don’t tell me who you are.

Show me.

p4 Culture branding: just another social recruiting fad?

p6 Is this just another marketing exercise?

p8 Culture brand: Rackspace

p10 Sounds interesting… how to begin

contentS

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It may be tIme to bump your perfectly coIffed ‘employer brand’ In favour of all that’S real and human about your workplace.

Sally hunter, dIrector of kellyocG’S emea practIce, and bIll boorman, founder of #trueventS, explaIn why orGanISatIonS Should conSIder peelInG back theIr employer brand to reveal the ‘culture brand’ hIdInG underneath.

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JuSt when everyone aGreeS StronG and clear employer brandInG IS crItIcal to entIce hIGh-value candIdateS, alonG comeS a new term: ‘culture brandInG’. why?

culture brandInG: JuSt another SocIal recruItInG fad?

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Many employer brands are simply machinations of marketing, or glossy representations

of your brand that feel too scripted and too perfect. Most job candidates—particularly

the intelligent, leading thinkers in high-demand fields—see through those carefully

crafted messages in the same way consumers at large don’t trust advertising and

marketing. ‘Don’t tell me who you are. Show me.’

Culture branding is about rubbing off all that formality and polish, and discovering

what lies under the surface. What unites your most dedicated employees? What

makes working for your company different from others in your industry—not from the

perspective of marketers and professional image-makers, but based on what your

employees feel about their daily routines and each other?

Above all, your culture brand should be true and meaningful. Any workplace can be

‘fun’ and any workforce can have ‘high integrity.’ If you look at your competitors, you’ll

find no shortage of banal phrases to describe their organisations. Your culture brand

aims to capture some true, ineffable idea about your organisation and employees—

one that both job seekers and current employees believe in, respect and want to

continue to strive for.

“Employer branding constitutes what you think about work, whereas culture branding refers to what you feel about work.”

bIll boorman, founder of #trueventS and expert In SocIal recruItInG

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why bother? ISn’t culture brandInG JuSt a dIfferent name for employer brandInG? JuSt publISh Some edGy, ‘realIty’ IntervIewS and call It a Good effort?

IS thIS JuSt another marketInG exercISe?

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culture branding is more than your employee ‘reality channel’ for three big reasons:

Culture branding is not simply documenting what your employees are doing day-to-day,

like a security camera capturing unscripted moments. Culture branding must identify a

‘higher idea’ that your employees stand for, and find ways to illuminate it and enrich it.

By presenting a truer picture of your company to job candidates, you are effectively

pre-screening them to find out who will fit in and succeed within your organisation.

When culture branding is done well, you can predict who is going to get a job based

on which pieces of online content they look at and engage with.

Culture branding asks you to capture the essence of work within your organisation

in order to further enrich that ‘ineffable thing’ within your workplace. A well-honed

culture brand not only excites your future employees, but also rallies and motivates

your current workforce.

Would employees and future job candidates rally around an idea like “Fanatical

Support”? Let’s look at the story of Rackspace and their team of ‘fanatics’…

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culture brand: rackSpace

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rackSpace IS a Global It hoStInG company that, lIke many technoloGy companIeS, IS contInually In hot purSuIt of talented developerS, deSIGnerS and enGIneerS. they have a reputatIon aS an excellent employer, wIth deep commItment to cuStomer ServIce (or ‘fanatIcal Support’ aS they refer to It).

In 2010, at a time when most technology companies were expanding their social media

machines using channels like Twitter and Facebook for recruiting, Rackspace decided

on a different tack. Says Michael Long, head of global employment branding initiatives,

“My gut told me to hold off… The majority of [social media] approaches I witnessed had

a lot to do with simply sharing jobs. While I can understand the natural inclination would

be to share ‘opportunities,’ it just didn’t seem to do justice for this much larger pursuit of

sharing our culture.”

What Rackspace wanted to do was to capture such an authentic snapshot of what it

is to be a ‘Racker’ (the nickname for Rackspace employees) that candidates would

immediately know whether they fit in.

“We should always keep in mind that the most engaged and longest lasting contributors

to our organisations are the ones who fit within our cultures,” explains Long. “Our

goal should be to accurately depict ourselves knowing good and well that for the right

person, we will absolutely be their best place to work.”

GIve that culture brand Some Space (onlIne)Rackspace created a content-rich ‘Rackspace culture’ site separate from its career site. The career site offers all one would expect: opportunities, how to apply, benefits, etc. The brand culture site offers a glimpse of real life at Rackspace—all the passion and enthusiasm of original Rackers. rackertalent.com

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Long and others at Rackspace wanted to move beyond the idea that Rackspace—along

with hundreds of other technology companies—was simply a fun place to work. “A quick

search engine dive would, by and large, return pictures of Ping-Pong matches and festive

events. While definitely a part of the work environment, this in no way encapsulated the

entire picture,” explains Long.

In particular, the company wanted to highlight the essence of what makes Rackspace

tick: the brilliant minds and eclectic personalities of ‘Rackers.’ The company launched

RackerTalent.com, a microsite that takes a journalistic approach to defining what makes

Rackspace a great place to work. The site includes a blog with 60 contributors from four

continents, ‘day-in-the-life’ videos and video interviews with employees. The goal: not to

over-hype Rackspace, but to capture the essence of the company as it is.

Rackspace operates RackerTalent as a content ‘flash mob’—publishing community

solicited posts and videos without all the polish and oversight typical in a large corporate

blogging endeavor. Culture branding in the ‘castle’ (i.e. Rackspace global headquarters

in Texas, inside a former shopping mall), is just as thoughtful and energetic. If it’s true

that physical environment shapes culture, then Rackspace is all about creative freedom

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culture brand: rackSpace

and collaboration. The office has wide open spaces, communal dining rooms, plenty of

personalised work spaces, and absolutely no closed-off offices. The space is designed to

foster impromptu gatherings, accidental meetings and lots of togetherness.

The company has designed over 100 employee t-shirts and related swag—all highly

valued by the employees—to recognise celebrations and special contributions. Our

personal favourite? The ‘takes one to know one’ shirt awarded to employees who

contribute to the employee referral program. While these may seem like small details,

each reinforces the culture brand, energises employees and proudly positions the brand

to the outside world.

capturInG the eSSence of the company ‘aS It IS’. read a racker bloG here.

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“The most engaged and longest lasting contributors to our organisations are the ones who fit within our cultures. Our goal should be to accurately depict ourselves.”

mIchael lonG, head of Global employment brandInG InItIatIveS at rackSpace

It should be a concept people can be energised by, and should be employee-driven

rather than marketing-driven. With this concept in mind, you must then ensure your ‘shop

window’ reflects the idea across every recruiting channel. Your culture brand should be

reflected in your online materials, social media channels, brand advocates and every

other activity related to recruiting.

Next, ensure your culture brand is evident in the lived experience of your employees,

every day. Reinforce your culture brand in the physical workplace, your organisational

structure and workplace rituals. While your culture brand is defined by what already exists

within your organisation, you must also nourish it and improve it to ensure

it’s sustainable.

Remember, if you want your employees to share their feelings about work across their

network, you need to build an environment that encourages people to talk freely and

SoundS IntereStInG… how to beGIn

fIrSt, a company muSt fIGure out what hIGher Idea or qualIty makeS ItS workforce and workplace unIque.

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share openly. Start by giving permission. Large corporations typically distribute policies

about communications during onboarding. Communication and social media policies

usually advise employees that permission is always required before speaking on behalf of

the company. These policies are born from fear, and should be rolled back to encourage

your employees to share your company’s culture with their friends and peers.

Finally, build an online community or content site where your employees can share

brand culture; encourage employees to join and participate in activities like blogging or

social media chatter. (Of course before creating and releasing content to your website,

employees need guidelines and training). With a high-energy, authentic culture brand,

and a framework in place for employees to share, they will tell the story of work better

than any artfully crafted, shiny marketing message.

ultImately, It’S not about chanGInG your culture. It’S about lIvInG wIth It and ShowInG that culture to the world So future employeeS can make an Informed choIce about workInG wIth you.

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about the authorS

Sally HunteR is RPO Practice lead eMea for the Kelly Outsourcing &

Consulting Group and is responsible for the RPO proposition from client

relationships via the account management team to consulting on HR

transformation. Sally has extensive experience in the human capital sector,

including leadership positions within strategic account management for

staffing providers to operational delivery.

BIll BOORMan is something of a recruitment veteran, having worked in the

industry for 25 years. He started as a front line recruiter, then became involved

in training, later becoming Director of training. now, as Managing Director

of the Bill Boorman Consultancy, he is specialising in training and business

consultancy for a wide range of recruiters. Bill is organising and hosting #tru

(the Recruiting unconference) events around the world.

about kelly

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) is a leader in providing workforce solutions.

Kelly® offers a comprehensive array of outsourcing and consulting services as well as world-class

staffing on a temporary, temporary-to-hire and direct-hire basis. Serving clients around the globe, Kelly

provides employment to more than 550,000 employees annually. Revenue in 2011 was $5.6 billion.

Visit www.kellyservices.com and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, & Twitter.

This information may not be published, broadcast, sold, or otherwise distributed without prior written permission from the authorized party. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. An Equal Opportunity Employer. © 2012 Kelly Services, Inc.