Many successful companies throughout the UK understand the real business benefits that can be gained by making sure their brand is understood and acted on by everyone.

• Based in Richmond, North Yorkshire, The Industrial Building Company offers 'quality work for quality people'. Unhappy with how construction subcontractors were perceived, this specialist structural steelwork and cladding company wanted to bring good standards, ethics and integrity back into the building business and has made an emphasis on quality and trustworthiness its main selling point. The company name was chosen as a very obvious description of what the company does, demonstrating a commitment to openness and integrity.

The results: Over the past five years the staff has increased by 200%, with turnover and profit up by 1000%. There is no shortage of quality subcontractors waiting to work for the company and they have had to move to larger premises. The company believes its success reflects its commitment to the core values of the business. The company won the national British Small Business Champions Awards 2003 run by the Federation of Small Businesses, Lloyds TSB Group plc and Business in the Community.

• Chelsfield MH Investments has a team of 218 staff that runs a shopping centre, Merry Hill, west of Birmingham. The company has established a vision, mission and values against which it sets business objectives. The company places a strong emphasis on its role in the community: providing long-term work and a place for people to meet. All employees work to targets that link directly with the company's vision, helping everyone understand the purpose of their work.

The results: Running community events results in extensive positive publicity for Merry Hill - essential for attracting customers - and marks it out from other shopping centres. Each activity offers development opportunities for employees and helps to create a more focused workforce.

• Only 29% of staff understand and support their employer's goal. And two thirds of employees are either knowingly or unknowingly sabotaging the organisation's business and its brand and have little or no emotional commitment to it. Source: Enterprise IG survey of 55,000 people

• Staff with high levels of commitment and understanding are more likely to say it greatly improves their performance. Source: The Buy-in Benchmark: a survey
  

• A study in Sheffield identified a positive relationship between employee attitudes, organisational culture, human resource management and company performance - and concluded that employee commitment and a satisfied workforce are essential to improving performance. Source: Human Capital and Performance: A Literature Review, Accounting For People, Government Task Force, 2003