When people think of branding, most think of a company logo, colors, graphics, icons, tag lines, uniforms, interior design, etc. Rarely do you see the words ‘employee behavior’ in a creative brief.

We all know that ‘conversation’ is the new mode of marketing, and we all know that generation Y will assume the CEO of any given company is “tweetable”, or a blog can bring down your product or service, and entire cyber communities can form as a result of loving or hating your biz. It’s high time therefore that employee behavior becomes a critical component to a brand strategy.

Just because a candidate has the right qualifications on paper doesn’t always mean they are the right fit for the job. Recruiters need to define a standard of behavior requirements that identify employee expectations based on criteria unique to the brand vision.

Famed restaurateur Danny Meyer has built an entire brand strategy and culture around the idea of “Enlightened Hospitality”. Here are a few of his quotes:

“…train your staff to be agents of your client, rather than gatekeepers for your business”. Look for solutions, not excuses. Find ways to say yes, instead of apologetically saying no.”

“Too often, staff are viewed as cogs in a machine; people whose opinions are marginalized, their strengths exploited with little recognition, and their weaknesses amplified obscenely. And yet we insist that these people put their best foot forward to present a united, positive image for the organization”

Zappos.com, whose tag line is “Powered by Service”, puts its 10 core values on the company website for all to see. This level of commitment creates an atmosphere where people want to come to work and is something that is experienced every day through a variety of unique company benefits, daily antics, policies and good old fashioned ‘fun’.

The Zappos culture is built on loyalty. Consider this:

Immediately after new recruits finish their introductory training and induction sessions, the CEO (who, by the way, sits with his employees in a cube), offers them $2,000 each to quit. The employees who don’t take the offer have an immediate shared value system that permeates the company.

Ultimately Zappos is more than just a place of employment, it’s a company that has a culture of people with a shared goal that reflects directly on their ROI.

The Apple mantra is “Service is Marketing”. Most of us have ventured into an Apple store with those oh so pleasant guys (half geek half charm) referred to as ‘concierges’ who greet us in their casual anti-uniform. They never hard-sell you, are never pushy, always helpful, knowledgeable and humble enough to ask a fellow employee for info if they are caught off guard with a question they can’t answer. And they don’t wait until you look utterly confused to see if they can help – they intercede and streamline your experience before you get that dazed look in your eye – and ultimately they streamline the sales conversion.

People should not be hired to ‘work’ but instead they should be hired as a brand steward and an ambassador for a business. Many business owners complain that good, smart help is hard to find. Our interpretation of that is they don’t have training programs for their team, nor have they made their expectations clear.

Those that make behavior a brand asset know it pays big dividends big time.