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COVER STORY
BREAKING Enterprise Engagement requires the

cultvaton and partcipaton of numerous

consttuencies, both inside and outside the
organizaton. In this excerpt from his new
Down Silos book, 'Strategic Brand Engagement,' author

John G. Fisher discusses how tomorrow’s

leaders must address the challenges and
opportunites posed by various employee
groups, communites, generatons, data sets
and motvatonal needs in order to break

down the walls between them and make
engagement work across the enterprise.

he sweeping changes in communicaton that mobile telephony and tablet technology have
ushered in mean that job-holders are now running their social lives concurrently with their
professional obligatons, ofen using the same devices. Part-tme and work-from-home
optons mean that the traditonal bonds between the organizaton and the people who work
for it have diminished to the extent that the old ways of exertng pressure to comply through
T coercion, weather gentle or heavy-handed, may no longer be relevant.
Tomorrow’s employees will assume the organizatons they want to work for will treat
them professionally when it comes to communicatng the employer brand, explaining values,
consultng them about changes and measuring feedback honestly. Just like with consumer
products, they’ll know the message they receive may change if they’re part of a diferent
employee community, and that one promotonal employer claim doesn’t suit all employee or
channel partner markets. They will be wise to the tone of voice and any phrases that try to
obscure the true situaton. If the organizaton doesn’t tell the truth, it will be found out very
quickly, such is the transparency of the internet and social media these days.
For an employer brand to work efectvely, it needs to project itself to the wider
community of business partners, advisers, ambassadors and advocates – not just its existng
“customers.” But these groups need to receive a coherent message that’s in line with
corporate values and very much “on brand.” Anything less looks unprofessional and careless;
it suggests the organizaton is unable to think in a straight line or with any authentcity.

‘COMMAND-AND-CONTROL’ IS OVER
More and more, employees and advocates are using open access social networking media to
run their everyday lives. Employers need to be aware that the standards of social networking
transactons, in terms of ethics, branding and behavior, will be the same as when interactng
with the organizaton, so there’s no point in having old-style, militaristc, command-and-
control rules for organizatonal life when the real world operates in a more relaxed, open and
collaboratve way.

The 30-year-olds coming through to positons of supervisory power are already familiar
with the digital age – they will have experienced no other world – so organizatons need to
adapt and trade up to the new platorms. Paper diaries, posters and notebooks are inefcient
and one-dimensional, ofering litle opton to share and discuss. They belong to the era of
private informaton and the closed shop of outmoded organizatonal power.

The availability of cheap and fexible data storage and usage systems means there’s
no excuse now for bland, broad reward & recogniton programs that take no account of
individual circumstances. Remuneraton can be personalized to the granular level, whether
it’s basic pay, performance rewards or loyalty benefts. What’s more, changes should be
accommodated at will if they’re benefcial to employees – rather than annually for the sake
of organizatonal convenience.

continued on page 18
engagement strategies Vol.18 Issue 1 17