There are employer brands and there are employer brands. There are uber employer brands and there are uber employer brands.
And then there’s Google.
Apart from its rather undignified and unsuccessful flirtation with China, it’s hard to think of many examples when Google has shot itself in the foot, from either a corporate or employment perspective.
So, in terms of employer branding, maybe it doesn’t have to try too hard any more?
You could have fooled me. A story in the press this week both surprised and impressed me. Google – in conjunction with the IPA – is launching an initiative whereby the UK’s largest advertising agencies send their recent graduates to spend a two/three month internship at the search giant. At the end of the internship, the graduates return to their agencies far better versed in the black arts of ‘e-skills’. The project, with a working title of Square aims to deepen further Google’s links with its ad agency partners.
It’s hard to think of a scheme with more winners. The ad agencies benefit in terms of the new skills entering their business, as well as their graduates returning fired up and better engaged. Google educates the future generation of movers and shakers within the ad and media business about its products, services and opportunities (as well as generating some more positive PR). And the graduates find their CVs embellished beyond measure, reflecting positively on both their employer and Google.
The scheme demonstrates, not for the first time, Google’s grasp of the fact that giving people interesting, exciting, varied and stimulating professional challenges benefits not only employer but also the individual. And, by extension, their own rather healthy bottom line.
Above all, creating a great employer brand is about imagination and courage, making a brave decision, not an easy one and not resting on your laurels, even if you probably deserve to. And doing it in style that is unmistakably ownable by your employer brand and no-one else’s.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 