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Red Fan Communications

Tag: Periods of high growth

Maintaining a consistent brand identity as you grow

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]In PR, perception is everything. Your brand is the sum of every interaction, conversation, praise and criticism customers have with or of your company. In the startup years, your customers are everything, usually because you have so few of them. Gaining a reputation as a customer-centric or mission-focused or value-driven organization is often a worthy perception of a brand.

During periods of high growth, however, a company may scale so rapidly that it loses a piece of itself that influenced the perception customers had. This is when dreams turn to nightmares, and is usually caused by a lack of coherent, clear messaging and resilient goals and values that can endure an influx of new employees, a change in management or organization-wide failures.

Everything that happens after: the slogan, alterations to brand colors or fonts, language used in press releases, in ads, in social channels and similar methods of communication all hinge on a company’s ability to communicate its message internally first.

Maintaining a consistent brand identity as you scale is as crucial to success as a thriving sales team, and begins with three core ideas:

1.    Align every employee—especially those at the top—on brand messaging and company values. Every employee should be able to provide a brief description of your company and its values, what audiences it serves, the products it provides and other basic ideas and information. The answers can vary slightly, but should all contain the same core elements of who you are, what you do and why you do it. Your employees are your best brand ambassadors. When everyone at your company buys into your way of operating and of achieving a clear set of goals, they’ll begin to display it in customer interactions and in public.

2.    Scale your internal communications. This topic is addressed in a different piece of this content series but is worth noting again here. The methods by which you used to communicate with employees may not necessarily work during times of rapid scaling. Identify the tools and methods you used, ask yourself if they will continue to work after you’ve grown 5x, 10x or 20x. If the answer is no, start looking at new tools and best practices immediately, before it becomes a problem.

3.    Hire for your values. Tech companies in particular face stark talent shortages, so it can be tempting to hire the first candidate who meets your hard skill requirements. This might be a good temporary fix to address your short-term business needs, but hiring people who don’t align with your values at scale can lead to a dilution of your company’s culture, decreased collaboration and productivity and create a more hostile work environment.

When all of these elements are in place internally, you’ve established a foundation for the characteristics and qualities you want the public to notice about your brand. For many, that means a reputation for great customer service, delivering great products or maintaining an authentic brand that remains true to its values and mission even in times of rapid scaling or turbulence.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Scaling company culture

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]If we had to create a profile for the typical “startup” culture in Austin, Texas, it would consist of:

–       Breakfast tacos in the fridge;

–       A ping-pong table in the common area for mental breaks;

–       An in-person “all hands on deck” meeting at least once a week;

–       Coffee—or beer—on tap;

–       Close collaboration among all departments, an open floor plan and periodic karaoke sessions.

These cultural elements can be difficult to sustain during periods of high growth. Scaling a company means fewer opportunities for team-building, company-wide meetings and, ultimately, cultivating culture.

Fortunately, there are a few small things you can implement to ensure your values and culture scale with you.[/vc_column_text][us_text text=”HIRE FOR YOUR VALUES AND COMMUNICATE THEM OFTEN” tag=”h2″][vc_column_text]This can be particularly hard for high-growth companies facing a shortage of tech talent, but it’s crucial that you maintain cultural and value-based standards when hiring. There may be instances in which you see a great resume and feel the need to make the hire, even if there are potential misalignments with your culture, values or workplace environment. Failing to heed the warning signs can be disastrous and toxic, so always be sure your new hires fit within the culture you’re molding.

It’s also a good idea to print out your values and mission—especially if you have an influx of new hires. Save it as a desktop background, nail it to a wall, create lanyards or printouts, whatever you have to do to frequently reinforce your company’s belief system.[/vc_column_text][us_text text=”LET THE C-SUITE AND SENIOR EMPLOYEES ACT AS “CULTURE AMBASSADORS”” tag=”h2″][vc_column_text]Show, don’t tell. This is a cliche (something we hate around here), but it’s an important one to mention for executives at high-growth companies. There’s no easier way to gain a reputation for a lack of authenticity than telling employees to follow a set of values to which you yourself don’t adhere.

This is an expectation that should be relayed to the C-suite and other layers of upper management. But, if you’ve hired well, this problem should take care of itself.[/vc_column_text][us_text text=”ALLOW FOR OPEN COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION” tag=”h2″][vc_column_text]Sometimes, an open-door (or floor) policy needs to be taken literally. Even in the largest companies, an open floor plan with no closed doors allows for an environment that invites employees to connect, collaborate and create. This fosters an atmosphere of zero intimidation, equipping employees to have productive conversations from C-suite all the way down to intern.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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