The Future of Employer Brand Is More Human Than We Think

For years, it has felt like Internal Communications (IC), Employer Brand (EB) and Corporate Communications were part of the same organisation, but operating in different divisions. AI search is rapidly changing that. 

The way businesses are discovered, researched, shortlisted and talked about outside their metaphorical four walls, means those lines are becoming increasingly blurred. You can no longer tell your story in one space without what’s being said, experienced and shared somewhere else becoming part of it. And, increasingly, AI is joining those dots for us. 

Traditionally, IC focused on the people already inside the business, building culture, connection and engagement. Employer Brand took that experience and translated it for the outside world through an EVP (Employee Value Proposition), careers site and recruitment campaigns. 

And then there was Glassdoor. Reviews existed, but unless a candidate actively went looking for them, or an employee felt strongly enough to share a particularly glowing (or scathing) experience, they often sat on the periphery of the Employer Brand conversation. 

Until now. 

The lines between internal experience, Employer Brand and corporate reputation are disappearing. And AI is accelerating it. 

What’s felt and experienced inside an organisation now has more ways than ever to find its way out, through Glassdoor, Reddit, LinkedIn and social content. Leaders are building their own profiles and employees have a much bigger platform too. As we’ve become more comfortable sharing our thoughts, opinions and experiences online personally, that confidence has inevitably found its way into our professional lives. 

Now, couple that with AI search synthesising what information it finds about an organisation from those multiple sources, and the dynamic changes yet again. You don’t necessarily get to decide which part of your employer story someone discovers first. The brilliant employee experience you haven’t talked about can remain invisible, while the disconnect you haven’t addressed can suddenly become very visible. 

And that’s why I think we need to stop thinking about Employer Brand as a series of campaigns and start thinking about the story as always on. 

Internal Communications can be the engine behind that story, helping people understand and connect with the things that actually matter to them. Employer Brand can give those experiences a platform. Leaders can add their own voice and visibility. Corporate Comms can help those stories travel further. And AI can connect the signals. 

Suddenly, what happens inside your business, what your people say about it, what your leaders stand for and what your Employer Brand promises, aren’t separate conversations. They’re different parts of the same story. 

So where do we go from here? Well, ironically, I don’t think the answer starts with AI at all. 

Start with people 

Look across the business at your counterparts in Internal Communications, Learning and Development, Talent, HR, Employer Brand, Corporate Comms and Leadership and get them around the same table. Not because everyone needs to own Employer Brand, but because everyone owns a piece of the experience and story behind it. 

That’s one of the biggest opportunities for brands right now. Create cross-functional working groups and share what you’re seeing.  

Ask yourselves: 

• What are employees hearing internally? 

• What are candidates finding externally?  

• What are leaders talking about? 

• What are people saying about you? 

• What messages are potential candidates reading that put them off even applying for roles? 

• Where does it all connect and, perhaps more importantly, where doesn’t it? 

Most organisations don’t have a shortage of good stories. They have brilliant people, great development programmes, interesting leaders and employees doing work they’re genuinely proud of. 

The problem is that the people responsible for those things don’t always know enough about what their counterparts across the business are doing. 

Humanising Employer Brand 

Talk to each other more, share the stories and connect the people behind them. Give employees the confidence and platforms to talk about their experiences – encourage them by giving them something positive to talk about. 

Bring leaders into the employer conversation rather than having them sit somewhere above it. 

Let Internal Communications create the connection internally and let Employer Brand and Corporate Comms help those truths travel further. 

That’s very much the thinking behind our From the Inside Out™ approach. Start with people and what’s genuinely true inside the organisation. Connect the teams influencing that experience. Find the stories and evidence that prove it. Then help those truths travel from the inside out. 

AI matters because it raises the stakes, but perhaps that’s the point. 

We don’t need to create a better story for AI. We need to work better together to create a truer story about our organisations – and give AI, candidates and everyone else enough evidence to believe it’s true. 

Key points 

• AI search is ending the gap between what you say externally and what people experience internally 

• Employer Brand can’t be treated as a campaign anymore. It’s an always-on reputation system 

• Your people, leaders and comms teams are already shaping the story candidates find 

• The strongest employer brands won’t be the loudest. They’ll be the ones communicating the truth, using tangible evidence