If you want to get a sense of a company´s employment brand just look at their customer facing employees and the environment they work in. <br> <p>If you want to get a sense of a company´s employment brand just look at their customer facing employees and the environment they work in. A few days ago I made my way to a mall here in Massachusetts with the hopes of finding a few gifts for my wife for Christmas. Unlike women, I think men get their endorphins rush not from the thrill of the hunt or the bargain found, but rather from the site of the mall in the rearview mirror. <i>My mantra for shopping or Rule Number 1 is: get there when the gun goes off (translation: when the security guard opens the doors) and make it in and out in world-record time. I´m proud to say that I consistently beat my previous records.</i></p>
<p>Anyhow...as I entered the store with my 25% off coupons in hand - my wife´s insistence, not mine - I couldn´t help but notice the profile of the employees moving about the store.At the accessories department I was approached by a mature looking clerk (woman about late 50´s early 60´s) and was asked if I needed help. I replied by asking her if they had a particular scarf/hat/glove set. I showed her the crumpled up ad that I had ripped out of the Boston Globe. <i>This brings me to rule Rule Number 2 which is: look frightened or confused and you will have hundreds of store clerks (usually women) hurdling the racks to help. Perhaps it is because we (men) often look wounded?</i></p>
<p>Well, the mature clerk didn´t know where the scarf sets in the ad were located so she turned to another clerk in a wheelchair and enlisted her help. One thing that I noticed was that the clerk in the wheelchair had no difficulty navigating the aisles<i>. It was evident the architects for the newly remodeled store paid attention to the needs of customer facing workers that had physical challenges.) </i></p>
<p>To make a long story short, the two clerks worked together to help me find the gifts that would make the love of my life happy. And what is the connection to employment branding you ask? A brand is supposed to elicit certain emotions. It is supposed to help you make a connection. As I stood there watching these two women hustle around on a mission to satisfy me....as I stood there thinking of the stores architectural team that - at first glance - seemed to care about the employees ...as I stood there not thinking about time...I began to think about the compassion these two women showed me. As I left Filenes I said to myself, "What a great store...I´ll come back again."</p>
<p>And I did...only this time... no world records were broken.</p>
