Elizabeth Harr is a partner at Hinge and author of The Visible Expert and Inside the Buyer’s Brain. She specializes in analyzing personal brands. It is Harr’s belief that brand building should be a crucial part of a company’s development. Reputation and overall visibility are products that allow a company’s message to reach more of its intended audience. In turn, make the brand more visible.
“Improving a brand’s perception can do a lot of good for a firm. So why are some organizations leery of their employees’ personal brand building efforts? It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking for another job.”
However, when it comes to employees building their own personal brands during their employment, companies tend to be leery. Harr wants companies to understand that employees building their own personal brands is not necessarily a red flag. “Improving a brand’s perception can do a lot of good for a firm. So why are some organizations leery of their employees’ personal brand-building efforts? It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking for another job.”
The Halo effect proves that employees pursuing their own business endeavors garners recognition for the company they work for by the association, which has led to firms being more open to employees building personal brands and even actively helping them in their endeavors.
Beyond the Halo effect, companies benefit from
- employees building their own personal brands
- experience higher growth increased reputation,
- greater employee engagement, and
- gaining access to a group of employees that are prepared to become future leaders.
Michelle Thornton Ghee is one such future leader, who used her personal brand, Strategic, to boost her resume and secure full-time employment. While working for BET, Ghee followed her own passions and set up a channel exclusively for black women called BET Her. In addition, Ghee went on to establish Strategic, a brand to help women develop a personal life plan.
