Employer branding 'helps drive business success at Paul' - People ...

Engaging staff increases customer loyalty, says patisserie firm boss

Engaging staff early with employer brand values is central to driving customer service and business success, the head of Paul UK told the HR Forum on the Aurora cruise ship.

?Your brand is not your logo ? you customer can identify with it, but it is not who you are,? explained Esther O?Halloran, Paul?s former HR director who?took the helm as managing director in January.

?Employer brand is the experience customers have when they come into contact with your business ? your people become your brand. And if your staff are not motivated that will not deliver good customer service.?

Paul, the French-founded bakery and patisserie firm, was seeking to expand on the 30 stores it currently operated in the UK, so building customer loyalty was important in an industry as competitive as food retail, said O?Halloran.

?Why should customers come to us as opposed to the competition? It?s human interaction that makes the difference,? she added.

Delegates heard that the 125-year-old company?s six core values formed the basis for the company?s people policies and strategies, and that the retailer ?recruited for passion, personality and culture ? not just experience?.

An emphasis on building knowledge around products ? which were still labelled in French in UK outlets ? plus a strong focus on career progression, were several reasons why Paul was cited by potential recruits as an attractive employer prospect, delegates heard.

O?Halloran revealed that 45 per cent of people in the support office had been promoted from the shop floor, and that staff turnover had been reduced by 69 per cent last year.

She added that in-house surveys had shown that the proportion of employees who would recommend working for Paul had risen to 82 per cent from 69 per cent.

Christmas parties for staff children, budgets for team socialising, staff birthday cakes and mystery shopper bonuses were all initiatives that had helped instil the employer brand, the conference heard.

O?Halloran also spoke of the importance of the ?synergy between employer brand and marketing brand? ? specifically aligning logos, strap-lines and colours in outlets with application forms, recruitment posters and internal employer branding materials.

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