Five Tests of an Employment Brand

How does your company's employment brand measure up? Read this article:

Speaking of Coffee...

By far, the best whole-bean esspresso roasts in Chicago is a two-way tie between Intelligentsia's Black Cat and Metropolis' Red-Line. Thought I'd put that out there just to get it out of the way... if not, I'd be forced to bring it up a-propos of nothing, which, technically, I just did. Sorry.

(Best machine? Anita by Quick Mill Sorry, did it again.)

ZMOT - Google's Zero Moment of Truth

This is a can't miss resource for understanding how the digital media landscape is changing the way people interact with brands! Most leaders are far too busy to track the daily changes in the digital universe. Its like the Wild West in the 1850's... lots of folks going in, lots of success and failure, and millions and millions of dangerous and unmapped territory. My big take-away from this ZMOT resource is the quote from the CMO of GE... to paraphrase... 'our job is to be present where people are looking for us.'

This does simplify things.
1) Who is looking for you? (customers, candidates, colleagues, etc.)
2) What are they looking for?
3) Where are they looking?

Navigate the digital landscape with these questions in mind.

An Attractive Workplace Culture

Michael Porter, the great business strategist, is famous for articulating the simple truth: there are only two ways to compete, through price or differentiation. You can be cheaper or you can be different. In my role at CareerBuilder, I talk to many companies about their employment brands. In recruiting, the Porter truth must be restated slightly... as an employer competing for talent, you can either be different or you'll pay alot more for talent! Yet, most companies I speak to have a very difficult time articulating what makes their employment culture different. I believe that every leader has the opportunity to breath life into a cultural strengths that will set their organizations apart. Don't fall into cliche's like "It's our people that make us different." Well, I hope so! Assuming your people don't moonlight with your competitors, that is a true statement... but true of every organization. What you might mean, is that it is something special... some behavior or value that you people do more consistently than anyone else, that makes you different. Talk about that. Lastly -- I'll add this to Porter's truism. "The only differences that matter are the ones people know about and care about." Find out what is true. Find out what people care about. Find out what is unique. Build your culture and brand around these.

Here is an interesting TED video (which I’ve been addicted to recently) – this one from Seth Priebatsch of SCVNGR – a game company. He presents four powerful game dynamics that gamers use to motivate people to change their behavior.

Applications:
#1: In learning, our goal is to change behavior. How can we leverage these dynamics in our course design, both live and elearning and blended? How does these fit into broader behavior change initiatives?

#2: In leadership – how might these dynamics change the way we lead our teams?

Bonus: He mentions 7 powerful dynamics, but only presents 4 of them. What do you suppose are the other three? I’m dying to know?

Keith

This is a fascinating capture of motivational truth. Now, Daniel Pink is a writer -- a very good writer, and what he has captured is truth that Dr. Robert Cooke and his researchers at Human Synergistics/Center for Applied Research have known for quite some time. Their Organizational Culture Inventory is a tool that measures the effectiviness of organizational cultures. They've long found that organizations that have constructive cultures: focused on norms of gooal achievement AND human development, learning, inter-personal connection, significance, inclusion, etc. are healthier and more effective in the long run. For a deep-dive into some research, check out this article by HS/CAR: Financial Returns from Organizational Culture Improvement.

Failure and Ideas

When I get timid, I stop taking risks. This is not good. What is the connection between confidence and innovation? When I feel confident, I'll tell a joke, sing a song, share an idea! I'm most confident with my kids at home... and we have a ball. Some of the craziest ideas are launched in living room light-saber duels and improv "Lilly and Loopy" bedtime stories.

Vivian Schiller, CEO of NPR describes their way of generating ideas... it looks like this:
(1) Talk really fast (ie. vibrant, unfiltered conversation)
(2) Tuned In "everyone understands what is going on in the organizaiton." This looks like lots of initiative taking, curiosity and transparency - we need to know what is, to know what could be!
(3) "Experiment Like Crazy" - no fear of failure (ie. no FEAR... failure will come, that's o.k.)
(4) Tether the ideas - in NPR's case, their core values of Quality Journalism & User Experience give purpose to their crazy experimentation. It is the criteria to determine what is good or bad. Tether your crazy ideas to your core values or desired outcomes and you're golden.

Watch the vid for yourself: http://www.fastcompany.com/mba/node/375?video=1

Makes sense!