November 29, 2006

an employee’s confusion

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Anna Far­mery of The Enga­ging Brand blog sent me in this manifesto:

If… a brand starts inside, an employee’s confusion

1. If you believe in the stra­tegy, why can’t you explain it?
2. If talent is impor­tant, why is pro­mo­tion based on your social circle?
3. If we are entre­pre­neu­rial, why do we make deci­sions by con­sen­sus?
4. If values are impor­tant enough to put on a card, why are they not appli­ca­ble to lea­ders?
5. If the future is impor­tant, why do we spend time in mee­tings loo­king at the past?
6. If you embrace talent why, do you only speak to me about my weak­nes­ses?
7. If we aim for a USP why, are encou­ra­ged to pro­duce same­ness?
8. If we believe in diver­sity, why are you all 40+, white and male?
9. If we need to cut deve­lop­ment and R&D to hit bud­get, how can you afford a two-day team bon­ding ses­sion in a 5-star hotel?
10. If it is us that inte­ract with cus­to­mers, why don’t you see we should feel the brand values first?

[gaping­void mani­festo sub­mis­sion gui­de­li­nes are here.][Mani­festo archive is here.]

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3 Responses to “an employee’s confusion”

  1. Kathy Sierra says:

    Anna, this is sca­rily to the point. If I was still an emplo­yee of a big com­pany, I think I’d tack this up on the walls of the office, right over the top of the moti­va­tio­nal ‘suc­ces­so­ries’ pos­ters.
    Thanks so much for this.

  2. Mary says:

    What we learn at work, goes with us into the mar­ket­place. Emplo­yee by day, con­su­mer by night…

  3. Anna Farmery says:

    Kathy — sca­rily this was drawn from expe­rience, need­less to say I have now left.…and yes at every con­fe­rence the first phrase was “Peo­ple are our grea­test asset” I just wish that someone would buy them a mirror for Christmas!