Special Promotional Feature

By Ben Baker

I was recently reading a phenomenal article on Language by Blaine Millet.  There, he took the time to make the argument about speaking in the language of the client in business is critical to overall success. My view is that as important as speaking the language of your client is, speaking the language of your employee is even more vital.

Too many companies miss key factors in the overall success of their business. Effective internal communication and development of company culture based upon brand objectives are key to the overall success of any company. Most companies “think” they do a great job at this, but in truth, most are truly ineffective.

Why? Lack of common language.
Even if everyone in your office speaks English or French or Cantonese as a mother tongue and can verbally understand each other, this is not enough for success. Language is built on the nuance of understanding, not just in the ability to verbalize.

What most companies (and people for that matter) fail to remember is that just because we all hear the same thing, we do not interpret it the same way. Cultural biases, education, family background, past work experiences and many other factors colour how we hear things and interpret them for our own use.

For instance, I have two very good friends. If you told them both to be somewhere at 10am, one would be there at 9:50am and the other may show up around 10:15am or later. They both heard that they needed to be there at 10am, but the importance of being on time means very different things to each of them.

This example can play a major part in the breakdown in company culture. Unless everyone understands the vision of the company, its priorities and its brand in a similar fashion, then major disconnects happen. This challenge ensues when companies get larger and more spread out. The teaching of the company culture, so that it is understood consistently, is not followed up in the same way by different teachers of the culture; therefore culture can break down.

For that reason, we work to help companies build training videos and worksheets for on-boarding and on-going training that develop a consistent message and a reference to make sure that it is understood.

Take the time to look at how you communicate your vision, brand and culture internally. Little tweaks to material presentation and follow-up can make all the difference in the world to build your overall success.

Why is this so important? Very simply put, if your employees do not understand your brand, your direction and your value, how can you expect them to communicate effectively to your clients to that they understand your value and want to engage with you?

“The only thing worse than training an employee and losing them is to not train them and keep them.” – Zig Ziglar

Ben Baker is the president of Your Brand Marketing.   For more than 18 years we have worked with our clients to create Engagement Marketing Campaigns.  What does this mean?   We work to tell your story that supports your brand, message, market, value and culture.   We are here for you to help you engage both your internal and external clients, so that people understand what you do, why you do it and give them reason to find you valuable. You can reach us at:    yourbrandmarketing.com