The Common Wisdom on Employer Branding Is Wrong

Based on the thousands of employer brand professionals I follow and know on LinkedIn, here’s how to build and manage a great employer brand today:

Be transparent!

Not that we should be sharing salaries. Or feedback. Or the decision process behind candidate selection. Or who the hiring manager for the job is. Or who else is on that team. Or what it means to say we have a “great culture.” Or what we mean when we say, “we care about our people.”

But you know: be transparent.

Be authentic!

The business world has turned the word, “authentic” into code for “it’s okay to put a rainbow sticker on your laptop” and “feel free to join an ERG.” Not, “My insurance claim was rejected, so I have to spend all my non-working hours arguing about and it makes me so mad that I think about rage quitting, except I need that meager insurance.” And not, “I have to take care of my child and my aging parents but for some reason my company is demanding I come to the office three days a week so I can zoom with people at home and I’m so stressed out, I drink more than I should.” And definitely not, “I have no sense that my job will exist in six weeks, let alone six months or six years, but my company is acting like they are ‘supporting’ me because there’s an ‘employee assistance program’ which is an out-sourced stranger telling me to breathe.”

But otherwise, sooo authentic, absolutely.

Tell employee stories!

You know, I’ve seen a LOT of employee content, but very very very little of it is what I would call a “story.” Usually, it is “This is why I joined the company” or “Why this is a great company to work for.”

Where’s the employee story that says, “You know what I hate about this job? That priorities change every twelve seconds and it never feels like I’m making progress. But my weekly one-on-ones with my boss help me see that I am growing and developing and she’s got me earmarked for an entry-level management position on her team, so I keep plugging away.”

A story has drama. Conflict. Meanwhile, we’re building brochures that talk.

Repeat the values!

We all know that our values “are” our brand. Values like, “solve our customers’ problems,” “best idea wins,” “act like owners,” and “diversity and inclusion” which you see over and over and over again.

And once you say the values enough, people will believe you have an amazing culture.

Right?

​Be consistent!

Say the brand tag. Then state the pillars. Then share the story. Again. And again. And again. And again. And then again on Tik Tok. And again on our “talent community bulletin.”

Just like if I were to say, “Happy! Happy! Happy!” to you over and over, you’ll suddenly be happy.

How did we get here?!?!

Employer brand was supposed to be the lever that changed recruiting and hiring for the better. It was supposed to get us past “post and pray” into something closer to “attract and repel.”

Instead, we’ve been co-oped into becoming the company cheerleaders, making pretty pictures on social media, propping up bullshit policies, and putting further layers of lipstick on the pig.

We’ve been saying the same things over and over and recruiting hasn’t changed. It’s still a game where the company has all the power over candidates, shares as little as humanly possible, and then complains that candidates don’t trust it.

It’s 2024, folks. Are we REALLY going to keep asking the same questions, having the same arguments, and letting others define our value?

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