How to help your Employees know your Brand Story.

Many times brands and businesses employ people everyday throughout the year but many of these employees stay in these companies for the sake of having got a job and their core results is the salary paid to them. In fact if you were to do a survey in most of the companies around your location, you would discover that almost 80% of the employees do not know their company's Mission and Vision statements.

There is a reason why i do not agree sometimes with companies that hire special brand ambassadors besides their employees to create more brand awareness by telling the brand story to the world. You and me know when employees leave the business premises , they too interact with a huge number of people, from family members to friends and strangers. Hence taking measures to teach all your employees your brand story will equally bring you results just like the hired third party ambassadors.

But how exactly can employers encourage their staff to learn and tell the brand story, the following step should be closely examined and put in place;

1. Focused induction of new employees.
This requires the employer to ensure that all new members of staff are clearly given a brief of the history and current state of the company. This should involve discussions that relate to the company culture and behavior.

2. Clearly spell out the mission and Vision of the Company.
The vision and mission of  any company are the core back bone reasons why the company started and why the employees should first and foremost appreciate the company that they are joining. It is also at this stage that you can clearly spell out your core brand value to all your customers, partners and fans. The reason the mission and vision of the company is to make the employees understand that they are the ones to make the brand achieve or fail in its mission and vision. 

3. Accurately mention the core objectives of the brand.
These may include all the things that you intend to achieve as a company focusing on your employees, customers and partners. Ensure that your employees are part of the equation at all levels because this is what will motivate them always to take ownership of the brand in all circumstances. At this session, you can ask them to give you some feedback if they have heard anything about your brand before they joined. Also ask them if there is an outstanding story that your brand is known for out there. At this level you will be able to indirectly learn the reasons that attracted them to come and join your company.

4. Break down your brand Value Proposition.
Irrespective of whether you are an NGO, Government Institution or Privately owned business, it is always fundamental to vigilantly explain to your employees the problems that your services & products solve in society. This will clearly enable your staff to appreciate that you are a solution brand and as such your brand is very important to all your customers. Being able to break down the value proposition of your brand also indirectly communicates to your employees who your target customers/market id for your services and products. 

5. Create a mantra or periodic themes.
Always create mantras and periodic themes that remind your employees the core objectives of your business. This requires some bit of creativity so that it is easy to remember and keep it interesting for everyone to be part of it.

6. Encourage them to share your brand content.
Here you need to intentionally encourage your employees to share your brand's content with their networks and connections. As we all appreciate that in the current generation social media is one hell of a tool not to be ignored by everybody in business. You can also offer to hire social media specialists and experts to help you train your employees so that they can effectively use these tools to better themselves at the same time as they talk about your brand.

The above steps are some of the things you can do to enable your employees learn and be part of your brand story. I am looking forward to more steps you are going to suggest in the comments section.