Southern Planner

In today’s world of unrestricted access, everything is a form of communication. In the past no one had ever heard of Procter & Gamble. Now it is not uncommon to find a consumer that knows which brands Procter & Gamble owns and that Jim Stengel is the CMO overseeing them. Need proof of this unrestricted access? Just look at any one of the many “internal” memos that have found their way outside the corporate walls and in front of consumers.

The operational behaviors of your company, now more than ever, tell a compelling story about your business and it’s personality (it’s not what you say it’s what you do). I would say these actions carry a stronger message because they feel like decisions you are making when no one is watching. In many cases they might be. There may not have been an ulterior motive to taking these actions other than managing operations and internal brand building. However, given the public’s unrestricted access remarkable actions, both good and bad, will eventually enter the collective public conscious. The following are a few examples I have spotted over the past couple weeks.

Virgin Media – Call Center Re-Design

Photo nicked from here, many thanks.

In a mundane territory like call centers, Headline Design along with Virgin Media have found a way to perk things up a bit. I would like to see the results in a year or two, but I suspect that employee satisfaction and retention will likely be up in a field that has historically low levels on both metrics. In addition the redesign should contribute to attracting the employee profile they are looking for, allowing Virgin to better deliver on the type of service they would like to provide. Plus, car park dating sounds like such a happy little idea and says a lot about Virgin since they are willing to put this much effort into their call centers.

Zappos – Pays New Hires To Quit

After an intense training program, indoctrinating new employees into the job and company culture Zappos offers them $1000 to quit on the spot. I have had jobs in the past that I mainly enjoyed, but had I been offered a grand to quit, you wouldn’t have even heard a response other than the door closing behind me. If you want a strong internal culture and a group of extremely dedicated employees this is the way to go. In addition to those company benefits, this move also says something to me as a consumer. I have never ordered from Zappos before, but after reading this I am 100% confident that it would be a smooth process and any problems I might have would be handled quickly and efficiently. Nice one!

Razorfish – A Stickler for Timesheets

Photo nicked from here, many thanks.

In an attempt to shame employees to fill out their timesheets on time, Avenue A/Razorfish displays photos of employees who haven’t completed theirs in the lobby. Whoa. I don’t exactly see this making people want to jump up and run to work for the interactive agency. Before we toss this idea aside though, what does it tell customers…aka clients? In an industry that has had a shaky past with billing and accountability it must give a warm fuzzy feeling to know that the agency is on top of it. If it turns off potential employees it may not be a long-term strategy, but it could be effective short-term allaying client fears.