Chris is joined by Dylan Lees-Jones, European Recruitment Marketing Manager at Wipro, for a conversation that gets right to the heart of one of employer brand's longest-standing frustrations: why does a function with so much proven impact still have to fight so hard for boardroom credibility?

Dylan brings a rare dual perspective - A career that started in consumer and B2B direct marketing before moving into employer brand and he uses it to cut through some of the noise around metrics, measurement, and making the case upwards.

They cover a lot of ground, including:

The episode closes on a genuinely exciting idea: that AI could be the thing that finally makes Employer Brand Lifetime Value measurable and what that would mean for how the C-suite views employer brand investment.

If you've ever been in a room trying to explain why your work matters and felt like you were speaking a different language, this one's worth your time.

In this episode I had a thought provoking chat with Steven Brand, Global Employer Brand Lead at Rolls-Royce and a very well respected figure on the global EB circuit, to talk about what really happens to employer brand when things get tough.

Not when you're launching a shiny new EVP.

Not when you're celebrating growth or looking to attract bucket loads of talent.

But when people are leaving, redundancies are happening and restructures are taking place... what happens then?

We explored:

• Why employer branding often gets “switched off” during tough moments.
• The danger of silence (and what fills the gap when leaders don’t communicate)
• Survivor’s guilt — and how quickly trust can erode internally
• Whether employer brand should be closer to offboarding and exit data
• Why values mean nothing if they only show up in the good times

One line that stayed with me:

“You see the strength of your employer brand in the bad times, not the good.”

If we say we stand for transparency, integrity and people-first leadership… That has to apply when it’s raining too.

Steven shared some brilliant insights on a topic that doesnt often get the airtime I feel it warrants.

Hope you enjoy!

In this episode of the Employer Brand Podcast, I sat down with Ventsislava Nikolova (Ventsi) to unpack what employer branding really means — beyond ping pong tables, fruit bowls, and career fairs.

We covered:

• Why employer branding needs to stop sounding like… employer branding
• How to connect storytelling to profit (without making CEOs’ souls leave their bodies )
• Why internal mobility is one of the most underused retention levers
• The KPI she looks at first (and it’s not traffic, clicks or impressions)
• Why employees — not companies — should be the hero of the story

Hope you enjoy!

I recently had a great conversation with Global Employer Brand & Recruitment Marketing Leader, Leah Lenihan. We went deep on a topic that I think sits right at the heart of employer branding in 2026: The gap between declared culture and felt culture.

Not what’s written in your EVP deck.

Not what’s on the posters.

But what people actually experience day to day.

Leah shared some powerful, real-world insight from her time leading employer brand and recruitment marketing across multiple regions and brands.

It reinforced something I see time and time again:

A global EVP only works when it’s translated into local, lived reality.

Consistency matters - but so does nuance.

Culture isn’t what leaders say. It’s what people live.

Trust lives in the gap between promise and experience.

We also talked about:

How local teams should be empowered to interpret EVP, not just receive it

The danger of glossy campaigns without operational follow-through

Why advocacy only works when people actually believe what they’re sharing

How leaders can unknowingly undermine their own EVP in micro-moments

One stat that really stuck with me:

Less than 23% of employees typically agree with their company’s EVP promise.

That’s a massive disconnect and a big opportunity.

If you’re working on EVP, employer brand, EX, CX or culture at scale, this episode is well worth a listen.

I recently sat down with Sang-Kyun Park (Sanny) for an episode that made me stop and reassess how we’re all using AI in employer branding and talent attraction.

Not from a hype perspective.

Not from a fear-led perspective. But from a human one...

Sanny brought a brilliantly grounded view from the front line — working in a small global employer brand team, operating at scale, with all the same pressures most of us feel right now.

A few things that really stuck with me:

AI is powerful and expedites so many tasks - but fast doesn't always equal good.

Over-reliance creates an illusion of efficiency

The “what” of EVP must stay human-led - AI should help with the “how”

Authenticity erodes quickly when everything starts to sound the same. AI amplifies 'same' by the very nature of how it works.

Human judgement still matters most at emotional moments in the journey

We also got into some tougher territory:

AI as a crutch vs AI as an amplifier

The risk of AI damaging employer brand at scale

Why rejection without human contact feels so unsettling to candidates, the long-term employer brand damage could be huge

How employer branding risks becoming generic if creativity is outsourced

Why HR and EB must move from cost centre → value driver (and how data can help connect these dots to highlight genuine bottomline business impact)

+ Lots more... We hope you enjoy!

As part of Chris Le'cand-Harwood and my Employer Content Club series, we explore the 5 pillars of Employer Content.

Among many other points, we discuss how most people don’t announce disengagement... they drift away. This conversation looks at how employer content can create space for honest voices, surface hidden signals, and help organisations listen before people leave.

Hope you enjoy!

Welcome to Employer Content Club and our Autumn Series! In this episode, we're launching our exciting Autumn Series: "Co-Created: How to Build Authentic Content with Employees."Chris Le'cand-Harwood and Chris Murdoch [co-hosts of Employer Content Club] discuss why employer content is the beating heart of effective talent attraction, and why creating community around content creation is so crucial for in-house teams.

Chris sat down with James Whitelock (MD of ThinkinCircles & long-time podcaster) to tackle a familiar frustration in recruitment: why roles stay unfilled after 30–45 days — and what recruiting teams can do to turn things around.

From rethinking job ads to building brave, human storytelling campaigns, Chris and James break down the process into three powerful stages:

Attraction – How to identify your real candidate personas, cut through the noise with authentic video content, and stop playing it safe in the “River of Meh.”

Engagement – How to personalise job content, add honesty that helps candidates self-select, and make every touchpoint a great experience.

Application – Why broken processes kill great candidates, and how to balance friction, fairness, and flow in your funnel.

Candid and practical, this episode is a must-listen for anyone in TA, EB, or recruitment marketing who’s ready to ditch the copy-paste job ad, get creative, and start hiring smarter.

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.