Transparency Archives

Are the “Best Places to Work” Really the Best?

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Saja Chodosh

The Clout of the “Best Places to Work” List

Companies like Fortune and Glassdoor have been dedicated to naming and honoring the ‘Best Places to Work’ for more than 10 years. And these awards have gained more and more clout with time. Much like colleges treasure their rankings, workplaces hold these awards like badges of honor.

The ‘Best Places to Work’ emblem is hung from work walls, integrated into recruiting and new hire materials, pushed on social media, and celebrated by the press, employees, and company executives alike. Our work building employer brands with companies looking to attract the best talent out there has showed us first-hand how much businesses today really value these rankings.

And for good reason – as a group of people who believe meaningful brands must be built from the inside out, we’re all for the pride. Focusing on culture and employee fulfillment, satisfaction, and happiness is key to building a business in the right way. The question is: What story do these rankings tell? Is it the whole story? And just because a workplace is deemed one of the ‘Best Places to Work,’ should recruits be jumping on the celebration wagon and signing contracts just like that?

First, Let’s Look at the Patterns

When you look at the companies who make the cut, yes, a bunch are big brand names you’d expect on the list. But many are less expected. So what ties them all together? Here’s what we noticed when we dug deeper.

1. They Lead with Purpose:

These are companies who are clear, aligned, and proud of who they are, what they stand for, and what they care about. Leaders have a vision for the future that everyone shares. The brands help employees live by the mission of the company every day – something we’ve always believed defines successful business today. Purpose-led companies who integrate purpose into their culture inspire and empower their employees to move the company forward in a meaningful and sustainable way.

2. They Offer Opportunity and Growth:

These are workplaces that celebrate employee accomplishments, foster a growth-mindset, work with employees to co-create the optimal work experience, and motivate employees to set high goals and help them actually meet those goals. This helps employees build a more meaningful relationship with their work along the entire employee journey. Above all else, employees feel as though they are invested in and valued – that people want them to grow, learn, be challenged, and succeed.

3. They Behave with Transparency:

Saying you value transparency is no longer enough. You have to live it – and not just externally. What ties many of these ‘Best Places to Work’ together is their leadership. Leaders don’t work in silos – they share challenges and successes with employees, hold open forums, have open door policies, and embrace honesty (even when it’s hard.) And it’s this kind of transparency that drives employee trust.

4. They Listen and Adapt:

The power of listening is huge. Being a good listener as an employer means you can better build empathetic, meaningful, and productive relationships with employees. This requires humility from leadership and openness to new ideas, perspectives, and opinions. And in turn, listening to employees creates more creative, innovative, diverse, and open work environments. Employers who not only listen – but act on what they hear – are able to flex to changing demands of employees, stay relevant and meaningful to the people who matter most, and never get stuck in past best practices.

It’s important to point out that what brings the companies in these lists together isn’t solely perks and benefits. Yes, a lot of the workplaces on the lists give out a lot of free food. Even free concerts, gym memberships, the most cutting-edge health benefits…But benefits and perks only get you so far. They have to tie back to employees – their purpose, their goals, what helps them grow.

Forget About Benefits and Perks, “Best Places to Work” Is About Something More

Because ‘Best Places to Work’ is often used in recruiting it’s important to remember that making any list of great places to work isn’t enough. Potential employees and current employees need to understand why you are not only great, but why you are a perfect match for them.

The employees who are going to drive your business forward not only care that you’re a great place to work (sure, that might be a plus), but they also care about connecting with you. A good fit means that they understand and admire what you do and why you do it. They feel aligned and connected to your business because it connects to their passions, expertise, and ambitions. Your purpose is a purpose they want to latch onto.

Yes, from 1984 to 2011, those that won ‘Best Places to Work’ outperformed peers on stock returns by 2.3% to 3.8% per year. But that’s because they did more than just display ‘Best Place to Work’ on their walls – they lived up to it. They committed to their unique workforce and their careers. They committed to their community. And they helped their community commit to their purpose with pride. In the end, those might be more worthy causes than any award out there. That being said, we wouldn’t be surprised if you made the list if you did just that.

If you need help evaluating your workplace and what you offer employees, give us a call and we can help you build a more meaningful workplace that will help you drive your business forward.

You may also want to download and read The Meaningful Workplace which has been downloaded more than 7000 times.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.

Why Millennials Love These Brands

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Saja Chodosh

Millennials: Center Stage for Brands

Millennials now represent the largest group of consumers within the U.S., and thriving brands today are highly aware of this. When millennials are wielding over $170 billion per year in purchasing power, there’s no ignoring this group of consumers.

Brands don’t win over millennials easily. In fact, in many ways, they hold higher expectations of the businesses they work for, the brands they buy from, and pledge loyalty to.

Big Demands

Millennials stand at the forefront of technology – demanding that brands offer more efficiency, innovation, convenience, and quality than ever before. And at the same time they are distrustful of the motives of many businesses. Thus comes the demand for greater transparency, more authenticity, purpose-led values, and an all-around dedication to social responsibility and shaping of a better world.

And brands who expect to cater to the millennial market, but aren’t focusing on their priorities, are doomed to fail in today’s competitive and over-crowded landscape.

So what brands are winning over millennials? Consider why millennials love these brands:

1. Casper: On-Demand

Casper, bed in a box model, has shown remarkable success and growth since 2014 because of the brand’s focus on millennial markets and their need for convenience.

Their ‘one size fits all’ mattress compressed into a box and delivered straight to people’s doorsteps is much like the beloved Warby Parker model. It’s easy, convenient, and void of commitment.

And like brands such as Uber, Lyft, Grubhub, and Netflix who’ve tapped into meeting millennials desire for on-demand convenience for just about everything, they’ve won over millennials who dread shopping for a mattress, negotiating the price, and lugging it from apartment to apartment, sleep deprived as ever. Nylon Magazine comments on how they’ve somehow made mattresses “seem new and exciting.”

2. Thinx: Generating change

Research has found that 90% of millennials now expect that the companies they support actively address societal problems and demonstrate social responsibility.

And Thinx is a prime example of a brand that is winning over millennials by challenging the status quo and changing the conversation. Thinx CEO Miki Agrawal noticed that traditional menstrual marketing techniques were anything but genuine or authentic. White dresses, flowers, happy sunlight dances – these images don’t resonate or empower millennial women who demand authenticity.

By approaching menstruation from an new angle (think high-end art ads of grapefruit halves and cracked eggs), Thinx re-wrote the expectations of the industry. Promising to empower women, making periods powerful, all while the company addresses the societal issues that surround menstruation globally.

As a socially responsible brand, Thinx donates money to Afripads, which helps Ugandan women manufacture and sell locally sanitary pads. And Source Fashion says because of Thinx, “the taboo is now national conversation and Agrawal is an international icon for the feminist and socially-conscious business movements.”

3. AirBnB: Experience-focused

Many brands today have discovered that millennials love adventure, crave new experiences, and want total immersion. In fact, millennials’ love of travel and willingness to spend money on travel experiences is more prominent than any generation before. Fortune found that 67% of millennials between ages 18- 24, and 75% between ages 25-34 have used a home sharing service in the last year.

Millennials want to seek new adventures, immerse themselves in different cultures, share experiences, and learn what home means to others. AirBnB and other brands in the same sphere (HipCamp, CouchSurf, and Behomm) have discovered how to play into millennials’ demand for new experiences and discoveries.

AirBnB has built their brand around the idea of ‘discovery,’ making sure the brand promise rings true at every touchpoint.

4. Amazon: Transparency and trust

With the fast-pace of technological innovation and digital branding, many millennials become more and more distrustful of business today. They want radical transparency. And often, this is what brands need to provide in order to build real, sustainable trust.

Amazon’s dedication to transparency and trust building – transparent pricing, open reviews, easy cost comparisons, steady low shipping – has propelled the brand into the hearts of many millennials today. Business Insider named it the 7^th most popular brand with millennials today. The company also releases transparency reports biannually – living up to its promise and behaving as a trustworthy tech brand.

In a Synecore report, Amazon was ranked the “most liked” tech brand among millennials aged 16-24. It’s rank over Google, Facebook, and YouTube illustrates the draw for millennial shoppers.

Finding Success in Millennial Markets

So brands who want to position themselves for success within millennial markets need to constantly be up to date on the heightening, shifting, expanding needs, demands, and expectations of the market. Research is key here. Fitting into the lives of millennials and behaving in line with their values demands in depth knowledge of the audience. It also requires remaining authentic even as the market shifts, and always acting transparently. A brand that resonates with millennials today is a brand situated for growth.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency.

The Need for Trust and Transparency with your Employees

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Tracy Lloyd

Demands of Transparency

In many ways, we live in a time of extreme transparency. From product reviews and political opinions to knowing exactly what your coworker ate for dinner – not much is hidden. But with so much out there, people are more skeptical and less trusting, constantly questioning: What’s real and who can I trust? As a result, people are demanding more from the businesses they work for and the brands they buy from. People don’t want a sea of information and opinions. They want real, honest, authentic, and transparent brands that ring true at every moment.

The Need for Transparency with Employees

It’s no surprise that employees consider transparency within the workplace as one of the top factors determining happiness and satisfaction in the workplace. People don’t want to risk working for a company that isn’t transparent about what it stands for, where it’s headed, and how it’s going to get there – challenges, obstacles, and admittances included.

And although many businesses and their leaders may get away with not being transparent, more often than not, it’s short-lived. If business is good, people are less likely to ask questions. But in reality, however successful, every business runs into bumps along the road at some point. Markets shift. People make mistakes. Challenges and obstacles arise. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way. And often times, employees are left wondering: How did this happen? Why didn’t someone warn me? Should I look elsewhere? When leaders don’t focus on transparency, even a small blip can leave the people who matter to your brand feeling betrayed and lied to.

This is when transparency really starts to become an issue. So how do you turn around a brand that is having transparency issues? First off, transparency happens from the inside out. It originates with transparent leaders. In order to build a trustworthy brand, you need transparent leadership.

Transparency Takes Work

But being a transparent leader isn’t always easy. Many leaders don’t consider it a necessary aspect of their job. And even when they do, it’s hard to admit you’ve made a mistake, led people astray, or even, just need help. Oftentimes, leaders believe being transparent might distract from their power and control. Other times, leaders think it’s in the best interest of their employees to keep them in the dark. And for leaders who are used to keeping things to themselves, it’s hard to start sharing realities with employees.

Making this shift in behavior might not be easy, but in the end, transparent leaders who share successes, challenges, mistakes, and intentions help create brands that are perceived as truthful, trustworthy, and transparent. And these are the brands that can survive any blip in the road. What makes these brands so resilient?

Transparent leaders:

Build long-term respect, trust, and loyalty. Employees respect and trust leaders who are real with them, even in the worst of times. People are more likely to come together and rally behind a leader they respect and feel has earned their loyalty and trust. Loyal employees are more likely to stick it out during rough times, celebrate during good, and be long-term advocates of the brand to the outside world. And in the end, employees are the most important brand champions you can have.

Create more sustainable, efficient business. When employees are more aware of business goals and objectives, or even challenges, they can work from a place of complete knowledge. Feeling like everyone is in-the-know makes it more likely for teams to come together and solve problems in the most efficient, sustainable way. Leaders and employees become more comfortable sharing opinions, perspectives, asking for help, and taking educated risks if they feel like they work in an open work environment. This leads to increased productivity. It also leads to increased creativity. Productivity and creativity help move the brand and business forward.

Promote an aligned and unified workplace. Transparency is a powerful unifier. Because it decreases the risk of misunderstandings, people are more likely to be on the same page and aligned behind common goals, values, and larger aspirations. Because there is no “hush-hush” or differing levels of feeling “in-the-know” amidst leaders and employees, everyone feels as though they matter and can have an impact.

Decrease the risk of issues down the road. When employees trust their leaders and the direction of the business as a whole, there are less PR nightmares, social media snafus, and HR problems. People who feel like they are part of a brand that they can trust and that aligns with their values are more likely to have the brand’s best interest in mind. When recruiting, transparency can help find the right people to drive your business.

Conclusion

In the end, loyal and productive employees will be your brand’s biggest assets. When employees feel like they are a part of a brand that has earned their loyalty, customers will feel this too – from the way employees interact with customers, to what they post on social media, or how they talk with brands about their work. All these moments matter, especially when trying to turnaround a brand with previous transparency issues.

Brands that want to build a transparent, unified, trustworthy brand need to start from the inside and move out.

When leaders are transparent, your people thrive, and as a result, your business will too.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco branding agency.

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Tag: Transparency