Employer branding isn’t just about attracting talent... It's about keeping it.

Yet, too often, organisations treat employer branding as an almost entirely, external-facing function, focused on hiring surges and EVP rollouts. But what happens when hiring slows?

In the latest Employer Bland episode, I sat down with Charu Malhotra, a prominent leader in Employer Brand & Talent Acquisition, to explore why internal employer branding is so important.

 Your EVP doesn't mean much if employees can't feel it.
Too many companies invest in EVP activation for attraction but neglect internal engagement. If employees don’t see or feel the EVP in action daily, it’s just a tagline with a short shelf-life.

- Internal Employer Branding & Internal Comms.
Posting sporadically about culture on Slack or an intranet isn’t enough. It’s about consistent storytelling, reinforcing career paths, ensuring employees see real opportunities within the business before they start looking elsewhere.

- Engagement, Retention & Mobility are the new hiring metrics.
With recruitment fluctuating, businesses need to double down on retention, engagement and internal mobility. Employer brand teams that focus solely on attraction risk becoming irrelevant—those who drive internal brand advocacy become indispensable.

- Employees need to see their future.
The #1 reason employees leave? Lack of visible career progression. Charu shared how companies can market internal opportunities better, making growth paths clear and accessible.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this deeply personal and thought-provoking episode, Chris sat down with Israh Khokhar, Employer Brander from Manchester to explore the complex intersection of addiction, recovery and Israh's professional life as an agency recruiter turned internal Employer Brander.

Israh shares her powerful journey of resilience, shedding light on the often unspoken challenges of addiction in high-pressure industries alongside navigating complex family dynamics and the transformative power of recovery.

We discuss:

✨ How addiction is often hidden behind success, material things and societal expectations.
✨ The impact of workplace culture on mental health and addiction.
✨ Why understanding addiction is key to creating inclusive, supportive workplaces.
✨ How recovery can foster accountability, empathy, and unique strengths in the workplace.
✨ Actionable advice for leaders and employers to support employees in recovery.

This episode isn’t just a story of survival... it’s a call to action for businesses to embrace authenticity, foster inclusivity and recognise the immense value of individuals who’ve overcome addiction.

Please tune in to be inspired, challenged, and encouraged to rethink how we approach taboo topics in professional spaces.

Debunking Employer Branding Myths with Claire de Souza.

In this episode, Claire de Souza, Co-founder of The EB Space, a global community for Employer Brand professionals, joins Chris to address some common myths that often steer Employer Branders in the wrong direction. Tune in for Claire’s expert take on these misconceptions and how to avoid them in your own strategy.

Here’s a peek at what’s covered:

"There's a blueprint for employer branding."
Every successful Employer Brand strategy is unique to the business it serves. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t drive the meaningful results you need.

"Employer Brand is all about content."
While content is crucial, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Real Employer Branding builds internal culture and loyalty, not just external visibility.

"A strong consumer brand equals a strong employer brand."
A compelling product doesn’t guarantee people are eager to work there. An effective Employer Brand goes deeper than a company’s consumer appeal.

"Employer Branding is for big corporations only."
Smaller companies have a unique edge, allowing them to connect on a human level with talent. They can often act faster and with more authenticity.

"Employer Branding belongs in HR."
EB can thrive in any department as long as it has strategic alignment and measurable impact.

Listen now for actionable insights to strengthen your Employer Branding approach.

Chris was recently joined by well-known Employer Brand/EVP Leader, Ben Phillips on the most recent episode of Employer Bland.

Ben shared his journey from his early years growing up in N.W London, regularly helping his dad in the family market trading business. It's no surprise that Ben can strike up conversations full of laughs, debate and shoot-from-the-hip, thought-provoking ideas with anyone he speaks to. 

His corporate path took a few twists and turns before landing where he is today in Employer Brand and EVP.

From traditional marketing to social media advertising through to recruitment marketing to enterprise-level employer brand leadership with companies like Tesco and IBM.

Ben is a regular commentator and social advocate in the EB/EVP/Company Culture domain. Having internal experiences at a leadership level in the areas mentioned as well as being someone who is well-read and closely follows developing research I the space.

Some of his recent pondering relates to the Psychological Principles of Branding (heavily influenced by Rory Sutherland) and how these principles are so closely entwined with Recruitment Marketing, Employer Branding and the People Experience.

Principles such as;

The Peak End Rule; outweighing your memory of an event based on the intense, end-moments.

Idleness aversion; People would rather be kept busy than wait around, even if it takes longer.

Operational transparency; People won't trust you if you don't tell them what's going on.

Uncertainty anxiety; People will get more stressed and impatient if they don't know what's going on.

The progress principle; People feel more motivated when they know what progress is being made, even if small steps.

Ben breaks these down and draws comparisons to employer branding and the people experience, alongside actionable examples of where you can implement strategies to improve the people experience and performance in your recruitment marketing and employer brand processes.

Hope you enjoy the episode!

Chris caught up with Global Executive Search expert & trainer, Louise Archer on the latest episode of Employer Bland. Louise is the Founder of Retrained Search, a global training organisation taking agencies through the exec search transition and continuously helping exec search firms sharpen their tools.

Louise has recruitment in her DNA. It all started when Louise began to shadow her mother as a 12-year-old 'candidate controller' in the family secretarial agency business. From there, the fire was lit...

Louise's journey through established agencies began in her early 20's, learning the craft with a constant desire to grow and develop. Louise quickly realised there was hard work being done and it was often not being paid for. There was huge waste and holes in the process creating inefficiencies for Louise, her business and her customers... Louise's shift to Executive Search began. 

In this conversation Chris and Louise discuss the tightly knitted relationship between Exec Search and Employer Brand. Exec Search are ultimately the custodian of an Employer Brand. They are responsible for understanding key elements of an organisation's EVP, what differentiators sit within the EB and how this all needs to be communicated to ensure the best available talent is being engaged with.

We also covered;

- Best practice for uncovering critical information and stories from key project stakeholders

- How to present a search to candidates, ensuring the right information, elements of an EB and stories are communicated most effectively.

- Not being afraid to tackle the elephant in the room. Not every search is sprinkled with gold dust and sparkles. Get under the skin of the company, their employer brand, their story and tell that truth. There are people out there wanting this challenge, its up to you to find them.

- The importance of content and visuals in the process - Bringing a search to life is critical.

Louise shared so much advice and anecdotal insight into her incredibly successful career as a true global powerhouse in exec search and exec search training.

If you are working in agency looking to make the transition to Exec Search or you are already firmly in Exec Search, there is a lot in this episode for you to take-away.

We hope you enjoy!

Chris recently caught up with RecTech pioneer, serial investor, and two-time exit'er, Adam Gordon, on the Employer Bland podcast! ️

Adam (Co-founder of Poetry HR) took a deep dive into his journey, starting from his school years. His story is powerful, filled with great memories, role models, and valuable experiences, along with a fair share of struggles and sharp changes in family circumstances. These experiences shaped his solid work ethic and curiosity for business and problem-solving.

Adam shared key moments from his career path; from starting his recruitment agency career, moving on to starting his own recruitment agency/consultancy to co-founding, scaling and exiting his first RecTech start-up, CandidateID.

His thirst for innovation didn't stop there. In early 2023, he launched Poetry HR, the Recruiter Enablement platform that’s been making waves across the industry ever since.

Recruiters need the right tools to perform at their best, yet this often doesn't happen in practice. In this chat, Chris and Adam discussed the critical role of Recruiter Enablement in the Employer Brand process, touching on Recruitment Marketing, Rec Learning, Talent Intelligence, and Rec Ops.

For example, can recruiters deliver an experience that is truly representative of the company, its culture and the many additional elements that make an employer brand if they are ill-informed, lack content, competitor intelligence and general guardrails etc?

The conversation also ventured into GenAI and its place in the recruitment process. Adam emphasised the importance of not fearing GenAI but instead learning to leverage it, in a way that complements our unique working styles. 

Tune in to hear Adam’s insights on reshaping recruitment and empowering recruiters.

Chris recently had the pleasure of chatting with Alex Her, Head of Global EB at GoDaddy & Co-Founder of The EB Space. They jumped straight into Alex's T.E.A.M methodology.

Alex came up with this formula when considering the critical need for a 'we' focused approach to employer branding.

The irony for many is that they may be working solo in an employer brand role, feeling isolated on their own island without much help or support to get things done. But Alex goes on to explain, regardless of the make-up of your role, you should never feel alone. You have a TEAM to find both physically and strategically, and that's what he elaborates on with the TEAM methodology, breaking down the individual pillars:

-Time

-Empathy

-Advocacy

-Magnetize

Alex discusses each pillar in detail, one seamlessly following the next. It felt like a detailed blueprint for creating an EB from scratch was being explained as the conversation progressed, and I think that's the real power of TEAM.

Alex isn't in this to be the hero of these plans or stories. He's a master facilitator, director, and strategist. He seems to know how to shine a light on those around him, making people feel safe to explore ideas and tell their own stories, which we all know is the heartbeat of any successful employer brand. 

Hope you enjoy!

Chris was joined by Ryan Hemmant on a recent episode on the Employer Bland podcast ️

Ryan is TA Operations Manager / Recruitment Marketing Manager at Aviv Group. A multi-brand, European Property Tech giant.

Ryan wears several hats across the group. Responsibilities inc TA, Rec Ops, Rec Marketing and of course, Employer Brand. To add a little more food for thought, Ryan needs to navigate the individualities of each group brand and ensure he isn't creating a 'one-shoe-fits-all' approach to any of his decisions or strategies.

He is uniquely positioned to understand the cause and effect of almost every recruitment pillar. His insights on employer branding are always with consideration for the other pillars they engage with and that's what makes talking to him so insightful.

In the chat, Chris and Ryan delved into two or three main areas including;

> Developing a multi-brand 'Group' employer brand.

> The importance of a seamless candidate journey/experience and why your employer brand strategy will fail if this isn't prioritised.

> Actionable Insights + lots more!

We hope you enjoy it!

Eva Wedman Baluchova (Global Employer Branding Lead @ Danfoss) joined Chris on the Employer Bland podcast recently.

Eva has a personal story relating to Job Ads. Specifically, how one job ad in particular changed the course of her life.

The job ad in question engaged Eva and spoke to her in such a way she was compelled to follow the call to action and apply. She subsequently uprooted her life, moved halfway across Europe and started a new life.

Eva also went into detail about her early influences in life and career and how her early experiences in TA developer her passion for employer branding.

Chris and Eva also discussed...

Hope you enjoy!

Chris M was lucky enough to catch Chris Le'cand-Harwood whilst he had an hour to kill recently at Heathrow Airport en route to an EB conference in Serbia.

The Chris' discussed the rise of Job Branding/Marketing. How it differs from Employer Branding and why its important.

Other notable topics discussed;

> What is Job Branding and how can you execute a strategy that compliments your overall EB.

> How to effectively generate a job category content library and reuse assets many times to increase ROI on effort/cost.

> Where Job Branding sits, whose responsibility it is and why it can be easier to sustain and optimise performance vs bigger/broader EB and Rec Marketing initiatives.

As always, feedback is hugely appreciated!