He sat in the witness chair, fidgeting nervously. While he felt that he didnt do anything wrong, it’s still a bit unnnerveing to be in that seat.
The charges- BrandSlaughter in the second degree.
What? He’s the President of the company. He wasn’t even there on the day of the accusation. And what’s BrandSlaughter?
Here’s what happened. A customer came into the business and, without getting into it too deeply, wasnt treated in a manner in which he expected. In fact, his experience was terrible…..in complete opposition to the company’s values, mission…. and their brand. The employee, when she realized that she was not in integrity with the brand made no ‘course correction’. She knew that she was out of line but didnt adjust at all. The customer was livid, left the business and vowed to never return.
Question: Was the employee wrong? Of course.
Question: Did the employee reduce the value of the brand? You bet.
Question: Should the employee be reprimanded? Of course.
Question: Should the President be held accountable for the brand value being minimized? YES YES YES.
THATS BRANDSLAUGHTER AND IT SHOULD BE PROSECUTABLE. ITS LIKE STEALING BECAUSE IT’S REDUCING THE VALUE OF THE COMPANY.
And THAT’S why the Company President is on the witness stand as a Defendant. He is ultimately responsible for the training and development of each employee as to their ‘touchpoints’- where the brand and the employee and the customer intersect and how it is to be managed in a way to support the brand.
COULD YOU IMAGINE IF COMPANY PRESIDENTS WERE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR MAKING CERTAIN THAT EVERY EMPLOYEE IS MANAGING THAT TOUCHPOINT PROPERLY AND SUPPORTING THE BRAND AT EVERY INTERACTION?
An exercise that we conduct with our clients is this: We have each job function’s employee go through a process of identifying their touchpoints and how they could best support the brand.
Further, we have groups of employees walk through the business with a yellow pad. Their task is to make a list of the company’s stated values and go around searching for examples of how the value is being supported (that’s one list)- and also how the value is being undermined (that’s the other list). They end up with two lists: One with great examples of value integrity and another with examples of value undermining and BrandSlaughter.
So, what do we do next?
1. Accentuate the positive. Celebrate the first list- show gratitude and do a collective pat on the back!
2. Illuminate the Negative. Look at the list of negative examples and face them. Follow the reasons that these infractions occur- what contributes to the challenge, etc and then see how you can go about Fixing it.
We Face It, Follow It and Fix it.
Why not do this with your personal values? Make a list of your values. Get out that yellow pad. Inventory where you are living those values….. and pat yourself on the back. Then inventory where you are less than congruent…. and get to work and ILLUMINATE THEM NOW!
http://www.illuminatethenegative.com
