The middle – where EX and employer brands need to meet

We often have conversations about reflection v aspiration. The conversation happens in multiple spaces, not least when developing values and behaviours; culture change; employer brand.

This is the crux of the question: To what extent should this be a reflection of our organisational life and to what extent can it be aspirational?

There’s no definitive answer to this question. Often these expressions of organisational life are created as part of a change initiative. Ie an organisation is in one place, and wants to move to another. So the rhetoric reflects the ‘where we’re heading’.

Of course, there is a risk of going all-out with messaging that is entirely aspirational. But it’s ok to have aspiration baked in to your cultural and employer brand statements. As long as you are very aware of where the gap is between rhetoric and ambition, and you have a concrete plan to address it. And you’re prepared to acknowledge the gap and share what you’re doing about it. 

This is what we’ve been helping a client with recently. They have an ambition to be a best-in-class employer in their industry – including with an industry-leading centre of excellence for training and career development. But they are, as yet, some way off. How far off? That’s where the employee-centric approach comes in. 

The business has the ambition. But it’s the employees that have the answer about where the gap is and where the focus needs to be to address it. And it's their insight that’s behind the new EX vision and… ultimately, the new employer brand. 

In the coming months we’ll be helping the business take steps towards filling the gap and talking externally about the ambition to be the employer of choice in the sector. 

This crossover from an internal programme to an external brand message is a complex one. We’ll be taking it one step at a time. Watch this space.