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Free E-books To Download

The Four Steps of Forced Focus Thinking

Penny developed Forced Focus thinking to help guide actionable outcomes for a variety of issues and problems. Indeed, the process applies beyond marketing solutions, to any type of problem that requires a rethink because circumstances have changed.

Download your FREE E-Book about The Four Steps of Forced Focus Thinking.

The Essence of Attracting and Retaining the Best People

Through her consultancy and research projects with a wide range of clients it has become clear there is a growing need for better Employer Branding; a need for employers to place as much emphasis on internal branding as they do on external branding. This book uses Penny’s wisdom and experience together with purpose built research conducted amongst the various generations to understand what today’s employees want out of their work life, and to help employers focus on the urgent need to build a more engaging workplace brand.

Download your FREE E-Book about attracting and retaining the best people.

7 Vital Facts you need to know about Market Research

Market Research is a skilled profession that gives many marketing professionals the certainty they need to proceed with marketing programs and launches. Research can be one of the most defining factors in guiding intelligent decision making. The problem is, there's a lot of unintelligent research that doesn't help guide the future, and in fact, gives the discipline a bad name. So in this e-Book, read the vital factors I believe make the difference between a great research outcome and an average one.

Download your FREE eBook about the 7 Vital Facts on Market Research.

7 Vital Facts you need to know about Market Research - Podcast by Penny Burke

The 7 Vital Facts you should know about branding your workplace but don't

The fact is that despite a slowing global forecast, attracting and retraining the best people remains a key issue for CEO's.  And one way to help build a committed workforce is to build a more engaging workplace brand.  This e-Book outlines the key aspects of workplace branding.

Download your FREE eBook about the 7 Vital Facts you should know about branding your workplace but don't.

The 7 Secrets of Facilitation

Anyone can facilitate a meeting, but facilitation of a meeting that results in a specific list of actions; in a disparate group of people to become aligned; in a committment to behave differently tomorrow than they did yesterday - now that's a skill!  Read about our Top 7 Secrets to great facilitation.

Download your FREE eBook about The 7 Secrets of Facilitation.

4 Vital Factors for Successful Culture Change Programs

Culture change programs are all the buzz in the corporate world these days.  Read about the 4 key factors we believe need to be in place for any culture change program to be successful, rather than just an expensive dalliance.

Download your FREE eBook about 4 Vital Factors for Successful Culture Change Programs.

The 6 Key Future Trends you need to know about

Any marketer or seller should be interested in future trends that will shape the consumption curve.  There, the 6 key global trends in consumerism are outlined and explained with excellent real life examples and a global focus.

Download your FREE eBook about the 6 Key Future Trends you need to know about.

The Commitment Model Series

The Commitment Model - Part One

One of the most important things Penny has learnt over her career is that building greater commitment is the most critical success aspect for any marketer, whether it is commitment to buy a certain product or service, commitment to behave in a socially responsible way, or commitment from employees to a workplace. True marketing success lies in the ability to deliver functional benefits, but more importantly, an inspiring emotional promise. Penny developed a proprietary model called the 'Commitment Model', which you'll find in the attached eBook.

Download your FREE eBook about The Commitment Model.

The Commitment Model - Part Two

This e-book is looking at how to gain greater commitment by moving from Confusion to Clarity. People often say isn’t KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING the same thing? And this is the crux of this quadrant because they are absolutely two different things. Knowledge is good, it is important, and given no information at all, is an excellent starting point. But ‘knowledge’ is not the same as ‘understanding’! Find out more by:

Downloading your FREE eBook about The Commitment Model - Part Two.

The Commitment Model - Part Three

This e-book is looking at how to gain greater commitment by looking at the third quadrant, moving from Distraction to Focus. Find out more by:

Downloading your FREE eBook about The Commitment Model - Part Three.

The Commitment Model - Part Four

This e-book is the final one in the series of four looking at how to gain greater commitment by moving from Behaviour to Results. It is important that a brand’s behaviour reflects that which is true to the essence of what it’s about. Find out more by:

Downloading your FREE eBook about The Commitment Model - Part Four.

Penny's Podcast's

Listen to Penny's Podcast - interview with Alan Stewart from the Marketers Podcast.

Listen to Penny's Podcast - interview with Stewart Cameron from Robert Half International.

Articles

Special Features - Human Capital Management AHRI

How to Find the Heart of Your Employer Brand - Book Excerpt

Article Featured on the CEO Online website - www.ceoonline.com

Using Your Internal Workplace Brand To Attract And Retain

There is evidence showing that the labour market is changing globally, and the impact on the future workplace will be considerable. There's no reason why a workplace shouldn't be considered a brand to help attract and retain staff. But it's easier said than done.

There is currently the lowest level of unemployment in three decades, encouraging employees of all ages to reconsider their options. Add to that the restless energy of Generation Y and you have a workforce that no longer finds it inspiring to put in the hard yards at the one company in order to achieve the gold watch at the thirty year mark.

So what can you do to improve your chances of attracting and retaining the best talent in a market that is actively working against it? You can improve your workplace brand.

For years, many companies have spent a lot of money ensuring that their external brand is well polished and that they engage their target customer as strongly as possible, in order to build loyalty to their product over competitors.

Yet few employers maintain the same focus on their internal brand and their internal customer, the employee. Whereas the marketing department spends considerable time and money fine-tuning the external brand in minute detail, the representation of the internal brand isn't afforded the same luxury.

Similarly (some would say consequently), from the internal ‘customer' perspective, it appears employees are not as connected to, or as engaged with, their employment brand as they are with the goods and services they are able to purchase as a direct result of that employment.

The workplace is where many of us spend at least five days every week (often more time than we spend with our life partner), the place to which our aspirations and ability to progress in life are inextricably linked, and where for many, our self-esteem and sense of self is determined. Should we not be as emotionally attached to that place as we are to our Nikes?

If we think about the skills shortage and the inevitable effect this will have on organisational ability to attract and retain the best talent, then it stands to reason that a more engaged workforce will have a positive effect on turnover levels.

Why is a workplace any different? Shouldn't we as employers want staff to be every bit as involved and engaged as our most loyal customers? Here are the seven vital facts you need to know about how to build a workplace brand that can really attract and retain the best talent.

1. Jobs are dead. Understand that your workplace is not offering a job, you are offering an experience. And the best workplace brands reflect that experience.
   
   Google just won the coveted best employer award in the US. Apart from the functional benefits one gets working at Google, employees celebrate an environment that allows people to pursue success on their own terms.
   
   This environment is underscored by free on-site washers, dryers and detergent, the annual free ski trip, unlimited sick days, lap pool, volleyball courts, free snack stations, subsidised massages, climbing wall and 11 free cafes.
   
   It is not just the functional benefits that makes the employer brand strong - it is the emotional bonding employees feel as a result that enhances the workplace brand experience at Google.
   
   
2. Put people in charge of internal branding who know how to build engaging brands. Many companies have the marketing department in charge of the all important external brand and have the Human Resources department manage the internal brand.
   
   If you are a human resources person and you are in charge of developing the employer brand, that's excellent and exciting. But get some training on how to do it if you haven't done it before. It is possible your accomplished skill set has greater core competency in areas such as policy and process, which is very different to a way of thinking to build an engaging workplace brand.
   
   
3. Don't try and please all of the people all of the time. If you go for the lowest common denominator and try to build a brand that will appeal to everyone you will run the risk of being bland and uninspiring. It is better to stand for something than nothing at all.
   
   
4. The new loyalty is the people, not the company. One of the number one aspects that Generation Y, for example, are looking for are great leaders and inspiring leadership.
   
   So actively hire leaders and good people throughout your organisation. Sure, they have to be proficient at their functional role - but are they inspiring leaders that others will really want to work for? A great leader is an excellent retention tool.
   
   
5. Consider the under-employed in an attraction strategy. The grey generation, people with disabilities, non english speaking people, young mums. There are opportunities to attract solid talent in a typically underutilised demographic.
   
   
6. Shorten the distance between the external and internal brand. There's no point presenting a sexy and inspiring external face but being regarded by employees as shallow and uncaring to your internal audience.
   
   This merely dramatises that they are being thought of as an expendable bottom line cost, whilst external customers are seen as investments. Think of your employees as an investment and see how it changes your perspective.
   
   
7. Force yourself to focus. People generally don't like to change unless they are forced to, and that includes CEOs. If you want to attract and retain the best people in the midst of a skills shortage, you have to focus on it as much as you would any other major organisational initiative. Force yourself and your senior management to focus on building a more engaging employer brand, or it will never happen.

AFR Article - Featured 13 March 2007.

Work Space - A million reasons to show your brand

Click the link below to view the article.

March 07 AFR Article

 

Article Featured in AdNews - 5 April 2007

Adland dubbed poor brand builders

Story by: Nina Lees

MELBOURNE: Former Clemenger BBDO board member Penny Burke has released a book that warns Australian ad agencies to get serious about internal branding if they want to overcome the skilled staff shortage.

Burke believes ad agencies – among other Australian companies – need to promote their virtues to employees who are now exercising their choices when it comes to employment.

Her warning comes as the advertising industry complains that there aren’t enough appropriately skilled staff to fill many of the most basic roles within the agency environment.

Burke interviewed a number of company CEOs when researching her book, called Forced Focus, and came across a call centre CEO that revealed staff turnover was at 120% annually, which she says proves her point.

“I believe the advertising industry and marketing sector haven’t applied the concepts of branding to their own workplace,” Burke said.

“There are some agencies out there who are treating their internal customers [their staff] in a way that they would never treat their external customers. Advertising agencies should see their staff as a new market to get their internal brand out there.

“But what tends to happen is that the builder lives in the worst house in the street.”

Burke, who worked as the director of strategy planning at Clemenger BBDO for 12 years, has spent more than 20 years researching why people buy what they buy and preparing major corporations for future market changes. Her advice comes after detailed analysis of international data, market information and local examples to build a case for building better internal brands.

Burke left Clemenger at the end of 2005 and has been consulting independently to mainly niche clients. Her consulting company is called Essence.

Forced Focus Book Review

The Age - My Career, Saturday 5 May

The Age Sat 5 May - FF Book Review