Are you concerned that cultivating a personal brand as an employee might put your job at risk? Or maybe you are an employer who is wary of employees developing their own brands due to the potential for it to clash with the company’s culture? If so, this article will help you navigate these issues.
Anjuan Simmon, a public speaker, and engineering leader, has written a handbook on why and how firms can include personal branding in their culture.
The following are the important takeaways:
Exhibit your work and assess your skills
Simmons, a public speaker, recently tweeted that one of the reasons they began speaking at tech conferences was to present their work and to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge on software development. Additionally, Simmons highlights that this provides an opportunity to showcase their expertise to a wider audience, while also allowing them to refine their communication skills.
Simmon emphasises the importance of creating a repository of information to draw upon in order to provide instinctive responses to inquiries. His blog serves as his such repository, containing details about his career and areas of specialisation.
Don’t pass up free training opportunities to build a more complete recruitment network
According to Simmons, joining the public speaking circuit provides an opportunity to learn about various technologies from leading professionals who are either utilising or creating them. Through this, one can gain valuable insight into what is working well in the industry and how to improve upon existing ideas. Additionally, staying abreast of the latest advances in the field comes at no additional cost. After attending various seminars and conferences, the technical leader who has become a speaker has been able to bring a range of useful ideas to their organisation. This demonstrates how personal branding activities can be advantageous and beneficial to corporate development.
The engineer in question attended a conference where a fellow engineer presented their method of utilising a sponsorship spreadsheet to provide support for every engineer in their firm. Impressed with the concept, the engineer proposed it to their employer, and upon receiving the go ahead, implemented it with excellent results at Help Scout.
Attending events such as conferences can be beneficial for your firm as it can help you in attracting top personnel. According to Simmons, a recruiting manager, he has been able to successfully position positions depending on the people he has met at conferences. This has helped him in boosting his pipeline with potential candidates.
How to make a discussion that can help your brand?
People tend to be apprehensive when it comes to machines speaking in their presence, regardless of how stimulating the topic may be. According to Simmons, the best way to create a successful and enjoyable speech is to make it as succinct as possible, while also incorporating humour to allow the listeners to become emotionally connected to the material. Additionally, to ensure that the text is being comprehended, it is recommended to include pertinent and engaging visuals in the slides. By doing so, the speaker will be able to effectively communicate their message without their audience losing interest.
As an engineering leader, it is essential to take the time to understand the audience before beginning any session. Doing so ensures that the message being delivered is tailored to the specific group of people being addressed. A joke that may work for one group may not have the same effect for another and, thus, it is important to customise the pitch to the unique audience present.
Put everything together and practice
Successful endeavours take time and effort to achieve. It is important to learn from mistakes and move forward, evaluating what strategies were successful and which ones were not. Focusing on building a strong reputation that accurately reflects your profession is essential to success.
Despite working with many smaller firms in the past five years, Stephen Simmons is certain that startups that are hesitant to allow their staff to identify themselves as a brand are missing out on a great opportunity. He believes that his presence on the speaking list with representatives from prominent companies such as FAANG provides legitimacy to the idea of actively promoting one’s own startup. By recognising the importance of personal branding, Stephen believes that businesses can realise immense potential.
Employee participation in personal branding should be actively supported by company management. Doing so will demonstrate to workers that the organisation is committed to their personal and professional growth. Moreover, publicly celebrating employees’ successes can have a positive effect on an organisation’s reputation. It can help to position the firm as an industry leader, attract a dedicated customer base, and create valuable connections with industry influencers, all of which can be instrumental in driving business growth.
