In today’s multifaceted businesses, where payroll can be on one continent, manufacturing on another, and day-to-day HR care provided by a contractor, how do companies make sure their employees identify with their aims — and encourage loyalty at the same time?

“Human resources outsourcing is definitely questioning the integrity of the employee brand. But it’s not impossible for outsourcers to really understand their clients and build strong relationships with them,” says Mark Withers, director of Mightywaters Consulting.

“Organisations need to work hard to make sure that people to whom they have outsourced act in line with the values and ethos of their organisation,” he says. “It comes down to managing a relationship, rather than managing a contract. A good outsourcer will be managing a relationship.”

One way to do that, he says, is to ensure organisations stay away from the “automated telephone” effect. “One of the dilemmas with outsourcing is that it can deliver on the cost side, but you need to do it in a way that line mangers still feel they have a human being to talk to who understands the issues they face,” says Withers.

“You want to feel as if you’re being treated as a human being by someone who knows you and knows the organisation,” he adds. “If a company is trying to build a strong employer brand then a personal touch is key to that. In a way, line managers want to have their cake and eat it; they want low-cost back-office support along with hands-on personal attention.”

Creating consistency within a brand is also key, as it gives employees trust and confidence in the company, which they will eventually pass on to their customers.

Chris Miller, managing director of Vivid Communications, has worked with fashion retailer H&M to ensure that its brand remains consistent throughout the employee journey, beginning with job ads and continuing to company handbooks and contracts.

“With H&M, everyone is aware of what it is because of the huge amount of exposure from its consumer brand,” he says. “We use similar imagery and a similar tone of voice, a recognisable style it has created for its brand, and we use that both internally, talking to existing employees, and externally, with potential new employees.”

Does it work? “It’s all done to make sure that people have a real understanding of — and buy into — the company values, knowing what the values stand for and what they are striving to achieve. When the values and goals of the organisation are clearly set up from the beginning, everybody buys into them and there is consistency,” says Miller.

“People can relate to each other well and create a better workplace; they know what to expect from each other. That’s where loyalty creeps in. When people are kept in the dark and do not have a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve or how they are supposed to be acting, that causes problems in the workplace.”

But is it possible to ensure that everyone is happy — including employees on the other side of the virtual company, such as freelancers? Martin Cerullo, director of resourcing communications for Alexander Mann Solutions, a recruitment process outsourcing consultancy, says the actual detail of brand understanding by recruitment agencies is “very, very mixed”.

“Some don’t have enough managed preferred supply lists to engage well,” he says, referring to the approved providers of recruitment services on which the company depends to get the best and most cost-effective employees to fill specific vacancies, “or their relationship with the suppliers is distant, or they don’t understand what the brand needs,” he says. “Our focus is on ensuring that the employee base is engaged in the brand.

“We are conscious of the need to brief preferred suppliers about the brand, and we make sure all the candidates we put forward reinforce the brand message. Five years ago, the world of branding was making sure an organisation’s message was pushed across. Now it is to ensure it meets the consumers’ needs,” says Cerullo.

Withers adds that there is a trend towards bringing advisory casework back into organisations (referring to individual issues, such as disciplinary, sickness and grievances), either setting up specialist teams to deal with them or returning to an older model of allocating people to business units that provide that kind of support.

“One of the great hopes of HR transformation is that line managers will start to take on management responsibilities, but I currently see a huge deficit in line managers doing that. Pull all the support and help away from line managers and they’ve got nothing. Either they do it badly or they don’t do it all,” he says.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Currently there’s a trend towards “healthy scepticism” concerning outsourcing, rather than a healthy charge toward it and, hopefully, that will make employer branding even stronger in the long run, says Withers. “Does it deliver the cost promise that we once thought it might? Could we do it as well in-house, and how does it stack up against important issues like the employer brand? Those are questions currently being asked.”

Price Waterhouse Coopers

When accountancy and consulting giant Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) began a student recruitment drive, they discovered most young people found their brand to be a little bit dull.

“They knew certain brands, such as Virgin, HMV and Orange. And as we have worked hard on our brand since 2003, they also knew us, which was peculiar as they had never seen us on the high street,” says Charles Macleod,left, director of recruitment at PwC. “But while they thought we were successful, nobody found us veryinteresting.”

So last year, PwC hired ThirtyThree, a recruitment advertising company. “We wanted to push the message that PwC is a great place to work for all types of people, no matter what they had studied,” says Macleod. “So we launched a brand campaign, ‘One. For all’.”

As part of the campaign, PwC offered students free coffee and massages during exam times. They also began sponsoring events, as well as handing out useful items, such as rape alarms and torches.

“The campaign’s spirit wasyoung and engaging. It was consistent in reinforcing the brand,” he explains.

But has it seen results? “Students used to describe PwC as ‘dull’ and ‘prestigious’,” Macleod says. “Now we’ve lost ‘dull’ and added ‘dynamic’.” However, it’s hard to measure its success in terms of business. “We probably get the best applicants, so if you assume that leads to happier clients and better quality work, there will be a financial dividend in the long run.”

PwC has done limited recruitment outsourcing, says Macleod. “We found that by having the right group of employees focused as specialists, we achieve greater success. That’s where you can see financial benefits, if you’re not paying a consultancy.

“That said, the best thing about working with specialists is getting the best advice,” he adds.“We’re making sure the experience fits the brand, from the start.”

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