Your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room – Chris Ducker.
According to Lida Citroën, a reputation management and personal branding expert, an employee’s personal brand can be beneficial for a company, in that it makes “a company of known” by building a powerful image of the company and its people. That means: an employee’s personal brand can influence a company’s business decisions at a macro level [4].
This awareness can be a great booster for any employeeduring Covid-19 when s/he is adjusting to the shift to working remotely with the added challenge of maintaining their visibility and reputation. How can we stay relevant when we are not physically present?
Our virtualpresence at this time has tremendous power. If business success means building relations, image and the power of an individual, digital platforms/social media offer powerful toolsto achieve this. Brand your‘Me.Inc’ under the aegis of your workplace. It has multi-fold benefits: visibility, relevance, personal and growth of the company.
My book Apprentice to Business Ace – Your Inside-out Guide to Personal Branding [1] is meant to be a guide to self-branding in personal and public relations. In this blog I would revisit some of the points that I discussed with respect to theCovid scenario.
Human beings are by nature discerning, perceptive and heavily reliant on what they see. This applies to both business entrepreneurs and employees. But how do you generate successful business communication tailored to your individual needs and lifestyle during Covid -19?
Staying Relevant is today’s business mantra that governs ourprofessional life; it took the top-most position duringthis remote working scenario. Confusing as it may seem there are ways individuals can build one’s personal brands while working from home.
What you need to do is: not to make the old adage‘out of sight out of mind’ true.
Communication is always the key for career or business success. Communicate your schedule clearly with others. WFH is an adjustment for everyone; Day-to-day scheduling with your manager and colleagues will help set realistic expectations based on availabilityand encourageothers to do the same [3].
Communication during the pandemic is also staying in touch; regular check-ins with your colleague – both on a professional and personal level creates a bond, creatingbetter working relationships [3].
Your company is making additional efforts to communicate with employeesnow─ be up-to-date with those [3]. Discuss the updates with colleagues, and acknowledge the efforts of the leadership. Your attention, appreciation, and acknowledgementwill inspire others. Acknowledge small efforts of your colleagues. The power of acknowledgement is more during troubled times.
Your presence in virtual meetings is a must and so is your behaviour. Listen more and then ask questions. What you say must be relevant. Be aware of time constraints and don’t answer questions with too much information.
The digital activity is at its highest during pandemic: highest Jobs and therapy search on Google during 22 March – 22 April; 85% increase in at-home screen usage by Chinese consumers (Ogilvy, 2020); 91% increase in handwashing by Indians (Kantar, COVID1-9 Barometer, 2020); 30.8% decrease in brands’ CPC (cost per click) in Feb-March (SocialBakers, 2020); 50% increase in messaging in March over February in hard-hit countries [5].
If you look closely, the brands that have proactively engaged on social media have been respected for stepping in whatever way they could. Coronavirus posts by companies with words such as ‘help’, ‘health’, ‘support’ and ‘take-care’ got the most engagement on LinkedIn.
Promoting your teams posts and sharing them via social mediacan create your own visibility in the company. It can be done through articles, blogs, and broadcasting. These are proactive efforts but make sure, you are aware of the company’s social media policies.
Keeping the work-perspective is tough during pandemic while balancing family, work, anxiety, parenting, and wellness. Some of the personality orientation I talked about in my book “Look at Me” was:
- Be the person you want to be now [2]: Chalk out a plan for the person you want to be. Where do you want to go in this careeryou chose and where you want reach? Why did you choose your company and which of its values you resonate with?Look at present leaders (even within your company) you like and learn from their examples. Develop yourself with the most relevant online courses as per your career goals.
- Identify the successful characteristics and behaviours that you need nurture [2]: What do you bring to your workplace, your team, and your colleagues?Acknowledge your own professional self; it is as important as acknowledgingcompany and colleagues.
- Let go of the damaging and unhelpful characteristics and behaviours [2]: Look for a pattern of bad outcomes and how you might have approached these situations differently if you had the opportunity to try again. Think back to some of the experiences you’ve had that did not turn out as favourably as you might have hoped.
Looking good is an all-time goal of an individual. A stand-out communication will help you to present a confident, trustworthy, consistent and professional personal brand. Times are uncertain but your career does not have to be that way. By prioritizing communication, building connections with others and your own professional development, you will stay relevant in not only your job but also your industry [3].
References:
- About the book info for My book Apprentice to Business Ace – Your Inside-out Guide to Personal Branding by Carmen Parnos.
- Look At Me by Carmen Parnos
- https://www.lifeinprogresscoaching.com/4-ways-to-stay-relevant-in-your-job-while-working-remotely-during-covid-19/
- https://www.bos.com/inspired/building-your-personal-brand-digital-work-environment/
- https://everyonesocial.com/blog/employees-social-media-marketing/