Regular visitors will know the tired drumhead I beat is about connecting internal communications to extenal communications, while not losing sight of the HR necessities that glue it all together. All too often our professional (over-) specialisation into marketing, HR or internal communications tactics and techniques blinds us to the bigger picture.
Gallup has published some interesting stuff in the past 6 months about where their Human Sigma(TM) product meets their Q12(TM) product.
In essence, in a study of 2,000 units across 10 companies, units with superior customer engagement (e.g. brand loyalty) outperformed the baseline by 170%. Those units with superior employee engagement (e.g., brand engagement) outperformed the baseline by a similar 170%.
However, things got interesting for the units that were above average (not leading, necessarily) in BOTH customer and employee engagement – with their performance at 340% above baseline.
This all links nicely to the Vivaldi study in 2002 that had these metrics at 160% and 320% respectively — more than coincidence? Probably not.
The point? If you can align your brand and marketing efforts with your internal communication and HR efforts, both your customers and your people benefit, and you make more money. Again, it’s the AND that is more important than the OR. Marketing alone is an OR. Employee engagement alone is an OR.
Or, in other words, employee engagement is OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE TO EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS in business performance. Are the budgets equal?
Filed under: Employee engagement, brand engagement, employee communication, employer brand, internal communication, internal marketing, organisational communication , brand engagement, Employee engagement, HR, human resources, internal communication, internal marketing, marketing and brand engagement
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
Good thoughts!
I agree that, in effect, no concept/process expected to contribute to an organization’s success (however that’s defined) stands alone. Neither marketing, nor EE, nor expense management, nor customer satisfaction, nor…
I would raise a perhaps contrarian point with your statement: “If you can align your brand and marketing efforts with your internal communication and HR efforts, both your customers and your people benefit, and you make more money. ”
That seems (to me) to imply that the internal comm/HR efforts are static and the brand/marketing efforts malleable and so can be aligned.
I suggest that both sets of efforts be always treated as equally flexible, with the ultimate intention of aligning them…no matter which has to give the greater.
Tim
However,
Thanks, Tim. I’m not sure why you inferred that I felt either were static. It’s truly a moving feast. I am still amazed and surprised when it’s clear that neither function is talking to the other about it!
Good post, Kevin. It’s always great to find numbers to put articulate the truths we work with.