhancing competitiveness and profitability in our ever-evolving business landscape.

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Hatch is a multidisciplinary professional services firm with engineering initiatives in over 150 countries. Carolyn Ray, Managing Director of Interbrand Canada, sat down with John Bianchini, Chief Executive Officer of Hatch, to discuss how Hatch developed its new purpose-driven brand and how it is being implemented globally.

Building for the Future: Q&A with John Bianchini, CEO, Hatchby Carolyn Ray

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CR: Why did Hatch feel the need for change?

JB: We are at an inflection point in our business. The causes started back in 2008 and 2009, and today our clients continue to deal with unstable markets, poor cash liquidity and other economic factors that are basically beyond their control. Many of our clients, private and public, are burdened with unprecedented debt. We also have new challenges being placed on us by society: climate change, carbon emissions and the availability of food, clean water and electricity for all the world’s people. All of these issues are urgent and must be addressed. So as an organization, we must change to better assist our clients and the communities in which we serve. We embrace the idea of change wholeheartedly and passionately.

CR: Is change daunting to your organization?

JB: The beautiful thing about these inflection points is that every time we’ve faced one in our history, we’ve come out stronger and better than our competition. We changed. We adapted. We excelled as a result. This time the opportunity is clear: to bring better ideas to our clients.

I characterize this phase of Hatch as a time of optimism and confidence, because this is when we really can help our clients not just to improve their businesses, but to make lives better. With our capabilities and experience, we can solve problems together that create positive change—change that makes our company strong, but more importantly makes the world better.

CR: We’ve worked with many people in the engineering and industrial sectors, and not all of them are comfortable with the word brand. How did your people feel about rebranding?

JB: Well, for such creative people, engineers can be very particular people. So for some, the idea of brand felt removed from the organization itself. So we decided to de-emphasize the word brand. Instead of saying “This is our new brand,” we say, “This is the new Hatch.” We want to keep it that simple.

CR: Tell me about some of the specifics of this change?

JB: It’s about reiterating our commitment to our clients. Thinking about their short- and long-term success and sustainability first, before our own, as we always have. We engaged Interbrand to speak to our

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clients to confirm the behaviors we’d need to adopt. We wish to remain completely relevant to their changing needs, particularly in this new environment. For instance, going to them with new ideas more often. Creating more opportunities for them, because we’re their partners. It also means meeting them where they are—physically going out to the sites more often. It means reminding them that we’re here to take on their toughest challenges. Anyone can do the easy stuff. We want the complex challenges. We want to transform our clients’ businesses, and the world. Nothing less.

CR: Is this about harnessing new technologies?

JB: Technology is always part of it, but real change is the result of new thinking, new actions. It’s about understanding how our clients feel about working with us. We have to continue to talk to top management and advise them with sound technical advice solid business thinking. We have to remind ourselves that we aren’t just designers and managers. We’re true advocates for our clients and savvy business advisors. We’re entrepreneurs with a technical soul. We have to always be thinking, “How can we help our clients improve their balance sheets today?”

CR: Does change include how you attract new people to your organization?

JB: Definitely. We have to continue to celebrate our experienced staff, but we are also seeking out and nurturing the finest young minds in the world. We are diversifying in gender, culture, language and capabilities. We want to solve the fact that our industry does not have enough female engineers, technologists, and business advisors. We need the face of Hatch to reflect the face of our clients and the communities we operate in. These are our values, and we know that young people today choose to work with organizations that embrace the same values they do.

CR: How are you spreading the purpose throughout your organization?

JB: First of all, everyone at Hatch is a brand ambassador. We have engaged all of our partners in the company, globally, to understand the reasons for change and to become our regional advocates for change. We have engaged many of our young professionals in the organization to help us with this transition—they believe in our new direction and see many opportunities for career growth. It’s very inspiring to see all of these brilliant people embracing and sharing a vision and purpose that can quite literally change the world.

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CR: Now that the re-launch is behind you, how do you keep the momentum up on the pace of change?

JB: One thing we’ve learned along the way is that our launch will never really end. We have to continue ensuring our people have the new tools they need to deliver on our promise to clients, every day.

We are also aligning all of our business processes with our new promise. We’re in the midst of helping our colleagues understand how we need to respond to our clients’ needs. Our website and digital presence are being revamped completely. Our customer-facing managers have all been trained to use the new Hatch story to reshape their clients’ experience.

CR: What does success ultimately look like?

JB: Success is doing what we’ve always done—put clients first—in new, more efficient ways. Ultimately we want to create an even better experience for our clients and our people. Fittingly, our new Hatch identity signals change in a very dramatic way, so no one misses the point! It is the basis of this new experience, and that, I believe, is the essence of a brand. It always comes down to the experience. How do clients and colleagues feel about working with Hatch, deep inside? That’s how we measure success.

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