HOW TO BUILD A LOYAL BRAND

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. — J. R. R. Tolkien 

Companies these days place a lot of value on loyalty and wish to inspire this Attitude in their employees, but in times like these where employees switch jobs in the twinkle of an eye, and great pay, perks do not just cut it anymore, I will be sharing with you some tips that will enable you build a brand that is bonded together by loyalty, mind you these tips are what Great companies like Apple Inc., H.P, I.B.M, Procter & Gamble, Nucor have followed in building a great brand, Brands look to be like

1.)START WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE

When building a brand, it is imperative to start with the “right “people, because the right people have your underlying principles and as such drive your dream to fruition in the best way they can, check Great companies like Whatsapp, Google you will come to find that these companies were started and built by people who have similar backgrounds either as colleagues, or friends and you knowing having people like yourself help run your company will help build a great company culture

2.) PLACE GREATER VALUE ON THE PEOPLE, THAN THEIR WORK

This may cause ire from managers who will ask who will now do the work? I will refer you to the story of the Goose and the Golden Eggs , where the farmer placed more emphasis on the Golden Eggs rather than the goose, the Goose being your employees and the “ Golden Eggs” their work, remember you have to treat your employees the same way you want them to treat your customers

3.) GIVE AUTONOMY

Research In modern times have broken down forms of management into the categories: laissez-faire, Mentor-Mentee, Boss-Follower, Micromanaging,
Of all these options the best form of management is the Mentor-Mentee, as it ensures your character, your essence is transferred to your mentee, this will enable your vision to stay alive and moving even in your absence, it ensures great leadership also. In accomplishing your vision ensure when they are broken into small tasks and distributed within employees, a big room is left for employee input as this will boost the confidence, loyalty and trust amongst employees to your brand

4.) GIVE REWARDS

It is important that while employees, share in your vision and help you drive it, they should be rewarded for the hard work put in to achieve certain milestone or completed projects, while financial rewards can suffice, it is the little things that count, things such as “Thank you”, “Well done” even gestures such as giving a time out will go long in letting your staff know you believe and apply Tip 2.

5.) DO NOT SHOW FAVORITISM IN PUBLIC

While this may be difficult to do, when building a brand, you must ensure you keep this to a minimum, because remember we all have different capabilities and cannot all be effective at same rate, showing favoritism in public can cause split/negative loyalty to your brand, as it will spark up envy and cause a big rift in the team

6.)ENSURE EMPLOYEE INPUT IS APPRECIATED AND CONSIDERED

People will naturally look out for you, if you look out for them, in building a great and loyal brand, ensure your ears are not too far from the voices of your employees. Take time out to listen, evaluate and even some times toe the path an employee has suggested because haven followed the above tips, you will be sure and secured knowing your best interests are always protected, ensure in your journey to building a great brand you pay a listening ear.

7.) SHARE YOUR VISION ALWAYS

At every turn ensure you share the vision of your brand to your employees, let them see WHY they need to be what you expect them to be, this will serve as a continuous reminder to employees to let them know why they show up to work everyday

CONCLUSION
Building a great and loyal brand will not happen overnight, but taking time to apply these tips to your brand will not just help you build a great culture, but will also help you reduce High staff turnover in your brand, as this has been at the top of list of problems modern companies face.

Khadimah!

Michael Shabi