Employer Content Marketing

Want to see how an organisation co-creates authentic content with employees? Go behind the scenes with us at VCA Animal Hospitals.

Ally Brown, who leads employer brand at VCA (1,000+ veterinary hospitals across the US and Canada), reveals the strategies and tactics she uses to get busy veterinary professionals creating compelling content - even when they're seeing pets all day.

This is your inside look at making employee-generated content actually work.In this episode, you'll learn:

• The creative brief approach that treats employees as collaborators, not just subjects

• How to make the ask so employees feel special (and actually say yes)

• How to generate lots of content formats from a one-day photoshoot

• Working around the biggest challenge: time constraints with deskless workers

• Why starting with student creators built the perfect foundation

• Using AI to craft better questions without losing authenticity

Real examples include an 81-year-old veterinary technician sharing career wisdom, rescue stories from house fires, and hyper-targeted video job ads for struggling markets.

If you're building an employee-generated content function in-house, this episode gives you the practical playbook.

👥 Join Employer Content Club and get the next episode in this series [including bonus content about AI]:

Become a founding member and help shape how we build this community.

You'll get early access to upcoming events we're planning and be part of the conversation from the start.

👉 Sign up at https://www.employercontent.club/co-created---Co-Created Series – How to build authentic content WITH employees, not just about them.

Hosted by Chris Le’cand-Harwood (Content Marketing Pod) and Chris Murdoch (Voyse), co-hosts of Employer Content Club.

Proudly created in partnership with Vouch (the tool Ally uses to make employee content creation frictionless). https://vouchfor.com

Subscribe to Employer Content Marketing for more episodes

What does Award-Winning work at the Recruitment Marketing Awards look like?

Employer Content Club took a look recently.

As part of the latest episode in our series “Co-Created: How to build authentic content with your employees,” I chatted with Chris Murdoch about BP’s “We’re Making BP Work for Women” campaign.

They won the Grand Prix award - the best of the best on the night.

It was just one of the winners we talked about on our latest Employer Content Club episode.

Taking a closer look

I didn’t judge BP’s category, but they won a few awards. So afterwards I went to the Recruitment Marketing Awards website to take a proper look at what they’d done.

Yes, it had the usual elements - talking heads, nice stories, b-roll cutaways. The kind of production you’d expect from a major campaign.

But what really caught my eye was something called “Walls of Talent.”

Walls of Talent

Picture this: Artists in the streets of India painting murals.

An artful tribute to women who inspire us every day.

But here’s what made it different - they’re not talking about BP’s policies or benefits. They’re talking about grandparents, mothers, daughters, families.

Real tributes. Real stories. Brilliant.

The result? Something powerful was created. And application numbers soared.

Lovely piece of work.

When you move beyond corporate messaging and tap into genuine human stories - stories that celebrate the people who inspire us - you create something that resonates.

📺 Watch the full episode here

🎧 Or listen to the full episode here:

Note: While I attended and discussed the Recruitment Marketing Awards in this article, this content is not affiliated with or sponsored by the Recruitment Marketing Awards or anyone connected to this award-winning.

Join Employer Content Club

Want more insights like this? Find out more about Employer Content Club and become a founding member: https://www.employercontent.club/co-created

I’m loving Employer Content Club - me and Chris Murdoch set it up so that we could elevate the role and importance of employer content creation. And our series “Co-Created: How to build authentic content with your employees” is well underway.

So when I went to the Recruitment Marketing Awards a few weeks ago, I kept an eye out for award winners in certain categories.

One category that particularly caught my attention was the Employer Brand award.

This was won by Currys, in partnership with Tonic.

Here’s a segment from Episode 2 of our Co-Created series - a little dive into the award-winning work. Me and Chris took a look at the winning listings and the content itself, and shared our thoughts based on what we saw.

Watch the video for our deep dive

And here are my key takeaways for you:

The Authenticity Problem

I had a conversation with someone who was at World Employer Branding Day who said something that resonated: when you over-gloss employee content, you kill its authenticity.

Currys seems to have figured this out. Their approach leans into TikTok trends, office banter, and the kind of workplace moments that feel genuine because they are genuine.

The production quality isn’t the point - the people are.

Why This Matters for Co-Create

If you’ve been following our Co-Create series (and if you haven’t, welcome - you’re in the right place), you know we’re exploring how to build authentic content with your employees, not just about them.

The Currys campaign is a great case study for this philosophy:

They built infrastructure, not just content. Creating a centralised platform with a consistent cadence takes serious coordination. It’s not just “hey, post something to TikTok when you feel like it.” It’s strategic, but it doesn’t feel forced.

They trusted their people. Staff were encouraged to participate. That level of trust - and the training and support that goes with it - is what separates real co-creation from tokenistic employee spotlights.

A Quick Note About Our Series Partner - Vouch

We’re capturing insights like these throughout our Co-Created series, and we’re doing it using Vouch - the video-first AI content platform that makes it easy to collect and share authentic employee stories.

It’s fitting, really. We’re exploring how to co-create content with employees, and Vouch is helping us gather voices from practitioners throughout the season. If you’re curious about how to collect authentic stories at scale without the production headaches, check them out here.

What You Can Steal From This

You don’t need to be Currys to apply these lessons:

Start with listening. Before you create a single piece of content, talk to your people. What do they want to say? What are they proud of? What would they actually post?

Build the infrastructure. One-off employee features won’t cut it. You need a system that makes it easy and appealing for people to contribute regularly.

Coordinate without controlling. Yes, you need guidelines. Yes, you need some level of quality control. But if it feels like a corporate communications exercise, you’ve already lost.

Watch & Listen to the Full Episode

Want to hear the complete conversation? Me and Chris talk about other RMA winners in Episode 2 of our Co-Created series. And we talk about the challenges and opportunities facing the world of TA, EB and recruitment marketing.

Watch the full episode here

Listen to the full episode here:

About the Co-Create Series

This article is part of Co-Create: How to Build Authentic Content with Your Employees, an ongoing series where Chris Murdoch and I explore the world of employee-generated content.

We’re talking to organisations at different stages of their journey, learning what works (and what doesn’t), and building a community of practitioners who believe there’s a better way to do employer content.

Want to find out more about Employer Content Club?

Join Employer Content Club

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to co-creating content with your employees? Drop a comment below - I’d love to hear from you.

Note: While I attended and discuss the Recruitment Marketing Awards in this article, this content is not affiliated with or sponsored by the Recruitment Marketing Awards or anyone connected to this award-winning.

Events are brilliant for learning, connecting, and seeing what’s happening in the industry.

That’s why Episode 2 of the Employer Content Club’s Co-Created series takes you behind the scenes of the Recruitment Marketing Awards — where creativity meets strategy, and employer brand work gets the spotlight it deserves.

Why This Episode Matters

This autumn, I’m running a new series called Co-Created: How to Build Authentic Content with Your Employees — alongside my fellow Employer Content Club Co-Host, Chris Murdoch (who’s also Co-Founder of Voyse).

Our goal is simple: to help in-house employer branding and talent acquisition teams understand what’s working, what’s not, and how to create content that actually connects with people.

And to do that, we need to stay close to the action — which is what the Recruitment Marketing Awards are all about.

Why the RMAs Are So Valuable

The evening was packed: budgets, AI adoption, team structures, capturing authentic employee stories…But the real value of events like the RMAs is that they show us what good looks like.

When you’re trying to build an employer content strategy on limited resources, seeing award-winning work isn’t just nice inspiration — it’s a masterclass in what’s possible.It fuels ideas, raises standards, and gives your team the confidence to push creative boundaries.

(Note: While we attended and discuss the RMAs in this episode, this content is not affiliated with or sponsored by the Recruitment Marketing Awards.)

The Work That Caught Our Eye

There were plenty of strong entries — but we focused on three categories in particular:

* Video (Under £15k Budget) — an emotive story that punched way above its weight.

* Employer Brand — an EVP built around genuine employee content, powered by TikTok.

* Grand Prix Winner — a campaign that proved how storytelling can genuinely move people to action.

We won’t spoil the details here — you’ll need to watch or listen to hear how each campaign nailed authenticity, employee involvement, and strategic impact.

But trust us: there’s inspiration that will help your next project.

Key Themes from the Night

Beyond the winners, a few big themes kept coming up in conversations:

* Agility & budget – the real challenge isn’t always money; it’s time and decision-making under uncertainty.

* AI as an enabler – the conversation has shifted from “Should we use it?” to “How do we use it well?” — especially for small teams doing big things.

* Redefining authenticity – it doesn’t always come from where you expect. Sometimes, the most genuine stories come from the edges of your organisation, not the centre.

These are ideas we’ll keep exploring throughout the Co-Create series.

Watch Episode 2 on YouTube:

Listen on Spotify

Join the Co-Created Series

This episode is part of our Co-Created series running this autumn. We’re meeting with employer branding professionals and organisations who are co-creating content with their employees, capturing the practical insights that matter.

Become a founding member of Employer Content Club

Join Here

As a founding member, you’ll get:

* Every episode in the Co-Created series, direct to your inbox

* Opportunities to contribute your own thoughts and expertise

* Notifications about upcoming Employer Content Club events we’re organising over the next few months

* A chance to shape what this community becomes

This series is about practical knowledge from people doing the work. If you’re building employer content strategy in-house, this is for you.

Co-Created is brought to you by Employer Content Club and supported by Vouch - a platform that makes it easy to capture, repurpose and share authentic employee stories through video.

Watch the full episode to see what we learned at the RMAs and how it applies to your employer content strategy.

In this episode of Co-Created, I sit down with my Employer Content Club co-host Chris Murdoch to debrief the Recruitment Marketing Awards (RMAs).

Fresh from a night of celebrating great work, rubbing shoulders with the EB community, and yes, a decent-sized dance floor, we dive into the conversations that matter.

We cover the real challenges facing the industry right now, explore the role of co-creating authentic content with employees, and deep dive into some of the award-winning work that's pushing boundaries.

From intimate MS Teams calls to big production moments, we discuss what it really takes to capture authenticity at scale.

Note: While we attended and discuss the Recruitment Marketing Awards in this episode, this content is not affiliated with or sponsored by the Recruitment Marketing Awards.

About Co-Created

Co-Created is a podcast and vlog series from Employer Content Club, supported by Vouch. Hosted by myself and Chris Murdoch, we're exploring how EB and TA teams can capture authentic workplace culture with their employees—proving you don't need huge budgets to create content that resonates. Shot entirely on iPhones and mics, we're keeping it real.

About Employer Content Club

Employer Content Club is a community for employer branding and talent acquisition professionals who want to create authentic content with their employees. We share practical insights, host events, and connect in-house practitioners who are doing the work.

Become a Founding Member

We're looking for founding members to join Employer Content Club!

Sign up to contribute your opinions and experience during this series, and be the first to know about upcoming Employer Content Club events: https://www.employercontent.club/co-created

Supported by VouchThis series is supported by Vouch, a platform that makes it easy to capture and share authentic employee stories through video. ➡️ https://vouchfor.com

Last Thursday, I was at the Recruitment Marketing Awards and it was packed full of in-house and agency folk in employer branding, talent acquisition and recruitment marketing.

The vlog above gives you a taste of the night - the celebrating together, the challenges and the opportunities facing the industry. And the role of employees in co-creating authentic content.

Episode 2 of our series, “Co-Create: How to build authentic content with your employees” is landing this Friday.

I sit down with my Employer Content Club co-founder, Chris Murdoch, for a retrospective episode.

Find out more about our Co-Create Series here.

[Sign Up to Become a Founding Member]

This series is supported by Vouch - the video-first AI content platform we’re using to collect stories from employer brand professionals.

P.S. Know someone who’d love this series? Forward this their way - the more voices we have, the stronger our community becomes.

Thanks

Chris

Chris Le’cand-Harwood

Co-host, Employer Content Club

Host, Employer Content Marketing

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.What's Coming This Autumn:📍 Episode 1: Vlogging from the Recruitment Marketing Awards - capturing insights from industry disruptors on co-creating content with employees📍 Episodes 2 & 3: In-depth conversations with organizations at different stages of their co-creation journey - from getting started to achieving success📍 November Finale: In-person London meetup and podcast recording, reflecting on the series and looking ahead to 2025Key Topics Covered:- Why employer content creation often feels like a lonely, siloed role- The challenge of "doing more with less" in employer branding- Moving beyond the "river of meh" content- Getting buy-in from stakeholders and engagement from employees- Building a culture around employee-generated content- The role of community in fostering bravery and reducing imposter syndromeThis series is supported by Vouch - the leading video-first AI content platform for talent teams, and the platform we're using to collect stories and insights from employer brand professionals throughout the season.Join the Community:Sign up to the Employer Content Club waitlist to get involved, share your voice, and be notified about upcoming events and initiatives.https://www.employercontent.club/co-createdFind out more about Vouch - the leading video-first AI content platform for talent teams https://vouchfor.com/

Employer Content Club is back!

Over the coming weeks, we’re excited about doing a series “Co-Created: How to Build Authentic Content with Your Employees.”

This isn’t just another series about employer branding theory. It’s about the real and rewarding process of creating content with your people - not just about them.

About Employer Content Club

If you’ve ever wished for a space where employer content isn’t an afterthought - Employer Content Club is it.

Employer Content Club is for people leading in-house content functions or creating content in-house for their organisations.

It’s a space to learn, connect, and elevate the employer content function together - one story, one case study, one meetup at a time.

Together with Chris Murdoch (Co-Founder of Voyse), we’re building a space where you can share honest insights and learn from peers and subject matter experts.

What’s in our “Co-Created” Series?

📍 Episode 1 [available now]: This is a series preview that talks about the challenges we see in-house employer branders and content creation teams having based on the conversations we’ve had this year. And what’s coming up in the series.

Episodes 3 & 4 is with in-house teams for a practical view into the why, what and how of co-creation with employees.

Episode 5 is a look at key themes from the series and, most importantly, the strategies and tactics that can be implemented.

Are we using a film crew and a studio for this series? Nope - we’re embracing more agile ways through remote online recordings and iPhone filming.

Plus: Throughout the series, we’ll be gathering thoughts from employer branding practitioners on the ground - real voices facing the same challenges you are.

Watch Episode 1 & Become a Founding Member

Ready to dive into the full first episode?

Episode 1 is available to watch now.

[Listen to Episode 1 Here]

Want access to the rest of the series as episodes drop? Become a founding member of Employer Content Club and you’ll get:

✅ All episodes from this series delivered straight to you

✅ Notifications about how to get involved and share your story

✅ Early invites to upcoming events

✅ A community of professionals who genuinely understand what you’re going through

[Sign Up to Become a Founding Member]

This series is supported by Vouch - the video-first AI content platform we’re using to collect stories from employer brand professionals

Thanks

Chris

Chris Le’cand-Harwood

Co-host, Employer Content Club

Host, Employer Content Marketing

P.S. Know someone who’d love this series? Forward this their way - the more voices we have, the stronger our community becomes.

That’s why I’ve pulled out this segment of my chat with Amit Parmar, CEO of Cliquify. We recorded a two-part series about the evolution of employer branding and AI.

I asked him to give me a quick AI checklist: three key questions EB leaders should answer before adding AI tools to their stack.

1. Governance

AI experimentation is important - but it has to align with your organization’s stance on AI.

The first question to ask: Am I sharing any sensitive information with this AI model that could put my company at risk?

2. Differentiation

The danger of AI is “employer blanding.” If every company is feeding the same open models, how will you stand out?

Ask yourself: Will this tool actually differentiate our brand, or will it just make us sound like everyone else?

3. ROI

Experimentation can be fun, but time is a finite resource.

The third question: Are the hours I’m spending with this AI tool delivering ROI - or could that time be better spent elsewhere?

AI won’t replace employer branding. But it is reshaping the way EB leaders make decisions, measure ROI, and show value to the business.

If you’re looking for a starting point, this checklist is a good filter to separate hype from real impact.

📺 Watch the full episode about AI & Employer Branding here 👇🏻

🎧 Listen to the episode here👇🏻

🤖 And get Your Free Employer Brand Intelligence Report here [worth $3,000]

It was IHR London Live 2025 this week and it was another full day in conference land. Everyone’s talking about AI taking over HR, but that’s not the whole story. The real stuff happening is way more interesting.

Check out the video above for everything, but here’s what I gathered from my conversations and conference notes.

LinkedIn Actually Works (Who Knew?)

A few minutes after walking in, I bumped into people I’d been chatting with on LinkedIn. We just picked up where we left off online.

It’s pretty simple - if you share your ideas and build real connections online, events like this become ten times better. Your online stuff isn’t separate from meeting people face-to-face. It makes everything work smoother.

The AI Thing Everyone’s Missing

Once again, AI was everywhere. But the more AI does works for us, the more we can’t forget the importance of the human touch.

Companies are figuring out how to use AI to do the boring stuff while keeping the cool moments that make people actually want to work there. It’s not about replacing humans. It’s about making room for the human stuff that really matters.

What an Olympic Swimmer Taught HR People

Mark Foster (he’s won loads of medals in swimming) dropped two big truths:

Get the right people around you. You can’t be awesome on your own. You need people who push you to do better than you thought possible. This works for building teams and growing yourself.

Failing isn’t actually failing. When stuff goes wrong, grab what you learned and figure out what’s next. Mark says failure is just finding out what to do differently. Works for people and companies.

AI & Humans - A Relationship With Great Potential

This isn’t about picking between humans or AI. It’s about using both smartly - let AI handle the repetitive stuff so humans can focus on the things that actually matter to people.

The best part of the day? Being around people who are trying to solve real problems and making each other better at it.

What do you think about all this? Drop your thoughts in the comments.