Principle 1:
Treat employee environments like customer ones

In the battle for budgets, it’s natural that customer-facing environments command the lion’s share. However, internal environments should still benefit from strategic thinking. Stamping the logo and colours everywhere is not enough. Well-conceived, external-facing environments are designed to inform and guide customer behaviours (product trials, enquiries, sales, etc.). Similarly, internal environments should inspire employees to act in ways that are aligned with the organisation’s strategy. For example, if your brand is positioned as an innovator, ensure employees feel that the space challenges them to think differently and empowers them to try new things.

Principle 2:
Use brand strategy and employee value proposition (EVP) as ingredients for engaging communications

Of course, workplace branding should align with your brand strategy and EVP. It should reinforce why people come to work at your organisation and reiterate key strategic messages. However, don’t just copy and paste the pillars from the strategy presentation; use it as an opportunity to highlight the strategy in motion, providing proof points and examples of desired actions. Use emotive storytelling, not cold corporate jargon. This is an opportunity to bring the brand to life in human and empathetic ways across everyday functional spaces.

Principle 3:
Consider workplace branding in the
context of a user journey

Think about users and their transitions from external facing to internally focused spaces. For example, if conference rooms are used to host clients, how does the branding work from reception, to waiting areas, to meeting room and beyond? Also, tailoring the branding to a specific location can help contextualise business objectives and change behaviours in everyday moments. For example, if you have net zero CO2 targets, use your brand assets to encourage recycling in staff kitchen areas; or in lift lobbies, challenge people to take the stairs. Overall, consider how the branding will be paced across the journey; visitor-focused spaces might feel calm, inspiring and aspirational; employee spaces might on the other hand feel more playful, active and colourful. All branding should be planned carefully so the whole brand story is woven seamlessly through external and internal spaces.

Principle 4:
Design in anticipation of dynamic content

Workplace branding should be an asset for internal communications. You should be able to use it to tailor messages as part of a variety of internal campaigns that change throughout the year. It’s worth considering how the workplace branding is designed to house this evolving content. It could be through digital screens or other fixtures and spaces that are easy to update on a regular basis.

Principle 5:
Make it memorable

Your workplace branding is a critical touchpoint that can help attract, retain and engage talent. It’s an opportunity to push the brand message and create stand-out. Rely heavily on creative ideas and borrow from leading industry sectors. Just as incredible wall graphics and messaging within a restaurant, for example, might spur someone to share their experience on social media, imagine how your workplace branding might be perceived if it were the topic of an employee’s LinkedIn post. What might this say about your organisation as a place to work?

Workplace branding will not solve all employee challenges, but it has great influence over the experience of one of your most important constituents. Treating your workplace brand with the same importance as your customer-facing brand will go a long way to creating the kind of environment where people want to belong and contribute. That in turn will help shift the balance in favour of a more engaged and productive workforce.