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January 31, 2006
What's the difference between internal marketing and internal branding?
We often find ourselves playing semantic games with terms in our industry and two that are often used (incorrectly) interchangeably are internal marketing and internal branding. I recently came across a great definition that I thought bore repeating:
Internal marketing: "the application of marketing inside an organization to instill customer-focused values." It bridges marketing with HR (Human Resources) to attract, motivate, and retain employees, with an emphasis on getting employee commitment to marketing and organizational goals. Think of it as an umbrella concept encompassing any & all activities, events, internal public relations, etc., that reinforce the importance of customers AND the employees who take care of them.
Internal branding: "the process of aligning day-to-day activities, business processes, job designs, and recognition & rewards with the brand identity to drive business results." It is part of a focused brand strategy that helps employees understand and integrate brand value(s) in their respective roles to ensure they can effectively deliver on the brand promise.
You can read more about this on the Quality Service Marketing blog at http://qualityservicemarketing.blogs.com/quality_service_marketing/2006/01/internal_market.html.
Posted by Christopher at 6:38 PM
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| TrackBackJanuary 25, 2006
Utility workers sue ComEd, saying work encroaches on private lives
A very interesting situation is unfolding at ComEd, a utility company in the Chicago area. The company has cut its total payroll by 22 percent since 2001, in contrast to other utility companies of similiar size that have stayed the same or even grown. The workers who remain are saying the company is asking too much of them by requiring them to answer service calls after they've gone off duty.
Over 300 employees have filed a class-action lawsuit, challenging a two-year old policy requiring workers to respond to 35 percent of calls to fix outages. Another 134 are petitioning to have their names attached to the lawsuit. At the heart of the matter is a change to a system in 2003 that replaced a voluntary system in which foreman handled calls to their crews for after-hours work with an automated system that calls everyone. Those who responded to less than 35 percent of the calls in any quarter are subject to penalties, starting with an unpaid day off and ending with termination.
The workers are seeking millions of dollars in pay they say is owed them for being available to work on weekends. In the meantime, many employees say workers relationship with the company is (not surprisingly) in bad shape.
This gets us into a very interesting area in employee engagement -- to what extent can companies regulate employee behavior off the clock or require employees to be available 24 hours a day? We are just about to start exploring this topic in a white paper -- please feel free to contact me (cph@edelman.com) or post here with your thoughts on this topic or situations you'd like to see us explore. With the continued move toward flexible workforces operating across global markets, I foresee this being one of the cornerstone issues in the second half of this decade.
Posted by Christopher at 7:00 AM
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| TrackBackJanuary 20, 2006
Worker safety still needs to be a priority
According to Boston-based Liberty Mutual, the leading private provider of workers' compensation insurance in the United States, on-the-job injuries cost employers a pretty penny. Workplace injuries cost employers nearly $1 billion per week in payments to injured employees and their medical care providers.
In 2004, a total of 5,703 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States, an increase of 2 percent from the 5,575 fatal work injuries that were reported in 2003. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of fatalities in 2004 was the third-lowest annual total recorded by the fatality census, which has been conducted each year since 1992.
Overall, the rate at which fatal work injuries occurred in 2004 was 4.1 per 100,000 workers, down from a rate of 5.3 fatalities per 100,000 workers ten years earlier.
More good news: Workplace homicides were down sharply to the lowest level ever recorded by the fatality census. Unfortunately, however, fatal injuries resulting from being struck by an object rose 12 percent, overtaking workplace homicide as the third-most-frequent type of fatal event.
The element of work environment is one of the six fundamental areas of employee engagement (in how we look at it) and, as the above statistics show, is one that might have the biggest financial return if focused more on. Find out how much your company is spending on injury-related claims and lost work days, and then start digging down into the data -- in all my experience, lack of communications and engagement is what's behind it.
Posted by Christopher at 8:11 AM
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| TrackBackJanuary 12, 2006
A woman looking for a boardroom seat? Try Norway
As of Jan 1, Norway's government requires that within two years, 40 percent of the board members of the nation's large, publicly traded private companies must be women -- putting about 700 board seats up for grab.
In anticipation of the law, companies have increased the number of women on corporate boards to 16 percent from 8 percent two years ago. This is an interesting answer to a problem plaguing all countries -- lack of representation of women and minorities in top executive roles.
In a recent survey of 450 European companies by the Aspen Institute Italia, it was revealed that only one company (Vodafone) was led by a member of an ethnic minority. Among the top 30 companies on the German stock exchange, only one board member is a woman -- the company is the pharmaceutical giant Schering.
I have long held the view that the world would be a much better place with far more women in charge -- perhaps a visit to Norway is in order soon?
Posted by Christopher at 5:29 PM
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| TrackBackJanuary 1, 2006
New comic strip focuses on retail workers
A new comic strip debuted today called "Retail," done by cartoonist Norm Feuti. In it, the 35-year-old Feuti draws upon his 15 years of retail experience to expose "bickering employees, spineless managers and cruel shoppers" just as the popular strip "Dilbert" parodies the absurd nature of office life and politics. It's syndicated by King Features -- you can check out some of the strips at their website: http://www.kingfeatures.com/.
Posted by Christopher at 5:11 PM
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I have worked retail for 26 years,and this strip means a lot me and my coworkers. I have been told that this strip helps some of us get through the day. Thank-you!
Posted by: w walter at May 12, 2006 10:34 PM