Are we victims of personal branding in the corporate world?
As per the “Rachel Greenwald” report in the “Harvard Business Review”, personal branding is the intentional, strategic practice of defining and expressing your value. “It’s the amalgamation of the associations, beliefs, feelings, attitudes, and expectations that people collectively hold about you,”
In a competitive corporate world, we want to brand ourself to remain more attractive. Personal branding is an intentional effort to create and influence public perception of an individual by positioning themselves as an authority in their field, elevating their credibility, and differentiating themselves from the competition.
While personal branding can be a powerful tool for career advancement, it has also sparked a debate about fairness and meritocracy in the workplace. Are we becoming victims of personal branding, where those who are better at self-promotion dominate, while hardworking individuals who fly under the radar are ignored?
I have observed many instances in which less productive employees get promoted, while hard-working employees are overlooked. However, these low-performing employees are excellent at personal branding. They often highlight minor achievements effectively, whereas the truly high-performing employees fail to showcase even their significant accomplishments in the workplace. Additionally, these less productive but strongly branded employees excel at presenting themselves attractively in interviews, ultimately securing promotions.
I. The Rise of Personal Branding in the Office Environment
In many organisations, employees who are skilled at personal branding often appear to have an advantage over others. These employees tend to speak more frequently in meetings, maintain an active presence on social media, and regularly comment on posts by senior executives within their organisation or in the broader corporate world. They actively express appreciation for the work of high-level individuals, seek to build cordial relationships, and are highly engaged on professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn, where they adeptly showcase their achievements. Consequently, these individuals are often perceived as leaders, innovators, and high performers, even if their actual contributions do not always match this perception. As a result, they frequently dominate promotions, recognition, and opportunities for career growth.
On the other hand, there are employees who work diligently behind the scenes, consistently delivering results but failing to market themselves effectively. These individuals often feel undervalued and overlooked, leading to frustration and disengagement. The disparity between the two groups raises an important question: Are we rewarding performance or perception?
2. The Problem with Personal Branding Dominance
When personal branding is over-emphasised, an imbalance can be created in a workplace culture. People who are less social or simply don’t promote themselves may feel sidelined, regardless of how much they do to help the workplace. In time, this lack of variety in leadership capture positions becomes self-sustaining, as it only attracts people who are already overaggressive and over-visible.
Moreover, an overemphasis on personal branding can undermine teamwork and collaboration. Employees may prioritise individual recognition over collective success, leading to a toxic, competitive environment. This can erode trust and hinder the organisation’s ability to achieve its goals.
3. Measuring Performance in Qualitative Roles
When KPIs are not straightforward, organisations need to adopt a sounder approach to performance evaluation. Here are some strategies to consider:
- 360-Degree Feedback: This involves gathering feedback from an employee’s peers, subordinates, and supervisors. Even this can involve some external parties like suppliers and customers if the employee performs a job connected with them. It provides a holistic view of their contributions, including soft skills like communication, collaboration, and leadership. Tech companies like Google and Netflix are among the adherents to 360 feedback.
- Outcome-Based Assessments: Instead of focusing on specific tasks, evaluate the outcomes of an employee’s work. For example, in a creative role, assess the impact of their ideas on the organisation’s goals or customer satisfaction.
- Behavioural Metrics: Identify key behaviours that align with the organisation’s values and objectives. For instance, measure how often an employee mentors others, contributes to team discussions, or takes initiative on projects. Even assessment methods like BARs (Behaviorally anchored rating score) can be used to measure behaviour aspects.
- Regular Check-Ins: Frequent performance reviews can help managers stay informed about an employee’s contributions, even if they are not always visible. This ensures that hard work is recognised and rewarded.
- Balanced Scorecard: Use a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate performance. This approach ensures that both tangible results and intangible contributions are considered. Using the Balanced Scorecard Model goals are aligned to each of the four key areas of a company’s balanced scorecard: Financial: Customers: Internal Process and Learning and Growth.
To create a fair and inclusive workplace, organisations must find a balance between recognising personal branding and rewarding genuine performance. Here are some steps to achieve this:
- Promote a Culture of Recognition: Encourage managers and peers to acknowledge the contributions of all team members, not just those who are vocal about their achievements.
- Train Employees on Self-Promotion: Provide training on how to effectively communicate one’s value without overshadowing others. This can help introverted employees gain visibility.
- Focus on Team Success: Shift the focus from individual achievements to team outcomes. This fosters collaboration and ensures that everyone’s contributions are valued.
- Transparent Promotion Criteria: Clearly communicate the criteria for promotions and rewards. This reduces ambiguity and ensures that decisions are based on objective factors.
- Enhance the value system: It’s essential to strengthen the organisation’s value system. Establishing a corporate code of ethics, ensuring annual adherence, and conducting regular awareness programs on corporate ethics are highly beneficial practices.
In the business sector, personal branding has two sides. Although it can make people stand out and help them grow in their careers, it can also lead to an unfair playing field where appearances are more important than performance. Organisations can make sure that talent and hard work are recognised regardless of an employee’s capacity for self-promotion by establishing a culture of authenticity and recognition, establishing clear KPIs, and utilising sophisticated performance evaluation techniques. By doing this, we can make progress toward a more merit-based and equitable workplace where everyone can succeed.
(The writer is a senior Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience, primarily in the banking sector. He can be reached at dimuthusuranjana@gmail.com)
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