Crafting Compelling Employee Stories for Employer Branding Success

There's a lot of employee “story” content out there. The theory is sound: whack employees in the spotlight for more relatable content that resonates with your ideal talent. Sounds sensible, right? 

Especially when brand messages shared by employees on social media earn 561 percent more reach than the same messages shared by the brand's account. 

But here's the catch: so much of the employee story potential you see online is wasted because it isn't framed the right way. 

No one's expecting Shakespeare, but there is an dead easy way to make your employee stories more engaging, readable and, well, like something you could call an actual story without setting the Bard off convulsing in his grave.

The missing ingredient in employee stories

So, what’s missing? Where do most employee “stories” get it wrong?

The simple answer is they lack drama. 

You might be thinking, “Oh, I'm only doing this for employer branding. I don't want drama.”

But drama just means something of interest, that moves a character forward, or creates an antagonising crossroads.

You wouldn’t watch a movie if the hero got from point A to B without any bumps in the road - a movie where Frodo pops down the road to Mordor, effortlessly destroys the ring and is back in the Shire in time for tea.

With nothing to overcome, there’s nothing to captivate.

What if the new graduate intern admitted they were terrified to apply because they felt under-qualified?

What if the employee who's been with the company for 10 years didn't list ten things they love about it, and instead explained the reasons they almost quit and, crucially, why they didn’t?

Without drama, there may be a narrative but there’s no story.

Need a simple fix?

Ask the right questions

Better questions, better stories.

Instead of:

What do you love about working here?

think

What has been the greatest challenge of your time here? How did you overcome it?

Don't be another brand pedalling manicured content talent doesn't care about. Dig for conflict. Set employees up to deliver something authentic and captivating. This is how you differentiate.

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