IPR - Employment Brands - To Thine Own Self Be True

June 5, 2013

Institute for Public Relations

Employment Brands - To Thine Own Self Be True

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Employment Brands - To Thine Own Self Be True

By Sue Neumann, Praxair, Inc.

There's a strong link between employees' level of pride and their willingness to go "above and beyond" in their performance, according to my own company's recent employee satisfaction survey.

Praxair conducted focus groups with employees and external audiences from around the world to figure out what type of companies people want to work for and what traits they associate with our company. Fortunately, what they wanted and thought we offered were fairly closely aligned.

When establishing an employment brand, invest in getting the right data and apply it honestly. Only then can you leverage points of pride for current employees and help potential employees match their interests with what you can offer them.

In response to Tom Watson's IPR blog post on May 28: I agree stakeholders grant organizations the benefits of a good reputation based on their experiences. For public relations, I wonder about its reputation among those of us who practice it.

In 1992, I led a research team to assist PRSA's efforts to generate "PR for PR" by evaluating the reputation of PR. First we focused on media content analysis and the comparison of PR's media performance to that of the legal, accounting and medical professions. Findings showed 85% of all coverage about PR was positive and factual, and that the other professions performances were no better. However, when we sent a survey asking PRSA members to predict the results of the professional media performance comparisons, members assumed PR would rank at the bottom.

Granted, the 21-year-old study has its limitations. With widespread educational programs and the growing scope of the PR profession, perhaps attitudes have changed. But I continue to wonder, does the PR profession lack self-respect?

Business leaders can find new insights on what to expect from their employee communications programs in a new IPR study entitled, "Best-In-Class Practices in Employee Communication: Through the Lens of 10 Global Leaders."

The study features in-depth interviews with senior communications officers from 10 leading global companies often listed as most-admired and best-places-to-work, including Chevron, FedEx, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's and Toyota.

"Business leaders who understand that employees are key to company reputation and performance have every right to expect their employee communicators to be business people themselves," said S. Keith Burton, chair of the Commission and partner, Brunswick Group.

"You need to help your employees understand how they fit and why they matter. It comes down to their level of engagement at the end of the day," said one leader.

The full research paper is available for free on the IPR website.