Elevating Employee Stories with Strategic Employer Branding

Supercharge your employee storytelling and fuel your marketing from within - here's how to stand out from the competition with the right employer branding strategy.

1. Refine the origin story with a link to current day and current vacant roles 

This is about the power of storytelling. Appealing to people's sense of wanting, purpose, impact and belonging.  If you can demonstrate a compelling vision, the story behind it, and the role you will play in contributing to further that vision it’s extremely compelling. And it talks directly to the idea that everybody wants to know their work matters. 

2. Be clear on why you and what's in it for me with a simple EVP 

Be clear on what you want, expect and demand from talent. Be upfront about adversities, harsh realities, sacrifices, and  commitments, because people will lean in and be brought into the idea of that transparency and authenticity. It also adds context and puts more value around why people put up with that stuff and what's in it for them on the other side. The sense of achievement, acceleration of your career alongside the strengths, benefits, and opportunities to be had in your organisation is very compelling for the right type of person. 

3. Supercharge your purpose-told employees stories with this employer branding approach 

Once you have a very compelling proposition, you can storify the ‘give and get’. Start with a challenge. Talk about the fears that people have. Can they stretch themselves or work under pressure and meet other challenges? This is the ‘and but therefore’ three story arc. Once they get on the other side of that obstacle, tell the story of why it's worth it. The story is not just why people join, but also why do they stay. How do they find a sense of achievement? How do they find fulfilment and a source of pride and passion? 

4. Evolve from just storytelling, to include story-doing 

How companies have reacted to the Roe versus Wade decision and its impact is a good example. A compelling story is one thing, but a story about something you've done and proof that you've achieved something physical, is ten times the value of a mere story. In a world where people are cynical and sceptical, proving that you have the conviction to do something and talking about the impact it had and the impact you can have with your contribution, is extremely compelling. 

5. Fuel your marketing from within using these repeatable formats 

Use the tried and tested story-telling techniques then find digital repeatable formats that you can use to distribute that content. You might do a gratitude campaign, and ask people what three character traits they admire in the people around them, for example. It might be that you have three questions you always ask employees, and that provides great content for every job description. It might be a 20-second portrait video that you always use. Find what works - a digital format, a device that's easy to use and so on. It's a highly repeatable, scalable input to get a predictable output. Test and measure what works and then repeat it.