Role of Human Resource in Building Brands

Role of Human Resource in Building Brands

© Sabari Ganesh; “All Rights Reserved” 
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Introduction:

The objective of any business venture is to provide positive value addition to the stake holders of the business. Profits, organic and inorganic development of the organisation are just indicators of their success in achieving the above. The vectors of positive value addition depend on the prospective and present consumers and customers perception of the organization’s products and services.

Segmenting the market based on the changing needs and wants of the consumers is a dynamic and continuous process. The success of any brand lies in its ability to satisfy and surpass the expectations of the intended market segment. The positioning of a company depends on the number, popularity and the revenue of the brands it possesses in every market segment.

With the onslaught of information, globalization has resulted in human resource also, wherein any person compares himself with his peer network across the entire world. Human resource is the prime source of strategic competitive advantage for any business venture. The employee being the prime and foremost customer of the company, any branding activity of a company should start from its employees.

This is defined as internal marketing, which in essence considers the employees of an organisation as its immediate market and present customer. The history of successful companies throws light on their management of human resource with more concern than its customers. Managing the work force with a vibrant and positive attitude is achieved by a series of management practices that include a streamlined internal communication process, an ethical standpoint on decisions pertaining to human resources and an open forum for exchange of views on the business of the company.

Segmenting Employees:

Apart from superior technology, modern machinery and an articulate work process; the prime requisite that ensures the profitability of the company is the voluntary effort of its employees. Managing the human resource is the potent and primary challenge that needs to be faced by any organisation immaterial of its business venture.

The success of the company in its business venture depends on the efficiency it demonstrates in providing positive value addition to its employees with individual customization. The primary module to achieve it is to segment the employees based on their immediate need sets, value priorities and correlate them with their position in the organization’s hierarchy.

In the present scenario of intense competition among players, recruiting employees of real talent is difficult; retaining them with a host of factors that promise a positive value addition to them is a staggering task. Positive value addition is no longer a simple activity that involves a fat salary package, attractive ambience of the work place or generous leave grants; rather it is a complex and dynamic riddle of managing the employee’s minds.

It is highly individualistic, challenging and at the same time interesting.

The organizations can no longer afford to have a general HR policy; a one size fits all dispositions when dealing with its human resource. The competition among professionals on a job vacancy has resulted in projecting their skill sets as inevitable to the profitability of the company. The result is the conversion of every staff function into a line function which has a direct impact on the profitability of the company.

The fine tuning of each task involved in every process has resulted in mapping of the requisite skill sets necessary to execute them in a professional manner. The impact of such a refinement is the erosion of preference accorded to seniority that is based on the number of years an employee has been with the organisation.

The business equation in managing human resource directly links the skill sets of an employee to his role and responsibility that should minimize costs and eventually become a sign of a positive value addition to the profitability of the company.

The traditional companies that represent a shrinking percentage in the pool of industry sectors over the non-traditional business ventures with promise to address a latent or a new found value proposition adds momentum to it. The above factors substantiate the necessity to address the material and psychological wants of the employees with multiple focus and individual customization.

Employer Branding:

The success of a company in catering to the employees individualistic wants; brands the employer as an efficient and charismatic personality that prompts a feeling of admiration, faith and assurance in their minds.

This in turn reflects in the employees’ communication with the outside world – the present and prospective customers and consumers; acting as the most effective publicity tool. The demand for individual customization makes employer branding more of an art than science; however, it can be easily achieved through simple initiatives.

The fundamental aspect is to demonstrate an assertion that the commitment and responsibilities of the employer shall be appropriately executed; and the employee’s inventiveness, involvement and performance that add positively to the fertility of the company are recognized, encouraged and rewarded.

Ultimately, the employer instills a self-image in the minds of the employees to be a combination of compassionate, dependable, ethical and firm personality. Such an employer branding perk up the invisible capital – the human resource by attracting the best talent that the industry has to offer, which in due course improves the financial stability of the company.

The basic element of the employer to become a sought after brand by the prospective talent pool of professionals in the market shoots out of the principles, character and functioning of the core management team of the business. It is imperative of the core management to provide individual attention to every employee, providing clear, crisp and concise focus on the responsibility that need to be shouldered by him; thereby creating an environment of meaningful existence for the employee in an organisation.

When every employee is engaged in the right activities with a clear understanding of his impact on the profitability of the company; results are just a matter of time. Genuine and unlimited output emerges out of challenged, empowered, energized and contented teams of people.

Employee Engagement:

            Employee engagement permits every employee to become a part of the action, allowing them voice their views to steer the organisation in the path of profitability. The availability of a forum for employees to speak their minds, spread a wave of positive emotions, ignite in them a natural sense of responsibility in the business of the organisation, which is found to raise productivity exponentially.

            When an organisation begins treating its employees as its customers, understanding their concerns, demonstrate a moral sense of care and commitment, with opportunities for feedback and conversation; the employees emulate the same attitude in their interactions with the customers. In short, the present day’s employee satisfaction is the seed for tomorrow’s customer satisfaction. This ultimately strengthens the brand and product offerings of the company, leading to profitability and growth of the organisation.

            When the management prioritizes the satisfaction of the employee, who strives for the company with the intention of making it profitable, ensures satisfied customers through him; which indirectly keeps the share and stake holders contented. An engaged employee, delivering superior performance is never accidental; but incidental cropping out of an aesthetically designed strategy with a strong focus on leadership, culture and freedom coupled with responsibility. This attracts, retains and develops the best quality of talent and visible expertise.

Factors of Employee Engagement:

            The first and foremost factor that acts as the base of successful employee engagement is to choose the appropriate professional with an attitude that synchronizes with the principle, focus and business value of the company. The employee thus selected could be trained in specific skill sets as per the demand of the business with ease and the fitment becomes natural.

            When the employee is communicated the vision, mission and goals of the business; in short the reason for the existence of the company in business and the responsibility that is expected out of him to propel the business forward; creates a sense of being part of a bigger pie than his individual professional gratification.

            When an employee thus propelled is given the necessary support systems for his professional development, scope for upward mobility in the organisation ladder; coupled with a proper work-life balance, greater flexibility in work schedules, and recognition of his personal and professional milestones with celebrations; strengthens the emotional bonding of the employee with the organisation that effectively bails out the company at times of crisis.

Conclusion:

            The success of a well-built brand is characterized by reduced attrition; ability to recruit and retain appropriate talent with considerable ease and finesse. The human resource and marketing are the two major arms of an organisation that could be a powerful tool in building and nourishing successful, strong brands. The human resource activities and branding activities of an organisation effectively complimenting the other; with the marketing activities providing valuable support system could transform an organisation into an enviable player in the market.