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The jobs page on Google's website begins with the phrase: 'Google is not a conventional company, and we don't intend to become one'. It is a statement that seems to promise a perfect harmony of external brand image and internal working environment. Renowned for its unique workspace - including meeting pods, slides, games rooms, and the odd employee pet or two - Google has gone out of its way to sell the idea of the unconventional to win and retain the best recruits.

It has won several awards along the way, including hitting the top spot in Fortune's '100 Best Companies to Work For' both in 2007 and 2008. But this year it fell to fourth place, losing the coveted top slot to data management solutions provider NetApp.

The California-based company won for its 'legendary egalitarian culture', where divisions write 'future histories' rather than business plans, as well as a range of benefits, such as paying employees to do up to five days a year of volunteer work and providing adoption aid and autism coverage. Although it is very early days, this turnaround may be indicative of a deeper shift in employee values - one that has the recession at its very heart and that may well force employers to review their whole approach to 'employer branding'.

Where it all began 

'Employer branding started with HR departments recognising that it was something that they needed to do to help recruit the best people,' says Jim Horsley, chief executive of workplace communications consultancy CHA. 'But it has become much more than that. It is about reflecting the inherent values of the organisation in how it behaves internally and externally.'

At Vodafone UK, the employer branding experience is just part of having a strong brand. 'It is all about securing differentiation and for us, this is just as important when appealing to employees as it is to customers,' says Annette Ware, Vodafone UK's head of communications and employee experience. 'We define brand as the sum of our customers' experiences. We work in a very competitive market and we believe the unique experience our people deliver is vital. It's logical that if people get a strong sense of the 'Vodafone Way' on the inside, they'll naturally exude that with customers.'

Kuljit Kaur, head of business development at communications consultancy P&MM, agrees that this people-oriented branding is vital to business success. 'People buy people. If you are competing with others in a small space to win work, and you can get across your brand, then you can sell your brand. If you're just a number in an organisation, though, it's far more difficult,' she says.

Although Vodafone UK does not have a specific brand-engagement programme, it aims to translate its brand values and 'tone of voice' to everything it does, from the way it decorates its offices through to every aspect of its HR policy. It also keeps track of how employees feel about the brand by running a brand health tracker each year. 'This helps us identify where we need to concentrate our efforts and helps us track progress,' says Ware.

In addition, the company doesn't use the term employer brand. 'We talk about our 'people deal', which is a framework for how we communicate and promote the great things about working at Vodafone,' says Ware. 'The key to this is the word 'deal', being clear this is a reciprocal bargain between employee and employer.'

As suggested by the brand health tracker, Vodafone's people deal is always subject to change, with Ware arguing that the most successful brands are the ones that never stand still, but rather adapt to suit their environment. 'I often think we have a much bigger task than my advertising colleagues in this respect; the employee relationship has far more depth and is more complex than the consumer relationship, meaning we have many more touchpoints to align with the brand.'

Recessionary impact

This challenge may be hitting its zenith right now, with a recession not only forcing companies to question their time and cost investments, but also reshaping employees' views of their leaders and organisations. 'With the recession, lots of companies have stopped recruiting, so some are wondering if they need to put so much effort into employer branding. Is employer branding a 'nice to have' or a 'must have'?' asks Horsley. 'In fact, it is just as important now if companies are going to maintain engagement levels and keep employees motivated.'

Tracy Whybrow, partner at Involve UK, sees a similar danger in companies overlooking the importance of brand in the recession - even though she thinks it is an increasingly important time to deliver on employer brand promises. 'Human capital is more than just an asset. It gives strength to an organisation. Those companies that more clearly connect with their employees will better secure their bottom line,' she says.

'A strong employer brand will always be able to answer the question, What does this organisation stand for and what is it like here? These questions are asked just as much in a shrinking economy as in a growth cycle,' adds Ware. 'When it comes to fighting for revenue share in tough conditions, it becomes all the more important that everyone is lined up and prepared to give it their all on behalf of their organisation.'

While employer branding might have originated with the need to recruit the best, it seems that the recession is pushing companies to either question its value altogether or, more sensibly, further tune it to the needs of existing employees. Nor might it be so difficult to take some simple steps to better engage employees in these troubling times.

A recent 'credit crunch' survey of 1,000 workers by CHA revealed that some engagement efforts might be relatively easy. Topping the list of what would instantly motivate employees in the recession was, unsurprisingly, a pay rise - a no-go for many firms in this climate. But the rest of the top ten list included fairly straightforward requests of managers and leaders, including a staff party or night out, reassurance about job security and a senior management that is involved, positive and honest. Quite simply, employees do not want to be forgotten in the midst of crisis.

'If companies have between 10,000 and 20,000 people - and you just stop communicating, then you're going to lose people's trust,' says Horsley. 'The inherent sense of wellbeing disappears.' 

Recognition is important

With this in mind, it may well be that employer branding strategies take on far more motivational elements, where recognition may be the key to engaging employees and maintaining morale. This is something that Kaur has seen in her company, which is currently putting together recognition programmes for a number of organisations.

'There's a changing trend focusing on recognition rather than incentivising employees. In times when organisations are reducing staff numbers you can't have incentive programmes with, say, huge financial rewards. It becomes more about visibly recognising what employees deliver to business and who is making the most effort,' she says.

Kaur works on delivering online recognition programmes, in which colleagues can nominate each other via a website for doing something above and beyond the call of duty. An example of a potentially winning effort might be an employee who particularly demonstrates a brand value in customer services. The winners are then chosen either by a manager or committee, depending on the organisation. 'This is about trophy value,' she says. 'If somebody who works in an often unnoticed function like finance gets to stand up in front of their company and have their name read out for outstanding work, it can be incredibly powerful as a motivator.'

Kaur believes companies that choose to employ such schemes are often those that want to retain a top-100 'Best Place to Work For' ranking. However, such ideas might also be highly relevant to employer branding strategies in a recession, where employees are more likely to feel disenfranchised.

What employees want

Another recent CHA report, Worthwhile Work, suggests that such recognition schemes may not, however, be enough. The research revealed that over three quarters of working people in the UK are concerned that the job they do should be worthwhile. Over half also want a job that is more worthwhile than the one they have at the moment.

Young people are particularly restless with half of those aged between 26 and 35 years saying that they would like more purposeful work, rising to over 60 per cent of those aged between 18 and 25. It then drops to 46 per cent for 36 to 45 year olds and down further to 33 per cent for workers over 45.

When asked to define 'worthwhile work', the top three responses were a role that contributes to society, a job that an employee could do well and a job that they could be proud of.

Firms that fail to consider such employee values in how they communicate their brand values may well lose out to companies that better understand their staff. 'The recession means that people are likely to lose a bit of trust and faith in their organisations,' says Horsley. 'They may look to other things for worthwhile values, if they are not getting it in their jobs - which could well mean they are less engaged.'

Aligning company and employee values, however, is easier said than done. 'In recruitment efforts, for example, there's often been a lack of resonance between internal and external messages,' says Horsley. 'To the outside world, the brand is represented as warm and friendly. Then people arrive and discover it's not. Organisations often don't think whether their brand message truly reflects them or not.'

Whybrow agrees, adding that the problem with employer branding is often a lack of clarity. 'Organisations have to be really clear what they stand for. What is our brand? How can we define what we stand for? It's about simple ideas expressed in clear language. What does our employer value proposition mean and what do people understand by it?'

In a society where people want to feel that they are doing worthwhile work, Whybrow also thinks that any employer branding needs to be authentic. 'There are too many generic ideas,' she says. 'If, say, Royal Bank of Scotland was to now try and convey a 'reliable and trusted' brand, it just wouldn't work. You have to consider whether the message is right for your organisation.'

Involving leadership

Effective employer branding requires a multi-dimensional approach: a realistic consideration of core values and how they should translate to internal and external audiences; an understanding of employee needs and how they relate to an organisation's brand value; an appreciation of reward and recognition activities; and a thorough grasp of how changing market conditions impact internal communication strategies.

Such an all-encompassing strategy is irrelevant, however, if leadership teams do not head up the process. For Vodafone's Ware, there are two chief reasons for the failure of an employer branding strategy. It does not work where employee's expectations and needs fail to match with the brand attributes. Nor does it work if there is not top level support from the chief executive and his team. Indeed, Ware believes board buy-in is non-negotiable if an employer-branding strategy is going to stick.

'It's essential for leadership to be involved in employer branding, especially at times like this,' adds Horsley. 'People believe people. They will believe somebody who can communicate with passion. Employer branding often falls with the HR department. But to work effectively it needs the buy-in of the board and chief executive. Then it needs to be closely developed with the marketing/communications department.'

In the long term, it is still unclear what the impact of the recession will be, both on organisations as a whole, and on their employees. But there are signs that employees are changing and perhaps the organisations with them. NetApp took first place in this year's '100 Best Companies to Work For', not because of its fun/creative/high-tech working environment, but because it was able to tap into what people want right now - to do something worthwhile expressed in ideas like paid voluntary work.

For companies engaged in employer branding, the message is clear: this is not a time to give up. This is a time when employees need you more than ever. 

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