[Episode Ninety-Two of ‘The Employee Advocacy and Influence Podcast] 🎧
In this episode, Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley sit down with Steven Brand, the Global Employer Brand Lead at Rolls-Royce. Steven shares the strategy behind launching their first global employer brand and explains why advocacy is important for modern recruitment.
Steven discusses the transition from legacy silos to a unified, performance-driven culture at Rolls-Royce. You will understand how to navigate strict brand guardianship in large corporates, how to educate employees on the why behind the brand, and the importance of starting with a pilot to prove a business case before scaling.
Key Takeaways:
- Why employee voices carry more weight than corporate channels.
- How Rolls-Royce uses a unified employer brand to correct market misconceptions about its business.
- Shifting the conversation from corporate requirements to individual career benefits and reputation building.
- Finding the room to play within tight corporate tone-of-voice guidelines and design principles.
- Why early-stage programs need a mix of hard metrics and powerful stories to win over leadership.
Close the Trust Gap with Authentic Employee Voices
In an era where the Edelman Trust Barometer shows a consistent decline in public trust toward businesses, employee advocacy has become a become a strategic necessity. Steven Brand at Rolls-Royce highlights that personal connections are the most effective way to build credibility and break through the noise of crowded corporate social agendas. Because audiences are more likely to trust a peer than a polished corporate brand, empowering staff to share their own stories creates a more believable and relatable narrative. For brand leaders, this means moving away from top-down broadcasting. This shift is essential for reaching modern talent pools that prioritize authenticity over corporate jargon.
Navigate Brand Guidelines by Finding Room to Play
Tight brand guardianship and restrictive design principles can often affect what is required for successful social media engagement. However, Steven argues that even in highly regulated professional services or corporate environments, there is always room to play if you understand the brand’s underlying principles. Instead of issuing dos and don’ts, brand leaders should educate their teams on the why behind the rules, giving them the confidence to experiment. By providing a flexible framework or guardrails, organizations can empower employees to personalize corporate messages without fear of career repercussions. This balance allows for a more humanized brand voice while maintaining essential corporate standards.
Activate Dormant Professional Networks to Drive Efficiency
Every organization sits on a goldmine of dormant professional connections that exist within its employees’ social networks. Steven notes that your current workforce is likely already connected to every specialist or skill set the company could ever want to hire. An employee advocacy program acts as the catalyst to bring these existing relationships to life in a way that corporate channels never could. By enabling employees to share authentic content, you tap into a massive, pre-existing audience without additional advertising spend. For social media managers, the goal is to provide the fuel that empowers employees to engage their own communities.
Ready to start your own employee advocacy program?
Whether you’re exploring employee advocacy or considering DSMN8 as your platform, we can help you get started with confidence.
Learn More About Employee Advocacy:
Selina Sher Gill
Selina has a Master's Degree in Marketing and Brand Management, and is DSMN8's Digital Marketing Executive. She's a pro at creating and editing video content, using these skills to create short-form social media videos and edit the Employee Advocacy and Influence podcast.
