Featured on Ad Age May 2009

If They’ve Got Strong Personal Brands, Use Them to Call Attention to Your Company

by Kaplan Mobray
Published: May 28, 2009

Kaplan Mobray

To stand out in an environment where it seems that everyone is talking but no one is listening, forward-thinking Fortune 500 companies are trying a new tack: They’re tapping into the personal brands of their most inspiring, effusive and public executives. In fact, rather than being viewed as renegade moonlighters, motivational speakers at companies such as Deloitte, Nike and Pitney Bowes have become their company’s most coveted brand ambassadors.

Personal brands can bring to life an organization’s culture as no print or digital image can, especially for a professional-services firm. Deloitte, an organization known for having several authors and renowned speakers, touts employees Brian Dzingai, a 2008 Beijing Olympics 200-meter finalist, and Tiffaney Florentine, a former participant on the hit TV show “American Gladiators.”

Author and speaker Kevin Carroll, founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst and also known as Nike’s “Katalyst,” travels the world promoting the culture and spirit of Nike. His personal brand has nurtured the company, provoked new ways of thinking and doing, and inspired the entire organization. Kevin has created value for his personal brand as an author and speaker and as a result has driven exponential value for Nike’s brand.

Keith Wyche, president of operations at Pitney Bowes U.S. and author of “Good Is Not Enough,” travels the country inspiring minority professionals. Through his work outside of Pitney, he is able to make meaningful connections with potential customers, businesses and retail consumers that translate into bottom-line value for Pitney Bowes.

Consumers increasingly base their feelings about a company on what they know about its people, rather than what an ad agency’s creative team can portray. As companies begin to understand the interdependent relationship between employees and profits, a new model for hiring and sourcing talent emerges. Social media will pave the way for applicants to build strong relationships with recruiters well before a face-to-face interview. Now, instead of taking traditional applications, jobs will find recruits after they have built powerful personal brands online or through other forms of recognition.

Hiring employees who have established personal brands will help companies immediately inherit value and relevance in a crowded market and may lead to quicker results in meeting growth objectives. Similar to following a popular icon on Twitter as a way to access a wider network of buyers, companies today will look for prospective employees who bring skill as well as recognition.

Bottom line: There’s a new and largely untapped resource within corporate walls that can help companies build brand equity, and it’s your employees — specifically those employees with individual personal brands. It’s those employees and their speaking engagements and other ways of reaching out that can help make corporate brands real, trusted and relevant in the minds of prospective recruits and customers.

Want to tap into the personal brands on your staff? Here are five tips.

Leverage the PR department. PR departments can play a critical role in helping companies establish directories where their personal brands can be put on display.

Promote from the inside out. The company e-mail newsletter or intranet is an effective way to find interesting facts about the people who sit right next to you. Use these vehicles to promote employees’ outside interests and accolades, creating tons of internal buzz that will have your company’s brand soaring and your people proud to wear your logo.

Tweet your people right. Social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are powerful tools through which companies can discover and promote their personal brands. As the lines between professional and personal continue to blur, companies that create more access for employees to tweet and add friends will bolster the bottom line.

Advertise online. Use the internet and search-optimization strategies to enhance the brands of your employees, not just your service or corporate brand.

Measure the impact. No personal-branding effort should go without measurement. Successful companies promote personal brands to help achieve a specific set of results. Have a measurement plan that includes a focus on awareness, recruitment, retention, innovation and culture. Measurement will reinforce the value of the people you promote.

Do You Have A Pink Slip Protection Plan?  By Kaplan Mobray

As the nation continues to struggle with a challenging economy there has been much talk about people losing jobs in this recession and much focus on helping the “job-seeker”.  But what about people who still have their jobs and are dealing with the daily stress of doing “double-time” to remain employed.  For this group, whom I call “job-keepers”, the stress of trying to keep a job can be just as daunting.  In fact, stress levels may even be higher.

Today if you have kept your job it’s most likely that you have inherited the jobs of one or more of your colleagues who were let go due to the downturn.  All this, while trying to focus on your own professional responsibilities and delivering results.  So what does it really take to keep your job? And how can you build a pink-slip protection plan to insure that you are kept in this uncertain economy.  Here are some tips to protect yourself from the slip.

Learn to Compete
The first line of offense in the pursuit of pink slip protection is to compete.  Learn to compete by asking for challenging assignments, volunteer for unpopular or mundane tasks, and offer to be the first one to accept staying one hour later to make sure the job gets done.

Build Skill and Recognition
To protect your job you must build your reputation for delivering skill and recognition.  In other words, you must build a personal brand that allows people of influence to see you as “necessary” and “needed”.  First ask yourself, are you an expense or an asset? Then make a list of tangible examples of how you are driving growth for your organization or group.  Find five key influencers in your company and ask them for advice on how to share the best practices of your accomplishments to help other divisions grow.

Your Attitude will Drive your Destiny
It is harder for an employer to terminate the office cheerleader. When you are asked the proverbial question “how are things going?” make sure your reply projects positively that you are a part of a positive solution.  For example, instead of saying I’m so busy doing three jobs in one, say “We’re making some great things happen”.  Your positive attitude in a time of despair will help you to be known for helping to keep the culture of your office focused on forward progress.

Ask For The Opportunity To Keep Your Job
You would be surprised to know that most people looking to keep their job do not ask for the opportunity to be kept.  It’s a bold move on your part but one that will show your commitment and dedication.  If you want to avoid the pink slip be the first one to ask your employer to keep you.