Employee
Branding
Methods
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Employee Branding Methods

Laura Gardner

CC 645: Capstone

Professor Linda Gallant

December 22, 2009


 Employee
Branding
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Table of Contents




INTRODUCTION
 3


JUSTIFICATION
 3


LITERATURE
REVIEW
 3


RESEARCH
QUESTION
 6


METHODOLOGY
 6

PARTICIPANTS
 7

DATA ANALYSIS
 7

SENSITIZING CONCEPTS
 7

PRE-DETERMINED CONCEPTS
 8


THEMATIC
ANALYSIS
 8


DISCUSSION
 12

RELATION TO LITERATURE REVIEW
 12

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
 12


FUTURE
RESEARCH
 12

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE ORGANIZATION
 12


CONCLUSION
 14


APPENDIX
A
 16


APPENDIX
B
 17


REFERENCES
 18

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Introduction
Many communication practitioners have come to realize that an organization’s
stakeholders are not only customers, but employees as well. Treating employees as brand
ambassador’s attempts to link employees’ everyday work behavior to a larger raison
d’etre of the organization: the organization’s brand (Harquail, 2007). Organizations
commonly do this from day one. On a new hire’s first day there is acclimation by
learning the company culture, history and the discovery of social norms. The importance
of strategic employee messaging has been recognized (Testa, 2001; Hatch & Schultz,
2001), but the ways in which organizations can do this effectively remains obscure.
The purpose of this applied research project is to determine the most successful
methods of employee branding.

Justification
With the rise of competition in a global economy, organizations are looking for ways to
remain competitive and retain quality employees. These employees have become brand
ambassadors. Brand ambassadors are of growing importance to organizations for three
main reasons. It is said there is a link between how employees are taken care of at work
and how they take care of the outside customers. Statistics show that if employees are
successfully branded they will prioritize the brand’s interest (Harquail, 2007).
Furthermore, studies show that employee engagement, which can be linked to employee
branding, is positively correlated to customer satisfaction, productivity, profit, employee
retention, and employee safety (Harter, Hayes, & Schmidt, 2006). Research focusing on
specific instances and examples of successful employee branding will give practitioners
guidance for their own employee branding plans.

Literature Review
There has been heavy research on the subject of employee branding(Cardy, 2001), both
in how it relates to corporate image and the affects it has on the organization and its
employees, including job performance. Several journal articles focus on the broad
concepts or practices an organization needs in order to encourage employees to “live the
brand”. The concept of “living the brand” is often used to describe how employees
incorporate an organizations brand, values and culture into their actions and behavior
(Boyd & Sutherland, 2006).
Several studies have been done examining how employee branding relates to
concepts such as informal relationships (friendships)(Gremler, Gwinner, & Brown,
2001), turnover intention (Mangold & Miles, 2004), brand-building behaviors (work
peformance)(Herzog, Morhart, & Tomczak, 2009), brand equity (Mangold & Miles,
2004), etc. These studies have also produced useful theories, models, and methodologies
that can be used to measure data. Throughout the literature there is a lack of empirical
evidence that would assist organizations in knowing exactly how to get employees to
“live the brand”. Hatch & Schultz refer to this as the rhetoric-reality gap (2001).
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The following literature review seeks to describe state-of-the-art research in the field,
identify research gaps, justify the need for further research, and explain key concepts.
The review will be broken into sections that have been identified as key concepts
throughout scholarly articles. The literature review begins with a look at employee
branding models. This will be followed by the research question, a brief explanation of
the methodology, a description of the data analysis process and ending with the
identification of sensitizing concepts.

Internal Branding Model

One model used in explaining the process of employee branding is the Conceptualization
of the Employee Branding Process (Sutherland, 2006). This model has five stages:
internal entities who convey specific messages about the organizations, including human
resources, public relations, and managers; employee perceptions of these messages; the
interpretation of these perceptions which creates brand image; the consequences of this
product, including turnover, employee satisfaction, and customer retention (Sutherland,
2006).
“Corporate branding and corporate brand experience” proposes a model called the
Identity-reputation Gap Model of Brand Management(Harris & de Chernatony). This
model states that there are four components: vision and culture, which drive the brand’s
desired positioning, personality and subsequent relationships, all of which are then
presented to reflect stakeholders’ actual and aspirational self-images. This model aims to
bridge the gap between brand identity and brand reputation. The model would be useful
in forming questions to use for a survey to determine the level of internal branding.
Mangold and Miles ascertain that employee branding is largely under
conceptualized. Their model addresses the definition of employee branding, the sources
of messages employees receive, the factors that influence employee perceptions, as well
as the development of an employee brand image. The authors proposed the model begin
with messages that are sent by everyone in the organization, including management,
human resources and co-workers (Mangold & Miles, 2004). After the employee receives
these messages they internally form perceptions about them, referred to in the model as
forming a “psychological contract”. The interpretation that the employee has, including
how they act in the workplace, is the result of employee branding, whether successful or
not. The last concept is the consequences of employee branding, including turnover rates
and job satisfaction. The parts of this model will be focused on independently throughout
the literature review.

Organization’s Mission and Values

The mission and values of an organization are critical in defining what a company
considers important. The mission statement sets the tone of the organization. According
to “Positioning Southwest Airlines through employee branding”, the organizations
mission and values are the cornerstones of the process, as they state the organizations
reason for being and give insight into the manner in which the mission is to be
accomplished (Mangold & Miles, 2005). This is further explained in “Mission statements
in small and medium-sized businesses” which lists the benefits of mission statements
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such as developing unity of purpose within the organization, providing a guide to

behaviors and decisions, as well as motivating staff (Doran & O'Gorman, 1999).

Desired Brand Image

Recent research is showing the benefit that brand image can have on the success of an
organization. The desired brand image is the image the organization hopes its customers
have of it. This image is important because it includes all associations that the consumer
connects with the brand, including brand personality associations (Batra & Miles-Homer,
2004). This is an important concept because it is the main reason why there is interest in
employee branding. Employees are found to be not only just a part of the desired brand
image, but at the forefront

Sources/Modes of Messages
The “how” of employee branding comes in many forms, including internal and external
messages that employees receive. Both types of messages can be separated into formal
and informal messages and are found in Mangold & Miles “Conceptual of the Employee
Branding Process”. Internal formal messages include human resources management and
public relations systems. Internal informal messages are found in the organizations
culture, coworker influence and through leaders and managers. External formal messages
include advertising & public relations. External informal messages are commonly
customer feedback (Mangold & Miles, 2004). These messages must be “proactively
designed, and delivered frequently and consistently through all message channels”
(Mangold & Miles, 2005). This process does two things: enables employees to know,
understand, and experience the desired brand image and also upholds the psychological
contract that exists between the organization and the employee as an individual (Mangold
& Miles, 2005).

Colin Mitchell, author of “Selling the Brand Inside” (2002), explores messaging more
deeply saying that “information is doled out to employees in the form of memos,
newsletters, and so forth, but it’s not designed to convince them of the uniqueness of the
company’s brand”. Mitchell suggests that organizations apply consumer advertising
principles in order to give employees a bettr understanding of the brand vision. The first
principle, “Choose Your Moment”, focuses on the timing of employee messaging. A
turning point within the organization such as new leadership or the release of a new
product can “direct people’s energy in a positive direction by clearly and vividly
articulating what akes the company special”. The second principle, “Link Internal and
External Messages”, says that employees should be hearing the same messages internal
that customers hear external. According to Mitchell, is these messages are not consistent
with eachother the company’s integrity can likely be damaged in the eyes of the
employee. Thirdly, “Bring the Brand Alive for Employees” can be accomplished by
creating a professional branding campaign. This is similar to a customer branding
campaign in that it contains the same steps including research, design and execution.
Mitchell goes on to say that any materials distributed during such a campaign have to
genuine in order in succeed. For example, these materials should be jargon free and
should focus on the essense of the company (Mitchell, 2002).
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Employee’s Psych
According to the model an employee’s psyche encompasses both knowledge of desired
brand image and a psychological contract. Research shows that when someone joins an
organization they form a psychological contract and according to Miles and Mangold this
contract is based on the employees’ perceptions of a series of established expectations
(2004). The contract serves a mutual purpose. Employees agree to meet expectations put
forth by the organization, while the organization agrees to meet expectations of their
employees, such as treating employees fairly and providing certain benefits.

Organizational Commitment
A common concept found in both the literature about employee branding is
organizational commitment. Organizational commitment has been described as “the
strength of an individuals identification with, and involvement in, a certain organization
(Huang & Hsiao, 2007). This occurs with employees who have a personal investment in
the organization, typically meaning the employee’s values are closely in line with those
of the organization. It has been recognized that there are different types of commitment in
terms of employee and organization. They are affective commitment (the emotional
attachment, identification, and involvement in the organization), continuance
commitment (the perceived costs of leaving the organization) and normative commitment
(the perceived obligation to remain in an organization) (Meyer, 2002). In the case of
employee branding falls under affective commitment.
A related concept is Word Of Mouth communication as discussed in “Generating
positive word-of-mouth communication through customer-employee relationships”
(Gremler, Gwinner, & Brown, 2001). This is the interpersonal communication that occurs
between an employee and a consumer. Positive WOM is commonly attributed to
successful internal branding.

Research Question
Which methods of internal branding are the most successful at inspiring employees to
“live the brand”?

Methodology
Qualitative research will be used to collect information from participants. This type of
research is “an inquiry process of understanding based on distinctive methodological
traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem” (Creswell, 1998). The
qualitative approach is the most appropriate based on the nature of the project. A specific
theory will not be used due to the journalistic approach being used.
The primary method for collecting data from participants will be semi-structured
personal interviews of experts in the field of employee branding. This type of interview
focuses on a specific topic. The timing, exact wording and time allotted are decided upon
by the interviewer (Kumar, 2006). It also allows for the pursuit of additional information
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and detail. The interviews will be recorded so that they can be transcribed for further
analysis.

Participants
In order to collect the type of information needed the participants are experts in the field
of employee branding. Purposeful sampling is used in selecting the participants. The
“purpose” of this type of sampling is based on the need to obtain participants who are
experts in a specific field (Boyatzis, 1998). Interviews continued until theoretical
saturation had been reached and it appeared that the categories were strong enough to
communicate the themes meaning and importance (Bryman & Burgess, 1994).

Data Analysis
This project draws methods from Grounded Theory. Using this particular method offers a
framework by allowing the researcher to set coding procedures, allowing for the creation
of theory as opposed to testing one (Patton, 2002). Thematic analysis was used to analyze
the collected data. This type of (Bryman & Burgess, 1994)data analysis is a processed
used to encode data(Boyatzis, 1998). Also according to Boyatzis, thematic analysis
“enables scholars, observers, or practitioners to use a wide variety of types of information
in a systematic manner that increases their accuracy or sensitivity in understanding and
interpreting observations about people, events, situations, and organizations” (1998). The
use of thematic analysis has three stages: deciding on sampling and design issues;
developing themes and a code; and validating and using the code (Boyatzis, 1998).
As stated previously the sampling method chosen for this research project is
purposeful, as I sought out specific interviewees. After all interviews had taken place and
the recorded data had transcribed, the coding process began. Boyatzis breaks code
development into three different types. I have chosen to use a hybrid of two codes, prior-
research-driven coding and data-driven coding. Prior-research-driving coding is done
when a review of literature is used to develop code and allows for the use of concepts
found in previous literature to form an appropriate code. Codes found in other literature
will be used when looking for emerging themes as to limit the difficultly of sensing
themes.
Data-driven code allows for code to be created inductively. This appears that it
may be hypocritical to the previous method, but using this type of coding will allow for
creating new codes, which serves the purpose of looking for new and specific
information. A hybrid approach to coding is appropriate because of the structure and
purpose of the project. The end result is an analysis of employee branding practices,
reached by reviewing current literature and interviewing scholars and professionals in the
field. The use of methodology and a research question are being used as a guide as
opposed to a scholarly research project.

Sensitizing Concepts
According to Bowen, themes can be abstract and difficult to identify (2006). Sensitizing
concepts can be identified both before and after data analysis. The concepts identified
through the literature review show an emergence of themes (Roberts, 1997) and can be
used to assist in creating the interview questions(Rubin & Rubin, 1995). Concepts are
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also “derived from the research participants’ perspective, uses their language or
expression, and sensitizes the researcher to possible line of inquiry”(van en Hoonaard).
By using this to recognize concepts, coding can be used to organization the data into
themes. In this instance, the analysis will be informal, considering “judgments rather than
precise numerical measurements” (Roberts, 1997).

Pre-Determined Concepts
Brand
Brand Image
Work-place Relationships
Rate of Turnover
Work Performance
Customer Retention
Organizational Commitment
Internal Messages

Thematic Analysis
Five interviews, totaling 80 minutes, were transcribed and used for thematic analysis. The
interviews became shorter in time as the most important and prevalent questions became
more obvious. The interview participants were all directly involved in employee
branding, whether in-house or as a consultant. Detailed profiles of the participants can be
found in Appendix A. The questions listed in Appendix B were the framework for the
interviews, but flexibility was permitted due to the semi-structured nature of the research
method.
During the data analysis process four main themes emerged: human resources
role, rewards, engagement and experience, and managements role. The themes could
potentially be ordered differently and quotes could be used in various categories because
of the similarity between concepts. For example, the sub-theme of social activities is
listed under Rewards, but could also be placed under Engagement and Experience.

Theme 1: Human Resources Role – Hiring Practices

Human resources has one of the most important roles in the employee branding process,
finding the right people who will communicate the brand both to their peers and outside
consumers. It seems that a shift has taken place in hiring practices, from an employee
strictly for their qualifications and experience, to hiring both for ability and the likelihood
that they will fit culturally in the organization. Looking for applicants who share values
with the organization was a common topic in the majority of the interviews.

Interview 1: “Yeah, I mean I think it’s a combination of finding the right skill set, the
ability to train on that skill set and finding someone who is going to fit culturally, Uh,
someone who enjoys working here and who fits in well. That rolls into looking at the
values. One of the things that we talk about here is we have…it...it…it’s really down to
earth here. There’s a lot of collaboration that goes across teams, it’s competitive but not
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like most other consultant firms. Folks really work together an it’s important to us, it’s
one of our values”.
Interview 3: “I think a lot of it that you have to choose people, the job itself is not
difficult, but you have to choose people that, a service personality, like people who really
get a charge out of helping people, like finding a restaurant for somebody, you know,
making sure all the amenities are in the correct rooms, giving directions, somebody who
really enjoys helping other people. And that can be a difficult thing and weeding people
out who just want a job and finding people who want to help other. Everyone has to be
that way”.
Interview 5: “So one of the key things about W is that we don’t recruit, we audition and
we don’t hire employee, we hire talent. So there that sets the platforms for a lot of the
things we’re looking for. It is absolutely about the person”.
“What type of things do you like to do outside of work, what type of fun do you like to
have, what have you done before, what excites you?”
“If we hire talent who is kind of bored, can’t really hold a conversation how is that going
to effect the guest, probably negative”.

Theme 2: Rewards
Rewards can be a powerful way to brand employees. Programs that recognize
achievement are a tangible way that an organization can show appreciation while setting
an example for others. Annual and spontaneous events are looked forward to by
employees and have the ability to boost morale. This theme is broken down into two sub-
themes: recognizing achievement and social activities.

Subtheme - Recognizing achievement

Recognizing the work of employees is critical to continuing the employee branding cycle.
An employee can buy into communicating the brands message, but will cease to continue
this type of communication without positive reinforcement. This also provides an
example of what exemplary work and behavior is to others in the organization.

Interview 1: “Some of the things that we do throughout the firms are celebrating
anniversaries, you know five, ten, fifteen and twenty-five year anniversaries.”
“We do have a newsletter that comes out monthly. And we have a lot of fun with it, You
know, the guy who runs it puts a lot of jokes and pictures in there. It’s nice, you get
caught up with not just the office but the whole firm”.
Interview 2: “If you want to reinforce the behavior you have to recognition with rewards
and incentives to celebrate their successes in order for them. We suggest you talk about
the value”.
Interview 4: “Well um, the ABC award is the Above and Beyond the Call award that is
chosen by associates, so it’s not a management award, it’s given by associates which we
thought was important”.
“We have a series of interview questions that we ask them like what motivates them,
what they like about working there, and what they bring to their team”.
Interview 5: “W definitely has a huge part of recognition and it starts with on the spot and
that’s Wuv notes. And all of our talent gives them to everyone, no matter the position,
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whether it’s the general manager, if it’s a cook, if it’s someone in talent resource. They
get to give the Wuv note and say that was a wow”.

Sub-theme – Social activities

Creating events that are social is important in every workplace and has multiple benefits.
Involving employees socially increases the likelihood that they will become more
committed to the organization. These types of activities also present an opportunity to
form informal relationships, or friendships, in the workplace. Empirical evidence shows
that the development of friendships is positively correlated to job satisfaction,
organizational commitment and turnover rate (Morrison, 2004).

Interview 3: “Little thing like outside lunches, when we find out an associate is going on
vacation we’ll often send them a gift basket”.
Interview 4: “Company day is something everyone looks for to event-wise. August
meetings is when the field staff comes in and everyone looks forward to that”.
“There’s of course the CFC singers, there’s the club that is part of
Toastmaster’s International, which is like a public speaking club that
encourages people do better in meetings or public speaking of any kind.
We have sports teams, a basketball league, softball, men’s and women’s
softball and we used to have a bowling league”.

Theme 3: Engagement and Experience

Several academic journal articles discuss the need to engage employees. Engagement
provides a way to experience the brand and is critical to inspiring organizational
commitment. There are various ways this can be achieved, including being creative in
training methods, encouraging the use of organization specific wording and organizing
events that can potentially create stories.

Interview 1: “Internally we for our holiday party every year do a charity auction so that
we get folks to donate things, whether it’s their services, like babysitting services, or
whether they have connection somewhere, like get a free night at a hotel somewhere. And
we do a big auction and raise money for Boston cares or other charities. So that’s the sort
of thing that our consultants get very involved in”.
“One of the things that plays into what we’re talking about is, we’ve had for quite
a few years now a program called NPF. Where consultants can choose to take a
couple months off and we still pay part of their salary and they go work for a non-
profit organization. And it’s not just volunteering, you know, it’s actually finding
a project where they can go internally to that NPF and they can help their business
process”.
Interview 2: “They need to understand it personally and they need to be committed. And
only after they are committed will they change their behavior. That has to happen through
interactions and role playing”.
Interview 4: “I think all of events that we have for associates kind of fed into taking care
of our associates. Since we started, a little over 50 years ago, it’s been kind of a family
atmosphere, even though we’ve grown to over 3,000 associates. We still do a lot of things
to build relationships and bring people together, which is kind of a hallmark of the
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company. And continue to offer those benefits that are kind of intangible like company
day, sponsored blood drives, food drives, and health fairs”.
Interview 5: “It (orientation) set the platform to show how different it is. Anyone can set
up a classroom and tables”
“It’s to get you not only engaged in the brand but having fun”
“A lot of thought went into finding how everything can say what this brand really is,
every touch point”.
“If we don’t do it (use specific wording) in the heart of the house and with each other,
we’ll never play with guests that way. How fun is it be talking to a guest and tell them the
lift is over that way and put a big smile on their face? Ad they know that it’s consistent
you do it with everyone”.

Theme 4: Managements Role

Human resources manager’s can only introduce employees to the brand. It takes
departmental managers to continually reinforce employee branding by being engaged
with their employees and staying on brand in their own actions and communication.
Management sets the tone for both the organization’s brand and how they expect
employees to live it. The likelihood that employees will follow initiatives, rules and other
organization expectations drastically decreases if management lacks follow-through.

Interview 1: “Our tagline is really ‘Get there faster, start here’. And that’s based on one,
it’s true, we move people up the line very quickly, and that we also understand and accept
that consulting is an industry that undergrads come in for a couple years and want to
move on somewhere else. And accepting that is very refreshing because most firms won’t
quite admit that”.
Interview 3: “They (parent company) hold associate satisfaction and guest satisfaction on
an equal level. And how well you treat your associates will be a direct reflection on how
happy your guests are”.
“They do go hand in hand somewhat, you know we have that pledge card, talking
with a smile in your voice, the twenty-ten rule, but if managers aren’t having fun
and doing that everyday, every time then associates won’t do it. You really have
to walk the walk and talk the talk when you’re a manager”.
Interview 4: “Especially from the corporate communications department, we have a lot of
accessibility to the Executive team, which helps us develop and make sure we have the
right messages out there for everybody”.

A less significant sub-theme that was found in two interviews was the concept of family
involvement. The inclusion of family, specifically showing employees that family is a
value of the organization, also increases organizational commitment.
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Discussion

Relation to Literature Review

The purpose of conducting interviews with industry experts and professionals was to fill
the gap found in past and present academic research on the subject of employee branding.
Several sensitizing concepts established by the literature review were discussed
throughout the interviews. The model proposed by Mangold and Miles was similar to a
model used by Interview 2, a consultant and recognized expert in the field. Although his
wording and process was slightly augmented, the same concepts were present and were
laid out in a similar order. The five concepts prominently discussed in that literature
review (organization’s mission and values, desired brand image, sources/modes of
messages and employee psyche) were all topics present during the interviews.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strengths in this study lie with the participants and their respective roles in employee
branding. I was able to collect information from subjects who I would consider both
experts in their fields and successful brand ambassadors for their organizations. I had
previous or current professional relationships with three of the interviewees, which
allowed me to guide the conversation in a direction that would answer my research
question. The weakness of the project lies in my own inexperience conducting qualitative
research. Four of the five interviews were conducted over the phone, which created a
more challenging interview. If I were to conduct the same research again I would select a
sample that was more uniform in their job titles and responsibilities.

Future Research

Social Media and the Organization

Throughout the interviews a common concept emerged: social media and the uncertainty
in how to properly introduce and manage it. The concept of organizational social media is
a popular subject that is creating new job titles and departments with new and established
organizations. One participant said that her organization is currently evaluating the most
appropriate ways to use a SMN, social media networks, but did not feel that her
department had a plan that would successfully incorporate it. Organizations are likely
focusing on how to create and use SMNs while overlooking the effect that SMNs will
have on their employees and the way they work. The next section will outline the current
environment of this growing field, thoughts on its future and how it will affect employee
branding.

Current Use

There are two platforms that an organization can use: a SMN that is internal to their own
organization and an existing SMN, such as Facebook or LinkedIn.
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Private Internal Sites

One company that has successfully incorporated social media into their organization is
IBM. In 2007 the company launched an internal SMN called Beehive. Beehive is similar
to other SMNs in that users can edit their own profiles, befriend other users to create a
network and can upload video and pictures. To put this case into perspective here are the
current statistics1:
• 400,000 employees
• 60,000 active users on Beehive
• 17,000 internal blogs
• 1,000,000 daily views to IBM’s internal Wiki
• 3,000 IBM employees on Twitter
• 52,000 IBM users on Facebook
• 138,000 IBM users on LinkedIn

The primary reason for Beehive’s existence is research. IBM researchers specifically
monitored the site to answer questions about adoption, usage, motivation and the impact
of social networking in an organizational setting (DiMicco, Millen, et al., November 8–
12, 2008). One motivation that emerged was the discovery that employees were using the
site to get to know colleagues better, particularly on a personal level. While this is similar
to sites like Facebook and Myspace, an interesting discrepancy was found in that users of
Beehive were more often reaching out to those outside of their immediate network. This
concept is in direct opposition to typical Facebook users.
Other motivations included career advancement and convincing others to support
ideas and projects. IBM researchers also concluded that internal social networking users
with different motivations in turn used the network differently. For example, users
communicating primarily with those they know personally used the site at different rates
than those users reaching out to more users outside of their immediate network setting
(DiMicco, Millen, et al., November 8–12, 2008).
IBM recently used information gained from Beehive experiment and launched
Lotus Connections, SMN software for organizations. The software helps organizations to
create their own Beehive by providing a platform to create communities, personal-file
services, an internal Wiki, and individual blogs. IBM has also developed online and
classroom training for administrators.
The creation of SMN software that allows organizations to create their own online
network for employees opens up an entirely new set of questions that will be clarified
only through increased usage among organizations. According to an article in Business
Week one advantage is that employees can use their social networking profiles for “self-
branding”, like showing off their new projects (Baker, 2008). The concept of self-
branding is also related to branding for the organization. One instance, IBM employee
blogs are public, giving readers a chance to get to know what IBM employees are like,
which could potentially reshape the brand image of IBM and also help attract new talent.

Public Social Media Sites


























































1
Statistics
taken
from
http://mediablather.com/102‐social‐media‐at‐ibm.html


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Public SMN’s have already began to target organizations. One example of this is
Facebook, which created a new profile category called Fan Pages. This type of profile is
targeted more towards external consumers due to the nature and limitations of its
abilities. An organization can upload photos, start discussions with status messages and
connect/respond to fans who interact with the page. Twitter has not changed its format to
accommodate organizations, but is still being embraced with vigor. In terms of internal
use Twitter feeds could hypothetically provide employees with short, concise and up-to-
the-minute updates by allowing them to “follow” their organizations feed. The research
on this is nonexistent, but will likely be available in the future. The current trend in
organizational use of public SMN’s is to use them for consumer marketing.

Future Outlook

The future of implementing SMN’s in organizations is happening now. Technology

companies, such as IBM, are rolling out their own versions of software that give
organizations a platform to set up their own SMN. Organizations that utilize SMN’s will
only grow exponentially.
The opportunities and positive affects that SMN technology could have are
endless. Incorporating social media into an organization has three main advantages:
bringing together co-workers who are not in the same public space (virtual companies for
example), giving employees a space online that is not only their own (but allows them to
own a piece of the space with a personalized profile) and allows new employees to
experience and participate in the organization’s brand and culture.
However, with greater freedom of use comes the importance of maintenance and
guidance. As with all aspects of employee branding executives and manager have to first
set an example. Line-level employees are more likely to embrace their company’s SMN
and contribute to the richness of it’s content if their manager does. This is especially
important as an organization is adopting a SMN. I expect SMN’s to be similar to online
communities that are formed by consumers loyal to brands. Policies regarding an
organizations SMN should be clear but allow for flexibility.

Conclusion
The importance of employee branding is not only becoming more evident, but the field is
rapidly changing. There is no clear answer to the research question proposed for this
project. However, there are clear methods that are critical to start and maintain the press.
By analyzing the collection of information, both academic and the thematic analysis, four
main concepts emerged.
First, there are several people responsible for employee branding in an
organization. The most successful organizations understand that employee branding is
not just a class that people are put through, but a way of life. Providing a brand
experience that permeates throughout the entire organization will only increase brand
ambassadorship, which has been proven to directly affect the customer’s brand
experience. Secondly, employee branding is unique to each organization. What works for
 Employee
Branding
Methods
 15


Southwest Airlines is likely not going to work for Fifth-Third Bank. The attributes and
values are at the core of the organization and a successful employee branding plan
incorporates them in unique ways. Third, employee branding is not only cyclical but
should constantly be moving forward. Technology continues to advance and by
embracing new trends, (while staying true to ones brand) organizations can build stronger
resonance with employees and attract new talent. Finally, the employee branding process
should be an investment that is constantly being evaluated. I recommend organizations
invest in more programs that evaluate the perceptions of employees and use them often.
This will allow decision makers to be more in tune with brand ambassadors, who are not
only a major component of their brand equity, but one of the only parts that may be
controllable.
 Employee
Branding
Methods
 16


Appendix A

Interview Participant Information

Participant 1
Recruiting Manager for an established
Management Consulting firm

Participant 2
Founder of a strategic internal branding
consulting agency and speaker

Participant 3
Managing Editor - Corporate
Communication Department of a Fortune
500 financial company

Participant 4
Experienced Human Resource Director

Participant 5
Experienced Human Resource Director



































 Employee
Branding
Methods
 17


Appendix B

Pre-Interview Questions

What is your name and current position?

How does your position influence employee branding?

Interview Questions

Do you think it’s important to hire with brand values in mind?

If so, what type of people do you look for?

What are some of initiatives in your organization that have been the most exciting to
employees?

Do you notice a change in employee morale after they participate in some type of
employee branding initiative?

What are some specific programs or events that you feel are special to your organization?

What is an event or program that you feel made you feel connected to your organization?

Have their been any events or programs that you feel have not been successful in your
organization?

Do you have any ideas for future employee branding events or programs?


 Employee
Branding
Methods
 18


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