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There’s rarely a shortage of nuance and opacity around the UK labour market – not aided by the ONS’ current inability to provide robust metrics. But through the gloom, doubt and murkiness, can we detect a hint of optimism? 

Firstly, the KPMG/REC index for the month hit 50 – marking the end of 45 consecutive months of decline. Secondly, Robert Half suggests that job postings for the second quarter, across a number of sectors, are experiencing double digit increases compared to the first three months of the year. Interestingly, their view, mirroring experiences in North America, is that organisations are beginning to rehire headcount after making ineffective AI cost cutting initiatives. 

And with optimism comes possibility.

But, and here’s a thought, does our current approach to EVP and employer branding construction allow for possibility?

Or does an obsession with authenticity mean people messaging is restricted to the present day? Because if we’re painting a picture about what tomorrow might (and, therefore might not) look like, then this lacks authenticity with today’s employment reality?

Practically speaking, we need to be careful about the limitations and yoke of authenticity in terms of the journey an EVP describes. And this works in two ways.

Candidates and existing employees alike want to understand where an organisation is heading. They want to be inspired by the story told, about the direction taken. They’re less interested in how you’re positioning the organisation as it is now, and more focused around what it could be. What tomorrow looks and feels like. What the possibilities might be.

Being realistic about the journey (and why you’re on the journey) allows honesty about today’s challenges and reality – by definition, if everything was rosy, then the need for reinvention and pivoting would be less pressing. 

And then there’s the sense of personal contribution. This is perhaps the most tangible and motivational element of possibility. 

People want to know how their own very individual impact will have as regards where an organisation is going. They want to understand that what they do matters and makes a difference. That they are not working simply for a month-end paycheck, but that they are contributing, they are building, they are shaping. 

They are making possibility a reality. 

But this art of the possible conflicts with authenticity. The latter is an absolute, something utterly reflective of the here and now. Because if it’s not, then it ceases to be authentic. 

If we extend this, there is a sense that to be authentic is to be static. An authentic portrayal of a workplace cannot exemplify both a working reality today and one in, say, six months’ time. So much in those six months will have changed – the prevailing economy, competitor activity, business performance, headcount, etc. If we adopt authenticity as an absolute north star, then both moments in time cannot be authentic. Things will have evolved and moved on, but the authentic portrayal of a workplace, at best, relates to either today or six months hence, but not both. 

If we stick too rigidly to authenticity, we’re being passive, rather than active. We’re stuck in the here and now, doomed to repeat the same message, regardless of where the organisation is headed. (Ironically, by insisting on authenticity, pretty soon this authenticity becomes inauthentic, as it describes the past, rather than the present).

An EVP, then, can never truly be authentic unless it is posited around the day it is constructed. Pretty soon, that authenticity, as your organisation progresses, relates to the past. 

It’s hard to embrace possibility if you’re looking at the rear-view mirror. 

We can’t have it both ways, either an EVP is authentic to today’s working reality or it relates to the possibilities of the journey. Of the open road ahead. 

Two examples of organisations that have focused on the future, rather than obsessing with a current authenticity. 

For years, Rolls-Royce had been underperforming, a fabulous brand, struggling to survive, until Tufan Erginbilgiç took over as CEO in early 2023.  On assuming control, Erginbilgiç made it bluntly clear to his workforce exactly the challenge they faced and the nature of the journey ahead. He referenced ‘a burning platform’, suggesting the business was confronting its last chance of survival. Because his focus was not simply around how grim things were currently but rather on where the organisation could and should be, the effect was inspiring. The turnaround could hardly have been more dramatic. Rolls-Royce’s valuation has multiplied more than 14-16-fold since he took over the reins and profit targets have been reached two years ahead of schedule. 

Erginbilgiç is quite clear about the importance he attaches to possibility and the sense of journey, “Passion is what wins the game. It forces you to stretch yourself and make things happen”. 

Microsoft’s evolution demonstrates a similar focus on the horizon rather than the here and now. They have evolved from ‘know-it-all to learn-it-all’, under Satya Nadella. Rather than assuming the business and its people had arrived, this approach suggests a desire to learn, to grow, to focus on possibilities. Their Chief Learning Officer, Joe Whittinghill, spent a year preparing for transformation, focused on defining Microsoft’s ‘aspire to’ culture, and, even today, this journey is still framed as unfinished: ‘The minute you think you’ve arrived and have a growth mindset is the minute you have a fixed mindset.’ 

So, there we have it, absolute authenticity is suggestive of a fixed mindset. A mindset which is stuck, not on focusing on tomorrow and the possibilities it provides. 

If your EVP and employer branding messaging is obsessed with authenticity, then be careful it isn’t suggestive of a business which is static, passive and demonstrating a fixed mindset. 

People want to know about possibility not passivity.