Setting Clear And Measurable Objectives To Create Internal Brand Alignment

Posted by Allan Steinmetz on 16 June 2015

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This is the third submission in an 11-week series on how to launch an employee engagement program. Last week I spoke about understanding your internal audience and how to conduct internal research. In this post I will discuss how to set clear and measurable goals and objectives.

Brand alignment and employee engagement doesn’t happen by seat-of-the-pants tactics and efforts. It starts with clear, measurable objectives. It also requires an identification of the target audience, an understanding of potential obstacles, clear and purposeful messaging, a defined budget, and an overall plan to execute effectively.

Target Audience

The first step is identifying who you are targeting within the organization. Are you communicating with the entire organization, just the front line customer facing staff, or the senior executives/managers who have the greatest impact on the rank-and-file? The answers to these questions will help determine the key message that you select, the tactics you employ, and the frequency of communications. For instance, if you are targeting the entire organization it is necessary to identify a core message that is relevant to all employees in a common fashion. You must be cautious to avoid creating a message that would alienate one group over another. On the other hand, if you are targeting millennials, who are motivated differently than tenured employees, you would also need to take that insight into account when developing your core messages. In the case of millennials it would have an impact on what kind of tactics you select in regard to social media and recognition/reward programs. Therefore, understanding your target audience’s motivation, psychographic and demographic traits, and their functional responsibilities does indeed have a major impact on establishing clear and measurable objectives.

Audience insights and motivation

Equally important is understanding the motivations of your target audience. Having conducted research in the previous step, you should have derived insights into what inspires and motivates employees to change their behavior. We typically call this WIIFM, “What’s in it for me”. Are they motivated and inspired by compensation and incentives? Are they motivated by recognition and peer accolades? Are they motivated by learning opportunities, advancement and personal growth opportunities? The answers impact key decisions of your communication platform, message and tactics.

The biggest mistake when planning a brand alignment/employee engagement program is to assume that the entire audience is motivated in the same way. One message and tactic for all employees does not work.

Measurable objectives

Another key step in creating brand alignment through an employee engagement program is having a clear, concise and measurable statement of goals and objectives. This should clearly state whom the company is targeting, the core desired behavior to be achieved, and how long this process should take. A measurable, concise and verbal objective may sound like this. “XYZ Corporation intends to target millennial employees with a new and meaningful employee value proposition which is intended to inspire, motivate and engage them to be creative/innovative, work harder and longer hours on their own and have a clear line of sight for how their work contributes to the success of the company, within the next 36 months.” In this example, I have identified the target audience, (millennial employees) what the core message is, (new and meaningful employee value proposition which is intended to inspire, motivate and engage), what’s the desired behavior is, (to be creative/innovative, work harder and longer hours on their own and have a clear line of sight for how their work contributes to the success of the company), and how long it should take to achieve this goal, (within the next 36 months).

Once you have clarity of purpose you can put research instruments in place to track the behavioral change and attitudes of your employees to ensure you are achieving your goals and objectives effectively.

Clarity, purpose and timelines in your stated objectives will go a long way towards aligning senior executives to understand the task at hand and why it needs to become a priority.

If you would like to discuss ways of articulating your goals and objectives in a clear, concise, and measurable fashion, please give us a call for a free no obligation conversation/consultation. As usual, we like to hear your point of view on this topic as well. So please respond/comment to our blog post and be sure to forward it on to your social network and LinkedIn groups.