employee branding

Don’t Let Personal Branding Stifle your Authentic Voice

June 9, 2009

There is a battle brewing between the concepts of Personal Brand and Authentic Voice. If you’ve been paying attention at all (and I’m sure you have) you’ve seen the articles and the individuals touting personal branding. Everyone from Tom Peters to Seth Godin to Dan Scwabel is online telling you how to create your personal [...]

Read the full article →

When Employee Branding Hurts

June 8, 2009

Employee Branding, done well, can be a great tool for the organization. The organization gets employees to behave in ways that are aligned with the organization’s desired brand message, and employees get a sense of connection to the brand and what it stands for, as well as a little bit of empowerment for making these [...]

Read the full article →

What’s your *personal* ROI as a Brandividual?

June 3, 2009

I’m not a wholehearted fan of personal branding. Some elements of applying a construct designed to sell products to the activity of selling oneself are a little questionable (as I argue in my Employee Branding research),  because personal branding can lead to an overly commercial understanding of the self. Quite simply, personal branding can become [...]

Read the full article →

What’s a Brandividual?

May 20, 2009

When I read that David Armano had “invented” the term “Brandividual” a few months ago, I muttered choice words from an array of Continental languages and berated myself for not having TM’d the word myself. Back when I started researching the practices of employee branding and ‘wearing the brand’, I’d toyed with the idea of [...]

Read the full article →

On the importance of Flair

May 6, 2009

The origin of “flair”? Every Organizational Behavior scholar’s favorite cult flick: Office Space.

Read the full article →

Wearing the Brand: Good idea, bad execution by Thai Highway Police

February 10, 2009

Employees are often asked to wear clothing and accessories that visually reflect how their organization wants others to see it. Anyone who’s seen a Southwest Airlines employee in shorts and a polo shirt, a New York Symphony Orchestra violinist in his tuxedo, or Jennifer Aniston sporting some "flair" has seen employee branding in action, in [...]

Read the full article →

Employee Branding in Reverse: Satyam Scandal turns employees into Untouchables?

January 22, 2009

(photo of Satyam colleagues by Tony George) When the organization you work for is involved in a major ethics scandal– does this mean that you and all other members are ‘marked’ too? And does this make sense? Yes. When the organization that you are part of becomes tainted by a public scandal, you and other [...]

Read the full article →

McCain Campaign Exploits the Race of Their Hired Help

October 28, 2008

The McCain Campaign has hired Obama supporters to work as as "paid volunteers ."  As reported by Tom Baldwin in the UK Times, and picked up by The Huffington Post and the Daily Kos, the McCain Campaign is paying temp workers $10 an hour to go door to door handing out absentee ballot requests. Although [...]

Read the full article →

Organizational Identity, Employee Branding and Political Contributions: Should you care if The Body Shop leans Republican?

October 27, 2008

The Body Shop is Republican? Anita Roddick must be rolling over in her grave. Released last week were the results of a study that shows how organizations have supported the Republican and Democratic parties. The data include direct corporate support (through Political Action Committees) and/or the support of these organizations’ employees (through individual donations). You [...]

Read the full article →

The Lyin’, the Which? , and The Wardrobe: Palin’s new clothes cost her more than $150,000

October 23, 2008

Sarah , Sarah , Sarah . Just when I’m ready to move on to other topics, you serve up yet another opportunity to understand organizations and authenticity. This time, the lessons are all about image, and the relationship between how we present ourselves and who we really are. If Palin’s wardrobe upgrade had been well-executed, [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →