Employees and Communication

People are the corporate brand. They interact with audiences and each other, make the products that organisations sell and define and create marketing communication strategies. Perceptions of an organisation are determined, directly and indirectly, by managers and staff. It is their values and their idea of what the organisation stands for that give it cohesion and meaning. Yet it is surprising that employees are all too often ignored as corporate brand communicators by companies and their consultants. From a company perspective this is because, apart from those with overt communication roles, people are seen to be the responsibility of the human resources function. People tend to be regarded simply as a component of the organisation. Yet, look at any fledgling company and you realise that it is the people that define its existence. As organisations grow, the value of people can get lost amidst strategies and structures and finance, but the reality is that the management of people determines both competencies and strategies. The US retailer, Nordstrom, specifically derives its competitive advantage from the quality of its people. It achieves this not by training, but by selecting people that fit its ethos; people that have likeable personalities, good self-motivation and a willingness to serve customers.