I was in the City, London’s financial district, for a meeting the other day and found myself in Pudding Lane.  For those who don’t know, this modest little street is infamous for being the source of the great fire of London, heralded by historians as the most tragic event to have befallen London as well as its saviour.

 

But “how can this contradiction hold true?” I hear you cry.  Well London had been in the grip of another epic threat at the time of the fire, namely the plague or black death. Many believe this cataclysmic malaise to have been caused by rats. In truth it wasn’t the rats, but the fleas that lived on the rats that caused the spread of the infection.

 

Ironically it was the catastrophic great fire that finally purged the City of the disease.

 

Now what has this trip through London’s history books got to do with matters in CEO land?

 

As we all know, the corridors of CEO land are populated by a nodding, bowing and scraping populace doffing their caps to the demi gods. Yet it’s increasingly the ceos or chief engagement officers i.e. the line managers, who do the real work.

 

It also can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that the financial districts are being targeted by the worldwide press as the source of the current economic disease that is infecting world markets.  Indeed the high profile figureheads, the CEOs of a select number of those organisations within those financial districts are being demonised for seemingly single handedly bringing about the collapse of those institutions and indeed, spreading this economic plague to related markets and economies.

 

This is where history and imagination collide.  But if we allow ourselves to believe tabloid caricatures of “Fred the shred” and his peer group we undermine the core philosophy on which this column is based.  While I do subscribe to the notion that the CEO can wield exceptional power, he doesn’t do it alone. The iniquity of the CEOs themselves and problems the City faces are just the symptoms of a much, much more insidious infection.  The disease of selfishness, short termism and winning at all costs has become a plague which has arguably spread throughout Western commerce. Simply getting rid of the CEOs isn’t going to cure the problem.

 

Would anyone reading this column deny that they feel uncomfortable about the way many of their customer service interactions, regardless of industry, are handled these days? From the volumes of unsolicited cold calls we receive, the cost cutting off-shoring of our intimate data, the proliferation of mistakes or the relentless emails can anyone claim that customer service has improved in the last decade? Can you picture the last time you received excellent service which exuded empathy, humility and pride?  I bet you can think of several examples when a frontline employee called you “mate” instead of by your name, was clearly following a pre-determined script or appeared to have had an authenticity bi-pass, however.

 

The risk we currently face is that in a desperate attempt to fight the current economic disease, the focus is going to be exclusively on the high profile figures, forgetting that the disease has already spread and infected the culture of the organisations they headed up. 

 

Unless we can whip up a firestorm of people centred change that will:

-         reinvent HR

-         proactively manage employer brand

-         professionalize communications

-         respect and prioritise organisation development

-         focus on the development of line managers as a priority

-         forge more effective relationships between the external manifestation of brand and the link to the organisation’s values and the employees who keep the promises

this disease is going to spread and spread.

 

Food for thought, but lean times are quite possibly causing you to consider postponing that employee survey; to cut back on your training budget; to force through more “push communication” or prioritise that pile of  impressive looking resumes of former “big hitters” who seem to hop from company to company every two years above appraisals of existing employees. 

 

If you’re considering “re-sizing”, pause for a second before you reach for the axe, and consider your existing employees once again.  What more can you do to re-connect them with the brand they’ve been loyal to for so long? How can you re-focus them on the next phase in the evolution of the company, to re-energise them?

 

Now look again at those cvs. 

You may think you know who the rats are…. but remember the humble flea!

Still struggling to make the business case for employer branding? 

Ian@by2w.co.uk

Available now: Brand Engagement - How Employees Make or Break Brands (Buckingham, Palgrave/Macmillan 2007)

 

 

I don’t entirely subscribe to the notion that your senior executives should be the archetypal hero leaders. Conversely I believe that there’s far too much made of the pivotal role of the chief exec as a role model and internal communication font. . Yes the premier director is the critical architect of public opinion and external stakeholder relations. He/she should also be the maestro in the top team orchestra. But unlike the conductor he/she can hardly be expected to grab the second fiddle when their owner misses his bus.Line managers are key communicators I’ve worked in the communication, change and OD sectors for quite a few years now and there’s very little doubt in my mind that the most important communicators within organisations are line managers and supervisors. In fact, with the re-engineering of so many customer-facing processes, the emphasis placed on the engagement skills of line managers is rising. Of course it’s important that the members of the top team are all ‘on song’ and ‘in tune’. Of course it’s vital that they share a belief in and can convey the compelling story of the evolution of the business. But it’s the line managers who are the everyday representatives of that story, they are the daily sponsors of the brand. Line managers are today’s hero leaders, the chief engagement officers or ceos. They are the ones uniquely placed to connect with the largest cadre of people and to do so with authenticity. Why? Because they stand the greatest chance of really understanding the customers and employees, and only they can truly translate the corporate sound-bites into engaging, digestable chunks. Streetcorner communication Just as I believe passionately in ’streetcorner communication’, I’ve little doubt that people are more effective when they can be themselves in the workplace. This is especially true when the job they are doing is in line with and encourages expression of their core values. In recognition of this notion, some organisations have responded with a raft of cascaded initiatives and events designed to encourage people to trust that the leadership values their contribution and cares about them. These attempts to engage with employees by encouraging them to be themselves at work certainly need to be sponsored and, where possible centrally co-ordinated but they are undeniably most effective when they are implemented locally in an appropriate style that is in tune with the local culture. The following news report lampoons what happens when organisations attempt to institutionalise employee engagement without empowering and enabling their local leaders. You make up your own mind about the split between fact and fiction in the tale: A homage to The Onion.com: News report   London - England “In workplaces as diverse as a DIY Double Glazing in Deptford through to Cooperative Biscuit’s largest plant in Hyde, Manchester, English workers joined their international comrades on Saturday to commemorate yet another “Bring Yourself to Work Day” with sporadic, scripted and mandatory celebrations.   Office workers settle in for a full day’s worth of activities “Bring Yourself to Work Day is a special workplace event observed five times weekly, and often more, in every factory, office, warehouse, restaurant, and retailer of goods or services worldwide. The event has been institutionalised in the U.S. for generations now and is just catching on here in England as a way to instill in the workforce a sense of responsibility through repeated exposure to a largely unfulfilling work environment. It also introduces otherwise inactive adults to the benefits of steady employment, being managed and the importance of punctuality. “‘This is really a positive experience for everyone involved,’ said Human Resources Senior Vice Executive Maureen Smith in a special ceremony at her own Harlow office, during which her staff ate jam doughnuts as they stared at their computer screens. ‘Each day is a chance for employees across England to reacquaint themselves with the particulars of their jobs, whether they consist of marking exam papers or unloading tins of cat food off wooden pallets. What’s more, many of them get compensated for it.’ “That this celebration occurred on a Sunday, fast becoming the traditional start of the work week, was not lost on many English workers during their morning commute. ‘Bring Yourself to Work Sunday, eh?’ said Brentford systems analyst Alex Bass, 34, who commutes an average of three hours a day but had clearly just heard about this festival. ‘Can’t argue with that.’ “‘It’s too bad I’m not awake enough to fully appreciate such a great milestone,’ said Super Drug cashier Alecia Wallace, a 29-year-old Aylesbury mother of two. “Bring Yourself to Work Day events include special presentations, conference calls, and various deadlines. But there’s time for leisure, too, including having short non-work-related conversations with coworkers, eating lunch, making tea, reading memos, receiving team briefs and going to the bathroom. “And there’s incentives too! If the employer feels an attendee has adequately brought himself to work, the participant may be invited to join in a broader series of activities, where he can learn more about the importance of being a team player and brand ambassador, what to do during meetings, and how to patiently await a cost-of-living pay increase. “The mood was palpable as commuters set out to mark the historic occasion. “‘I’ve been coming to Bring Yourself to Work Day since I was 19,” said Croydon resident Nancy Kordich, 21. ‘I shouldn’t say this but sometimes I get the urge to not bring myself to work, but I always relent, because if I don’t go, who knows when I might get the chance to participate in a celebration again? This isn’t being recorded is it?’. “Although some participants choose to mark the occasion at a single location for many years, others prefer to bring themselves to several different affiliated job sites successively over the course of one lifetime. Studies suggest that millions of especially enthusiastic English folk regularly enjoy bringing themselves to two or three jobs each day. “At one time, virtually all US employees were encouraged to participate, until legislation passed in 1938 limited the celebration to people over the age of 14. “While the vast majority of those taking part in Bring Yourself To Work Day are rewarded with a modest cash gift or momento from the employer, some complain that there is little correlation between the amounts given and the amount of time spent celebrating. Still, many admit they have grown quite attached to the daily occasion.” “‘I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for this event,’ said drywall installer Donald Simmons, 42. ‘Probably watching tv, or sleeping in. Or at one of my son’s five-a-side games.’ “Added Simmons, ‘You know, for a big celebration, Bring Yourself to Work Day goes awfully slow though.’ “Although archaeological evidence shows that Bring Yourself to Work Day has been an observed human event for at least 30,000 years, several historians theorize that the day could stretch back as far as the time of Homo erectus, when early humans first realised that antelope would not willingly allow themselves to be eaten.”