The Janus Effect

Every organization has two “faces” that we must be concerned with: an internal face representing how employees work with each other and an external face representing how employees work with customers. This is the concept of the “Janus Effect” (Janus was the two-faced Roman god for whom the month of January is named because he faced both the old year and the new).

We may find an organization’s internal face is at odds with the desired external face.  This is noticeable when an organization’s values are not actively honored and practiced internally during things like meetings, performance reviews, etc. Employees see corporate values as merely “words on a piece of paper”. However, most organizations are very cognizant of positioning their values in marketing, sales, proposals, establishing expectations – i.e., externally. This misalignment of values can destroy trust, credibility, morale, engagement, etc. For example, a company wants people to treat customers with respect, but internal interactions amongst co-workers are disrespectful and dishonest. This creates a problem since an organization’s internal face typically bleeds through to the outside world.

Ideally an organization’s internal and external faces are the same. It is hard for frontline employees to effectively care for customers if they feel they are NOT being treated similarly. 

To resolve this dilemma, an “internal branding process” could be necessary. Using a behavior systems approach, a seven-phase process assessment can be used to align an organization’s “faces”.

Phase 1: Conduct a Performance Analysis to clarify the promise of value to customers, translate it into company practices and analyze them for compatibility with what is being promised to all customers.

Phase 2: Orient Senior Management to communicate the results of the Performance Analysis, develop commitment to and ownership of the brand practices and establish responsibilities for action.

Phase 3: Involve Middle Management to lead the internal branding initiative. Top executives need to be actively involved and visibly demonstrate support, but middle management provides the day-to-day leadership.

Phase 4: Enroll Employees once management is engaged in the internal branding process and is prepared to support it, employees can enroll. (Please note:  The use of the term enroll is deliberate. It is not enough to educate or involve employees. They must have a connection with the process and voluntarily enroll, actively committing themselves and wanting to succeed.)

Phase 5: Conduct Tactical Planning Sessions to share the process, educate participants on the organization’s marketing strategy, review feedback on their “brand behavior” (their internal face) and establish how to align themselves with the “brand character” (their external face).

Phase 6: Establish Brand Camps with departmental teams to develop specific ways to support the brand proposition (what the organization promises customers) and link these efforts to meeting business needs. This translates the analysis, learning, and process into direct action that employees can take.

Phase 7: Support, Assessment, and Review
If management is unresponsive, the process will begin to falter. Initiatives need ongoing attention to continue and have lasting impact on results. One test of its success is how well it is supported once the initial implementation has occurred. As people begin to implement the brand values and behaviors, supervisors and employees will identify inhibitors in the workplace. It is also important to periodically assess an internal branding effort and systematically evaluate programs and actions resulting from brand plan implementation.

At their most fundamental level, all organizations are human behavioral systems: they are founded and run by people for the sole purpose of delivering value to their stakeholders. Understanding how a human performance system functions and what can be done to improve it is the biggest challenge and opportunity facing management today.