Human Resources as a Strategic Brand Partner

It is possible to make the argument that branding actually lives more in the human resources department than it does in the marketing department. A corollary to this statement is that the key audience for the marketing department is employees, who are at least as important as paying customers.

Bill Oden, one of TMI's consultants, is prone to say that "Service branding in organizations is not about a way of doing certain things. Customer service branding is about a certain way of doing everything by everyone." And who better than both marketing and human resource departments (and training departments if they are housed separately from HR) to shape and communicate this "certain way"? If this is to be done, marketing professionals need to act more as integrators of the brand for the entire organization. And HR professionals need to act more as strategic business partners instead of personnel administrators.

An HR department can take many steps to redesign itself to match the organizational brand. From employment charts and policies and procedures to training programs, companies intentionally or unintentionally need to work at making their staff act, look, sound, and even feel that "certain way." Unfortunately, if not carefully and constantly assessed and nurtured, these efforts can wind up as veneers with no lasting impact on customer interactions.

An organization that designs its customer service to align with its brand must start from the premise that the brand will be displayed and delivered by staff who are influenced and inspired by their managers and supervisors. Employees not only must feel pride in the quality of their products, but they must also work within and feel engaged by the system that helps them deliver branded service experiences.

When an organization is branded from the inside out, managers will have a context by which to filter their supervisory behaviors toward their staff. Staff will also then be more likely to understand when service delivery does not match the brand position. When this happens, based on a solid description of brand DNA, all will know on a daily basis when they are off-brand, and they will know what they need to do to get on-brand.