I have been thinking of branding internal and external a lot lately… not sure why perhaps it is something either ramped up hiring at HR.com or the questions from HR solution providers trying to reach HR professionals. Or most likely trying to figure out how to created the ultimate in high-performance workforce, sharing of values and success. I have found that the recent “social committee” activities are really just becoming more and more of a pain and honestly I’m not much for potlucks.

How is it that somebody like Yahoo! has managed to keep it, on the surface you might think easy right… California, young company full of energy –hi-tech etc. … but no… they have had a number of things that must drive them insane on a daily basis.

-How about employee engagement, they have people that are still working there that have double digit employee numbers on their employee record, this means that they can buy Iowa if they wanted to if they cashed in options.
-How do you balance task, jobs energy and commitment when it might just come down to employee start date.
-How about some companies like Google that is stealing employee’s intelligence at a 25% premium on salaries.
- How about being a product manager for their Hot-Jobs property and seeing Monster ads all over the place.
- Or just the ease of finger pointing, scapegoat and deflection that often happens in a publicly traded company.

But Yahoo! still moves on in Iconic fashion, they have a brand they are Yahoo! and the general population knows them for what? Most of us have never met a single employee, we have never been wooed by conversation, locked into contracts, need Yahoo! to keep our house warm or cold. How do they do it? How have they managed to continue to build brand with no feet on the street, or massive service centers.

I think I might have some insight into why they have a good internal brand. It started in the beginning, upon receiving your acceptance letter in a little box delivered to your house, no doubt in purple wrapping. When you open it actually makes the sound of the Yahoo yodel. How can an offer like that make you not want to work for them! I’m sure the commuting life would be easier too knowing that you can get on a shuttle bus (customized bus with wireless internet, that would make xibit proud from pimp my ride) from San Francisco, San Jose and the train stations in a the Yahoo! corporate offices in Sunnyvale. Actually did I say office… no no “campus” who really wants to go to an office.

So lets tie this back to how this all works together. After a long day on my feet at the SHRM national event in Las Vegas. I zip back to my room to freshen up, turn on the T.V. watching CNN as Yahoo! is in the news over a “C” level shuffle, 35 minutes later I arrive at Yahoo! Hot Jobs party. A typical party perhaps… until they spontaneously ask people if they would like to do the Yahoo yodel… one person after another folks give it there own little version, introducing themselves from all over the country finishing with a smile and a round of applause. These Contestants were judged by an American Idol style panel of 3 (that included Yahoo’s SVP of HR Libby) talk about living the brand.

So the question is, can this be replicated, duplicated or developed in a reasonable time frame?

By the way, if anybody wants to hear the yodel, e-mail me I have it on file.