Companies often search a job applicant’s background before deciding to extend a job offer. A less than favorable background has caused many employers to shy away from an applicant. However, the results of a reputation management study by MRINetwork reveal that job candidates are also checking an employer’s background.

According to the study, 59 percent of job candidates believe that an employer’s brand strength is either important or very important. Compensation and opportunities for advancement are seen as positive factors influencing the employer’s brand.

When Brand Strength Counts

Poor work-life balance was seen as the top negative factor impacting an employer’s brand. Why is this trait so important?

Shannon Miles, CEO of BELAY, believes that a company’s work-life balance can be seen in its level of flexibility. "Flexibility offers 3 key benefits that far outweigh free meals and ping-pong tables," she says.

"People value family, not just before and after office hours — all of the time." And she says they want to be able to prioritize their families while still doing an amazing job for the company. "Requiring employees to take PTO for every hour they need to take their children to the doctor forces the employee to disconnect what they value most from their commitment to their company."

Also, Miles says that flexibility demonstrates trust. "If companies set clear expectations for their employees, they have to trust that they will get the job done." And that’s an issue with some organizations — they really don’t trust their workforce, but Miles believes this paranoia is unfounded.

"The vast majority of employees genuinely want to do a great job and exceed expectations, and when they’re offered flexibility — they understand what a blessing it is and will work like crazy to honor it."

A survey by Accountemps reveals that 44 percent of employees lose sleep over work-related issues, and among that group, 50 percent say they’re overwhelmed with work volume/hours.

"When a job is posted, the expectations for the job should be clear, and this includes, most of the time, general parameters for working hours," Miles says. "Flexible working is not the wild, wild west where employees can work whenever they feel like it." She says it’s a framework for working hours with autonomy on how to get the job done within that framework.

If your company doesn’t have a flexible work policy, it’s probably unfair to expect employees to have a flexible "off-work" policy. In other words, if it has a rigid Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule, employees shouldn’t have to respond to phone calls and email and text messages after hours and on weekends.

For years, companies have been able to make these types of demands, but with the current low unemployment rates, job seekers have the upper hand and they’re choosing not to work for companies who expect them to always be available. A few years ago, I interviewed Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp, for a story, and he said what I think is the definitive word on this topic: "People aren’t on-demand like a Netflix show — they are at work or they aren’t."

When Brand Strength Might Not Count as Much

However, some types of brand strength may be more hype than anything else, especially as it relates to culture.

"In labor markets as tight as they are now, companies can and should take any measures necessary to differentiate themselves, and claiming to have a particular sort of culture is one such way," says Ashley Goodall, SVP of Leadership and Team Intelligence at Cisco, and co-author of "Nine Lies About Work."

"Facebook claims to have a ‘hacker’ culture, reinforced by the ‘Hacker Company’ sign hanging over the town square, whereas Patagonia promises a surfer culture codified in their founder’s autobiography 'Let my people go surfing,'" Goodall says.

And Goodall has a name for this. "Efforts such as these are what we call in our book ‘cultural plumage, peacock feathers for people designed to repel some candidates and attract others."

However, he says that cultural attractions — like most attractions — fade quickly. "It turns out that company ‘culture’ is a fiction — there is no research whatsoever proving that Facebook has a measurably different culture from Patagonia’s, or Goldman Sachs’, or Marks & Spencer’s," Goodall says.

In fact, he says the research points in exactly the opposite direction. "When you measure reliably the actual experience of work inside any company you always find more variation within a company than between companies, and that it is this variation within a company which explains and predicts how long an employee will stay and how productive she is while she is there."

He says that specific, team experience counts for much more than the universal experience. "That’s because companies aren’t uniform, and in the real world, you work on a team much more than for a company."

So, as you’re thinking about ways to brand your company as a “cool” place to work, Goodall has some advice. "The finding from the real world is that, while employees may choose to join a company because of its ‘cultural plumage,’ once they show up and start work, they care far more about which team they are on, than which company they joined," he says.

"If you want to have a great experience at work, don’t ask a company what sort of culture they have — their answers will be meaningless — instead, ask what they do to build great teams."