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Start with one of these employee story content projects in your first 100 days in an employer branding job. (They’re also great ideas if you’re looking to shake up your culture content library and talk to candidates in new ways!)  

Employer branding and recruitment marketing has grown as a field over the last ten years. We’ve seen so many companies hire their first ever employer branding professional, and expand the team once the function has proved its importance to organizational performance.

And lately, there has been an explosion of new roles in our space. Our field is poised for even greater growth. For those new to a company in a recruitment marketing or employer branding role, you are probably very excited to show your company exactly what you can do. You’re looking to make a big impact, quickly.

So, consider the trifecta. Your first projects should: 

1. Get you acclimated and tuned in to the culture you’ll promote
2. Build relationships fast with groups you’ll need to collaborate with 
3. Gain some momentum with early wins 

An employee story content and video series can help you accomplish all three at once. 

Obviously, in any new job, critical listening is important to your success. The good news is, listening and learning are inherent to these types of projects. Leaders and hiring managers really want to share their talent pain points with you, and employees across the organization want to tell you the stories of their experiences so far.

Importantly, hearing a variety of team member stories fast-track your learning about your new company. They give you real insight into culture, values, organizational structure, and much much more. And, going on a listening tour starting with hiring managers and leaders to understand hiring challenges unearths the problems you’ll need to solve over time.

Picking the most pressing challenges and creating content that supports specific hiring managers, or heads of departments who may have been previously neglected, immediately earns you trust and goodwill. 

And, when you create compelling and true culture content, you raise brand awareness while engaging and converting candidates. Right out of the gate, you’re leveling up your content library and making an impact on the employer brand. 

Here are the best employer branding projects to begin now, plus lots of resources to get you started, as you get started!

Stories that connect to core values

You’re new: you weren’t there to witness the foundational moments that informed company values. In order to speed up your learning, you need to understand why. What leadership decisions and employee experiences have contributed to the culture and values today? What are their implications for candidates?

So, capture stories that bring core values to life. You’ll see values in action (much better than words on the wall) and learn from the team, firsthand. And, your own fresh perspective will help when translating those experiences into takeaways for candidates. 

It’s also a good way to hear from lots of different people across your company. Here’s an example of Loews Hotels and Co. team members, across the many roles in this large hotel chain, sharing stories that communicate the core value of Professionalism. 

In fact, the Stories Inc. team also helped Loews Hotels capture stories illustrating all four of their core values: Family, Professionalism, Good Neighbor, and Adding Value. Learn more in the Loews Hotels case study. 

Stories that align to purpose

Help talent audiences understand, via your content, how specific jobs contribute to the company mission. Stories of personal purpose help candidates see if they’ll connect to the organization’s purpose. Plus, you’ll learn how every role is connected, and what’s important about every job. You’ll see the inner workings and organizational structure of your new professional home. Finding these stories and producing this content will give you a crash course in the company layout and organizational basics. 

To this end, we helped BAE Systems create content for their career site relaunch by capturing stories of purpose, innovation, and opportunity from team members. Get the details in ou BAE Systems case study. 

Team stories

What are your organization’s biggest recruiting problems? What’s holding them back from growth? Sometimes this is technical talent or salespeople. Whatever your most pressing organizational need, tackle it through content. Or, pick a team that hasn’t received recruitment marketing love, but needs it. Partner with a hiring manager and go deep on getting stories from members of the team. Bonus: you’ll build trust with that hiring manager quickly, and they’ll appreciate you taking on their problem as your own. 

For example, AstraZeneca needed to attract a specific type of scientist for their Biopharmaceutical Division (BPD). So, their employer branding leader used the team’s own stories in a specialized recruitment marketing campaign. For more guidance on how to create great team content, check out our insights to branding a team. 

Talent mobility 

Your first content project can also allow you to extend your reach across your company, but on a focused topic. Stories of talent mobility, for instance, give candidates (and employees) a look at the growth opportunities available to them. Connect with HR and leadership across the company to locate those who have just moved to new roles or have a history of accepting new challenges frequently.  

Recently, Philips wanted to create content that showed employee opportunities within the company. These stories from employees across positions and countries are proof of ways employees have explored new experiences, learning, locations and  growth. And, these stories are examples of content captured virtually from team members working remotely and all over the globe. 

Rock your first 100 days 

In your first 100 days at an employer branding job, and in this essential role at your company for months and years to come, you’ll be constantly communicating the cultural reality and opportunities to others. The content you create will be vital to the success of your organization’s recruitment, marketing, employee engagement and DEI missions. 

And, you’re in a growing field with tons of industry support and resources. In fact we have one that’s perfect for your needs now. 

Start planning your content 

Ready to get started on the best employer branding projects to get your new role off to a rocking start? Our Content Planning Guide and Worksheet will set you up for success!